Tuesday might be known universally as Amazon’s Prime Day, but other retailers aren’t going to miss out on the heavier-than-normal online shopping traffic.
In fact, a survey shows 76 percent of Prime Day shoppers will visit other major online stores to research product ratings and reviews before making a purchase on Amazon.com, according to consumer research firm Bazaarvoice.
The top other sites that shoppers will search include Wal-Mart, which draws the most clicks; consumer electronics websites — such as Best Buy — in second place; Target, in third; and home improvement websites — those of Home Depot and Lowe’s — also proving to be popular outlets, Bazaarvoice found.
Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, told CNBC it offers “great deals every day,” choosing not to launch anything special on Prime Day this year.
“[In 2017], we launched free, two-day shipping with no membership fee. … And, customers can often get even lower prices at Walmart through the Pickup Discount,” a Wal-Mart spokeswoman said in a statement.
A representative from Jet.com, which Wal-Mart only just acquired in late 2016 in order to boost the big-box retailer’s online presence, did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. But from the looks of Jet.com’s homepage, the e-retailer wasn’t offering any out-of-ordinary deals as of Tuesday morning.
In 2016, Wal-Mart offered a free 30-day trial for ShippingPass, its competitor at the time to Amazon Prime, in connection with Amazon’s Prime Day. Wal-Mart has since shuttered its ShippingPass program, replacing it with a promise that shoppers will receive free two-day shipping as long as they spend at least $35 online.
Although representatives from both Home Depot and Lowe’s also said they did not have any deals to announce related to Prime Day, not all retailers are following these retailers’ example. There are plenty of rival deals to be found.
This year, Target said it is featuring back-to-school bargains at its stores and online during the week of July 9. This includes “season-long low prices” on school supplies and apparel, a Target spokeswoman told CNBC.
“As always, Target guests that have a REDcard will also receive free shipping on most Target.com orders and 5% off all purchases throughout the year,” the spokeswoman added.
Dell is another retailer that decided to roll out its so-called Black Friday in July the week of Amazon’s Prime Day. Discounts on Dell’s XPS Tower Desktop and Inspiron Desktop, for example, come ahead of back-to-school shopping season, when many students are searching for new computers.
Other examples of rival retailers rolling out their own discounts this week include department store chain J.C. Penney, which is holding its “Penney Palooza” sale online again this year. Around Prime Day last year, Penney’s event brought roughly a 13 percent increase in the number of visitors to its website that became buyers, compared with the retailer’s daily average, according to a report from Multichannel Merchant.
Macy’s, meanwhile, is offering free shipping on all online orders until midnight Tuesday, with no minimum purchase required. There was a countdown clock running at the top of Macy’s website, informing shoppers immediately of the limited-time offer.
Department store chain Kohl’s is offering 30 percent off some of its summer clothes, swimwear, sandals, accessories, beach towels, outdoor toys and patio furniture on Kohls.com for 30 hours straight.
Toys R Us announced Monday that all of its customers will receive 20 percent off purchases made on Toysrus.com and Babiesrus.com, for 36 hours, starting at 6:00 pm ET on Monday and running through Wednesday. The toy retailer also said in its press release that no membership is required. Notably, in 2016 Amazon said it sold more than two million toys on Prime Day.
Best Buy has also rolled out its competitive deals — which include $200 off a Dyson vacuum and $70 off an Apple Watch Series 2 — and is keeping those prices in effect all week long.
Notably, while Amazon will be promoting its Echo device during Prime Day, its rival Google’s Home will be sold at Best Buy for $99, starting Monday. The device usually sells for $129.
The landing page of Best Buy’s website read “Big Deals Day: Huge savings for everyone.”
Another e-retailer with a message for Amazon this week on its website is eBay. EBay was running a banner at the top of its website that says “Their Prime Deal Is Our Everyday Deal: No membership, just smiles.” Like Best Buy, and also Target, eBay was featuring the Google Home on sale for $99.
Early Tuesday, Amazon touted that “millions of members” had shopped the Prime Day deals and boosted sales to “record levels.” But it didn’t provide more specific detail regarding how the record was being tallied.
The e-commerce giant did say that as of the statement, which was released at 4 am ET, the Amazon Echo was the best-selling item so far in the U.S. The Echo usually sells for $179.99, but was being sold for $89.99 on Tuesday.
Alibaba also used the occasion as an opportunity to tout its own shopping event, Singles Day, by starting a four-month countdown to Nov. 11. The company has turned a Chinese folk holiday for young singles into the world’s biggest shopping day.
“We are seeing other big box retailers use Prime Day as an opportunity to capture shoppers’ appetite for deals and as way to compete against Amazon for share of wallet and mindset,” PwC’s Consumer Markets lead Steve Barr told CNBC.
“But the only way they will draw attention away from Amazon is through great deals,” Barr said. “July is becoming equivalent to November with month-long discounts to entice shoppers. … This is an all-out battle for relevance and market share.”
It's Prime Day, but not all the deals are on Amazon. Here's what others are offering