Amazon Prime Day 2020: What you need to know

After a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon is holding its Prime Day sale.

The deals started early Tuesday and will run through Wednesday.

For the past five years, the day, or days, of deals were held in July to help boost normally slow online shopping periods, NBC News reported.

Prime Day was such a successful sales campaign that competitors responded. In the past, Walmart, Macy’s and Target staged online sales to challenge Prime Day, NBC News reported.

This year is different in the online shopping world, as many people have transitioned from in-person shopping to online shopping due to the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon has seen a surge in sales, specifically online orders.

While a Prime membership is required to participate in Prime Day deals, anyone who doesn’t have one can take advantage of a free 30-day trial. The monthly charge is $12.99 or the annual fee is $119 if you end up keeping the subscription.

In the past, the Prime Day deals include Fire tablets, streaming sticks, Echos and Kindles. Toys, other electronics and gaming devices were popular categories, CNN reported.

This year, Prime Day specials include a sale on third-generation Echo Dots, in which buyers can get two for $40 -- essentially a buy one get one free deal. The 43-inch Toshiba HD TV Fire Edition and the Fire TV Recast are available for $100 off. According to CNET, the discounted DVR is listed for the lowest price on record, $130.

Shoppers can also snag the first four months of Amazon Music Unlimited for $1 instead of its original $32, plus 50% off a 6-month subscription to Kindle Unlimited. A yearlong subscription to Audible will be $50 off, and movie rentals and purchases from Prime Video will be 50% off.

Other electronics, apparel and cookware are also on sale.

See more here.

Cox Media Group