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 A piñata in the Amazon conference room where Prime Day coordinators gathered in 2015 to oversee the company’s first Prime Day sale. The original event was code-named piñata. (Photo: Elizabeth Weise) 
 
 SEATTLE—At Amazon headquarters here, two floors of conference rooms are outfitted as war rooms, the better to absorb the crushing blow of 85 million Prime shoppers feverishly tapping on the best slow cooker deals. 
 
 Prime Day (or Prime Day plus six hours) is almost here. 
 
 What started as an experiment to shake-up the shopping doldrums of July, with perhaps a sprinkle of inspiration from Alibaba's wildly successful Single's Day, has turned into one of Amazon's biggest sales days. 
 
 Last year, analysts estimate Prime Day sales totaled between $500 million and $600 million, or 1.5% of its third quarter sales — compared with the $3.34 billion spent online by Americans this past Black Friday at retailers. Amazon (AMZN), which does not release sales figures for the event, said they surpassed the prior year's Prime Day by more than 60% worldwide. 
 
 While this year’s Prime Day will almost certainly out-perform last year’s, in the bigger picture Prime Day just isn't as relevant as holiday sales in November and December, said Alasdair McLean-Foreman, founder of Teikametrics, a company that provides data analytics and optimization technology for sellers on e-commerce platforms. 
 
 Sales are by no means the only important metric. At heart, Prime Day is “another excellent branding opportunity to own consumer mind share,” McLean-Foreman said. 
 
 Related: 
 
 Bursting digital shopping carts help Amazon and the tens of thousands of companies that sell on its site to level out demand over the year, adding a nice bump of sales in July when things are typically flat, says Gene Alvarez, an analyst who follows the company for Gartner. 
 
 It’s also a chance for Amazon to tout voice-ordering and to get more people engaged with its Echo voice-operated devices. 
 
 But mostly it’s a chance for Amazon to gather information, both in general and as a kind of stress test for the holidays. 
 
 Amazon’s vice president for Prime, stands in the conference room where his team oversaw Amazon’s first Prime Day sale in 2015. The event was code-named Piñata and the room was decorated with piñata cutouts and actual piñatas. The one he holds in his hand was the only piñata remaining in the conference room in 2017. (Photo: Elizabeth Weise/USA TODAY) 
 
 “Prime Day is about experimenting and learning more about the customer experience and willingness to shop in new ways,” Alvarez said. 
 
 Amazon is prepping for this year's Prime Day, which starts Monday at 9 PM Eastern and runs for 30 hours across 13 countries, to be a big one. 
 
 Amazonians (Amazon's internal name for its workers) who work on Prime are expected to block off June and much of July and take their summer vacations after the dust has cleared. 
 
 Code Name: Pinata 
 
 It’s all a long way from its beginnings as a doldrums of July sale, originally code-named Piñata. 
 
 The first Prime Day in 2015 got off to a somewhat inauspicious start. The team focused on the event had taken over a small conference room decorated with Piñata cutouts as its operations center. 
 
 Prime hit first in Japan, 16 hours ahead of Seattle. As the sale began there, customers rushed online to start buying and the Amazon.jp site promptly crashed. 
 
 Greg Greeley, Amazon’s vice president for Prime, literally fell off his chair as he lunged to deal with the problem. The team got the site up and running again in two minutes but the magnitude of what they’d launched was clear. 
 
 “I got on the phone with AWS and I told them, ‘When the sun comes up here, this is going to be huge,’” he told USA TODAY last week. 
 
 The first Prime Day in 2015 came about as the company was casting about for a celebration for its twentieth anniversary, though it resembled Singles’ Day in China, an obscure event for bachelors that the Chinese digital giant Alibaba turned into a cultural event beginning in 2009, selling $17.8 billion in goods last year. 
 
 Just as with Black Friday deals, the question for consumers is always whether they’re getting deals or duds. Amazon’s first try at Prime Day in 2015 was panned by some because too many deals seemed instead to be merchants clearing out unsold inventory, with Twitter calling out garage-sale like goods such as shoe horns and granny panties. 
 
 The next year Prime Day felt a lot more like Black Friday, though an analysis by The Wirecutter found that while there were thousands of deals, few were what it termed "great deals." 
 
 This year, Amazon is pledging that price for all its limited-time lightning deals will be the lowest for that item offered on its site in the last 365 days. 
 
 It won't be the only game in town. JCPenney, Kohl's and Macy's are all offering exclusive discounts before and during Prime Day, though Walmart, Target and Lowe's are among the big names who appear to be skipping the event. 
 
 Amazon uses both human and robot workers in its warehouses. (Photo: Amazon) 
 
 In the first two years Prime Day was also a big enticement for customers to sign up for Amazon’s Prime membership service, which offers free two-day shipping and same-day shipping in many cities plus a host of perks. 
 
 Prime members are a major sweet spot for Amazon. According to figures released last week by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, there are now 85 million highly remunerative Prime members in the United States, up from 65 million a year ago. Once in the Amazon eco-system they spend on average about $1,300 per year, compared to about $700 per year for non-member customers. 
 
 Forrester’s Amazon analyst Brendan Witcher expects the company to heavily promote its Echo family of voice-activated devices as it continues efforts to build-out its already substantial lead in voice assistants. This includes the new Echo Show, which comes with a 7" screen. 
 
 Amazon Echo Show (Photo: Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar) 
 
 “It wouldn't surprise me if almost every step of the purchasing journey will include some mention of Amazon Echo,” he said. 
 
 Amazon’s overall goal, which Prime Day contributes to, is to do with retail what Apple did with music – build an ecosystem of delivery that will become an ecosystem of buying, Witcher said. 
 
 The work that Amazon has put into Prime Day is paying off for the third-party sellers on Amazon’s site, who now make up more than 50% of units sold by the company. 
 
 Austin, Texas-based Silk Innovation sells mobile phone cases. The company set its sales targets in the spring, ordering from China and having the products shipped directly to Amazon fulfillment centers. 
 
 CEO Matt Altschul expects a 25% jump in sales in July due to Prime Day. 
 
 “I wish I had a story to tell you that everything’s wild and we all had to work our butts off, but I don’t," he said. "It’s the beauty of Amazon’s automation.” 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2u8NTs2 ||||| Now playing: Watch this: The real deals of Amazon Prime Day 
 
 It's beginning to look a lot like Prime Day. 
 
 On the evening of Monday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, and 6 p.m. in the UK, Amazon will kick off its third annual sales event. It's basically a Cyber-Monday-in-July that promises extra savings over and above the company's usual discount prices. But that evening start is reminiscent of Black Friday sales that start on Thanksgiving: This year's Prime Day runs for 30 hours, straight through July 11. 
 
 So who's allowed to get in on this Prime action? What's going to be different compared with last year? How can you be sure Amazon's Prime Day price is actually the best price? 
 
 I've got all the answers. Here's everything you need to know about Prime Day 2017. 
 
 Days of Prime Day past 
 
 Amazon's first stab at Prime Day (in 2015) was to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Although the event proved a big success in terms of sales, customers found a lot to dislike. The biggest discounts were on Amazon's own products (Kindles, Fire tablets, Echo products and so on), and those seemed to come and go at random. 
 
 Last year, things went better, with lots more inventory and category-driven search that made it easier to sift through the nearly 100,000 sale items. 
 
 Why you should care about Prime Day 
 
 In 2016, Amazon's big categories were TV and toys. The company promised twice as much TV inventory as "Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined," and toy deals that would run "nearly all day." 
 
 Will those be the spotlight categories this year as well? That remains to be seen, but there will undoubtedly be countless other deals. And Amazon will offer Alexa-powered specials as well, so if you own an Amazon Echo ( ), Dot or Tap, you might be able to score some exclusives. (You can already ask Alexa to spill some rumors.) 
 
 Amazon is also promising savings of "up to 40 percent" on Kindle Unlimited membership, though it's not quite clear what the "up to" part is about. Currently, the ebook/audiobook subscription service costs $9.99 per month, or £7.99 in the UK. 
 
 ...and why you shouldn't care 
 
 If we haven't met before, I'm Rick "The Cheapskate" Broida, and I write about tech deals pretty much every day of the year. And let me tell you, every day is Prime Day. By which I mean there are great bargains to be had all the time. 
 
 Yes, as with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon may shave a few extra dollars off a TV or Kindle. But also as with those days, supplies will be limited. And the TV might be an off-brand model that wasn't really what you had in mind. 
 
 In other words, resist the hype. If there's a particularly good deal to be had on a product you've been eyeballing, by all means grab it. But don't think this is your only opportunity to save big. 
 
 Furthermore, with Amazon planning to roll out new deals "as often as every 5 minutes" throughout the day, this is a rabbit hole you might want to avoid. Prime Day will definitely not be Productivity Day if you're refreshing your browser every 5 minutes. (Though see below for a handy way to keep tabs on specific deals.) 
 
 Prime Day is for Prime subscribers 
 
 Amazon Prime is, of course, the subscription service that affords unlimited two-day shipping, movie and unlimited music streaming and various other perks. It costs $99 per year (a very good deal, in my humble opinion), or £79 in the UK. 
 
 In order to take advantage of Prime Day deals, you must be a Prime subscriber. That's the bad news; the good news is that if you've never tried the service before, you can get a free trial -- and that trial membership qualifies you for Prime Day savings. 
 
 By the way, if you're a US college student, you can get a six-month free trial of Amazon Prime, after which you can snag a membership for just $49 -- 50 percent off the regular annual price. 
 
 Prime Day deals have already started (sort of) 
 
 Head over to amazon.com/primeday (here in the UK) and you'll find some deals rotating in and out before the official kickoff on July 10. Some of the deals are better than others. For instance, as of Friday, July 7, there are digital versions of some pretty great movies on sale for just $5. I'll update the post if there's anything further to report. 
 
 Use the Amazon App to get deal notifications 
 
 Amazon 
 
 Part of the challenge of Prime Day is keeping tabs on the deals that interest you, especially those scheduled to begin later in the day. If you forget, you might miss out. 
 
 Fortunately, the Amazon App lets you track upcoming deals and receive notifications when they're about to begin. It's available for Amazon Fire (natch), Android and iOS in their respective app stores. (The app also affords benefits like voice-powered search and shipment tracking.) 
 
 Don't assume Prime Day is the best day 
 
 As I noted above, where I come from, every day is Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Prime Day. That means you should approach every deal with a little bit of skepticism -- or at least a little bit of research. 
 
 One great place to start: CamelCamelCamel, the site that tracks Amazon price histories. (It can also notify you when Amazon products go on sale; I recently explained how to use it to track those rare Amazon Echo deals and you can see Amazon's current deal offerings here.) 
 
 Before you pull the trigger on any Prime Day deal, copy the URL, paste it into CamelCamelCamel's search field and check the results. You may discover that the product has indeed been priced lower in the past, and therefore may be again. 
 
 At the same time, consider using a browser plug-in such as Honey, which can instantly inform you if any third-party sellers have the same product for a lower price (which doesn't happen often, but it's worth checking). 
 
 Finally, be sure to check other sites. Best Buy, Walmart and other major stores may well trot out their own answers to Prime Day, offering loss-leader pricing on popular items. 
 
 How waitlisting works 
 
 Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET 
 
 Like Amazon's daily Lightning deals, most Prime Day deals are available in limited quantities -- and once they're "claimed," they're gone. Or maybe not: You may see a Join Waitlist button that'll put you in the queue to grab an item if it becomes available. 
 
 How does that happen? Sometimes other customers will add an item to their cart, then decide not to buy it (or fail to complete the purchase within 15 minutes) -- at which point it goes to the next person in line. That could be you, so don't be shy about joining the waitlist if it's something you really want. 
 
 Ask Alexa for exclusive deals 
 
 Amazon already offers exclusive deals to owners of the Echo, Echo Dot, Tap and other Alexa-enhanced devices: You just say, "Alexa, what are your deals?" 
 
 It should come as no surprise, then, that Amazon's gal is serving up Prime Day exclusives as well -- starting with a deal on Prime itself. If you're not already a subscriber, you can say, "Alexa, sign me up for Prime," and you'll get an annual membership for $79 instead of the usual $99. 
 
 Beyond that, ask Alexa for "Prime Day deals," both leading up to the big day and on the day itself. One item to consider: the Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Speaker III. Alexa will score you a $50 discount, a bit better than the $41 discount afforded to regular Amazon shoppers. 
 
 Editors' note: This article was originally published on July 5, 2016, and has since been updated. ||||| Screenshot by Joan Solsman/CNET 
 
 All eyes in retail are on Amazon this Monday, and not just for good reasons. 
 
 The world's largest e-commerce company kicked off its annual Prime Day sale today with a series of glitches that plagued its site and mobile app for over an hour in the US, based on visits from CNET staff and a host of reports on social media. Outage reports spiked around noon PT, according to DownDetector.com, just as Amazon Prime Day officially started. Amazon.com in the US appeared to be hit the hardest. Lesser issues were reported in parts of Canada, Mexico and Europe. 
 
 Now playing: Watch this: Prime Day 2018 and the 404 dogs of Amazon 
 
 As of 1 p.m. PT, a full hour into the sale, there appeared to be a handful of errors on the site. The homepage was generally available, but errors were coming up at checkout, items in shopping carts were disappearing, mobile alerts were delayed, products searches were sometimes offering no results, and some shoppers were caught in a "Shop All Deals" loop. Soon after, it appeared the site was beginning to recover, with the main Prime Day homepage becoming available. 
 
 Roughly two hours after the outage began, Amazon acknowledged the ongoing problems in short statement: "Some customers are having difficulty shopping, and we're working to resolve this issue quickly." It added that US customers ordered more items in the first hour of Prime Day than last year, despite the outages. Amazon didn't offer an explanation for what was causing the issues. 
 
 Monday's problems weren't the first time that Amazon experienced a notable website error during Prime Day. In 2016, a computer glitch prevented people from checking out their purchases online in the early hours of the sale. 
 
 When asked about the site running properly during the increased demand, Jamil Ghani, vice president of Prime international, earlier this month told CNET: "We feel prepared for what's to come." 
 
 con: @amazon prime day site down 
 
 pro: doggo pictures pic.twitter.com/szN0h4JPOa — elizabeth wozobski (@EWozobski) July 16, 2018 
 
 The problems could be due to an early rush of web traffic, though for now that's uncertain. 
 
 Amazon is used to surges of consumer traffic following over 20 years operating its website during the height of holiday shopping. The company is also a leader in operating server farms and cloud computing, thanks to its highly lucrative Amazon Web Services business. AWS runs Amazon's sites and appeared to be working normally Monday, according to its online status page. 
 
 However, Prime Day offers significant challenges for even Amazon, since the sale is consolidated to a short period of time -- not a whole shopping season -- kicks off at a set period across the globe and is focused on just one retailer. Amazon also added four new countries to Prime Day this year: Australia, Singapore, Netherlands and Luxembourg. 
 
 That scenario invites a big wave of shoppers to arrive at Amazon right at the beginning of the sale, which could temporarily overwhelm its capacity. Additionally, Prime Day offers its own set of over 1 million deals globally and a customized homepage, adding to the complexity of operating the sale. 
 
 "We've seen this sort of thing happen on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the past with other retailers," said eMarketer retail analyst Andrew Lipsman. "In many ways, it's a double edged sword. On the one hand, you don't want to erode consumer trust by having an outage. On the other side, it's often a reflection of higher-than-expected demand." 
 
 He added that consumer shopping tends to recover if an outage is fixed fairly quickly. 
 
 amazon down on prime day heellpp #AmazonPrimeDay pic.twitter.com/IQRpr72iDw — Lisa Scherzer (@lisascherzer) July 16, 2018 
 
 My @amazon Prime Day experience. Multiple refreshes and still the same. Is @awscloud down too? pic.twitter.com/MMRCglgGK1 — Mike Baranski (@mikebaranski) July 16, 2018 
 
 Because Prime Day is going on for 36 hours this year -- up from 30 hours last year -- Amazon has an opportunity to come back from the weak start. But, the problems may make it harder for the company to break its single-day sales record, which it managed to do for the past two Prime Day sales. 
 
 Amazon last year said Prime Day sales grew by 60 percent from the year earlier and that more new members joined Prime than on any other day in Amazon history. Overall, Prime Day raked in an estimated $2.5 billion to $2.9 billion in global sales, including sales from third-party vendors, financial firm Cowen said last year. 
 
 First published at 12:19 p.m. PT. 
 
 Updated at 2:21 p.m. PT: Adds more background throughout and updates the site's performance, as well as an official statement from Amazon. 
 
 'Hello, humans': Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet. 
 
 CNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition. ||||| Consumer demand was there for Amazon Prime Day, but the deals did not deliver. At least, that’s the sentiment being shared on social media about Amazon’s first-ever attempt at creating its own sales holiday – one which the company had promised would feature “more deals than Black Friday.” 
 
 In celebration of Amazon’s 20th anniversary, Prime Day was meant to somewhat replicate the post-Thanksgiving sales rush in the U.S., or perhaps Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba’s “Singles Day” – but one that took place via Amazon’s own website and apps. 
 
 Unfortunately for Amazon, the event has not been met with great feedback so far. 
 
 A number of shoppers stayed up late to be first in line for Amazon’s e-commerce sales, but found themselves disappointed by the quality of the deals offered when Prime Day arrived. That led to many joking about how Prime Day looked more like an online “garage sale” or yard sale, instead of the big event Amazon intended. 
 
 Typically, during Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events, retailers tease “door busters” to draw crowds who then scoop up other items the stores want to unload. But outside of some decent enough smart TV discounts, it seems that Amazon’s best Prime Day deals were those where it had cut the prices on its own products. 
 
 For example, Amazon’s Fire TV stick was reduced from $39 to $25; Kindles were slashed from $79 to $49; the Fire HD7 tablet was $79 down from $139; and Amazon’s connected speaker Echo was $129 down from $179. 
 
 Sold Out Deals Frustrate Shoppers 
 
 Unfortunately, by early Wednesday morning, many of these deals were already sold out, consumers soon discovered. 
 
 Those who popped over to Prime Day during lunch breaks or in the early a.m. on the West Coast were out of luck. Instead of being able to buy these limited-quantity deals, consumers were being offered the option to join a waitlist for the items. Amazon had said it would stagger the deals throughout the day, but as of 3 p.m. EDT, the Amazon hardware deals had just dwindled down to almost nothing. The only thing left at the time of writing – at least in terms of Amazon hardware sales – is a $79 Kindle Fire HD6 (usually $99.) 
 
 First reaction to #PrimeDay? If I wanted to be on a waitlist, I’d apply to college again. Walmart site seems easier to navigate than Amazon. — Paul R. La Monica (@LaMonicaBuzz) July 15, 2015 
 
 Well done Amazon, the only deals I was really interested in were sold out before I woke up. #PrimeDay — Dave Bohnert (@copiedline) July 15, 2015 
 
 Other promotions also tended to feature savings on Amazon’s own products and services, like a $30 gift card when you bought through Amazon Home Services; $10 in credit when you bought a gift card multipack; $15 off Amazon Warehouse deals; and so on. 
 
 Consumers Complain Of Low-Quality Deals 
 
 Meanwhile, as the Amazon hardware deals disappeared in rapid succession, the Amazon Prime Day landing page heavily promoted the company’s typical “Lightning Deals,” which led to shoppers seeing big ads about run-of-the-mill purchase opportunities like “20% off dishwasher detergent,” or $5 off razor blades when you “subscribe & save.” 
 
 Some on Twitter made jokes about the various Lightning deals offered, quipping about how they could finally buy some cheap vitamins, cup holders or other random items. News sites even rounded up some of the more bizarre savings they spotted, while others tried at least to share lists of better deals with their readers. 
 
 But even on Wirecutter’s handy resource for Prime Day deals, the site found itself pointing to non-Prime Day related sales, like a discounted printer they just happened across while looking for deals, or a Walmart sale on a Fitbit Charge HR, which turned out to be better priced than Amazon’s. (Walmart had planned its own sales event to counter Amazon’s push.) 
 
 Twitter filled with complaints from consumers who lamented that Amazon’s deals were “boring,” they couldn’t find anything they wanted to buy, that the savings weren’t stellar, that the only things they wanted were sold out, and so on. 
 
 Is it me or is #PrimeDay not that serious? It’s more like a Marshall’s clearance bin. “Oh great, $0.15 savings on an off-brand cup holder.” — Robert Britt (@RobrtAnthony) July 15, 2015 
 
 So far #PrimeDay looks like killer savings on USB cables and paper towels. — Aaron Thacker (@yourdp) July 15, 2015 
 
 #PrimeDay is a joke. Boring items, not that great of savings. Disappointed… — Tregg Player (@TreggPlayer) July 15, 2015 
 
 #amazon #primeday so far hasnt shown me any savings at all…not impressed…I was looking to be wowed … now im sad… — Charlotte Gilbert (@CSSGilbert) July 15, 2015 
 
 Some pundits argued that despite its failure to win over consumer sentiment, Amazon was able to score a ton of data about products in demand in light of the rush to shop on Prime Day. That’s good, in case Amazon ever wants to try this sales event again. It definitely left room for improvement. 
 
 Consumer Demand For Prime Day Was Huge: Amazon U.S. Sales Up 80% 
 
 What’s interesting, however, is how significant consumer demand really was for the promotion – something that’s hard to see through the Twitter snark. 
 
 Amazon claimed early in the day that its “Prime Day” peak order rates passed that of 2014’s Black Friday. Around mid-day, the company said that Prime members had already bought tens of thousands of Fire TV Sticks, 35,000 Lord of the Rings Blu-Ray sets, 28,000 Rubbermaid sets, and 4,000 Echo devices in just 15 minutes. A Kate Spade purse was gone in less than a minute, and it sold 1,200 of the $999 TVs in less than 10 minutes. 
 
 But third-party data also paints a picture of what that consumer demand actually looked like today. 
 
 According to ChannelAdvisor, for example, Amazon’s daily sales in the U.S. were up around 80 percent as of noon Eastern over last year’s figures, and sales were up 40 percent in Europe. 
 
 “We’ve been averaging year-over-year growth in the ~25 percent range, so this is a significant jump that we are already seeing mid-day,” noted Scot Wingo, ChannelAdvisor chairman. However, he added, “We are seeing some negative social media comments as the deals are selling out very quickly, and that can leave buyers frustrated when a lightning deal they are excited about goes out of stock very quickly.” 
 
 Amazon’s Mobile Apps Jump The Charts, See More Movement Than Black Friday 
 
 In addition, Amazon’s mobile applications saw significant movement up the charts on iTunes and Google Play on Wednesday because of Prime Day. For instance, the U.S. iOS app jumped from No. 21 Overall yesterday to No. 5 today. 
 
 In other words, consumer demand was ripe for Prime Day. Users were either downloading the app for the first time, re-installing it, or installing it on a new mobile device where they hadn’t yet added it. 
 
 According to Danielle Levitas, SVP of Research and Analysis at App Annie, chart movement like that is consistent with what retailers would see around the Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping cycle. 
 
 “In general, within a single store…it could be at least a doubling of downloads to drive [an app] into the top 10,” Levitas explains. “In this particular case, we’re talking about at least a 3x jump for Amazon in terms of what it took to get it into the top 10.” The app passed Instagram and newcomer Musical.ly to reach its high-ranked position, which would have required a significant number of downloads, Levitas also noted. 
 
 On Google Play in the U.S., Amazon’s app didn’t quite reach as high a ranking (it’s at No. 14 now), but in absolute terms, the download volume for the app was even higher than it was on iOS. 
 
 What these numbers indicate is that consumers were at least interested in checking out Amazon’s deals. But how many ended up actually converting to Amazon Prime members, or how many will now become actively engaged customers in the long-term thanks to Prime Day, still remains to be seen. ||||| Ready, set, go! (Getty Images) 
 
 Shoppers, charge your phones, memorize your credit card's CVV and log into your Amazon Prime account. 
 
 Amazon Prime Day is on July 12, and you'll want to be poised to snatch up all the exceptional deals. 
 
 Amazon has been dropping hints about its upcoming shopping holiday for several months, but the company only revealed the official date in early July. On Amazon Prime Day, the massive online marketplace is set to release more than 100,000 deals across all departments and product categories. These deals will be available exclusively to Amazon Prime members in the U.S. and abroad, including those in the U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium and Austria. 
 
 What to Expect on July 12 
 
 When the clock strikes midnight Pacific Time, the 24-hour savings storm will commence. According to Amazon, Prime Day will be its "biggest event ever" and feature more deals in one day than ever in Amazon history. The 2016 Prime Day sale is to feature more than twice the number of deals of Prime Day 2015, and boast twice as many TVs as Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined. Prime Day is expected to rival these major shopping holidays as one of the most heavily trafficked holiday of the year. 
 
 Throughout July 12, the site will offer new deals as often as every 10 minutes. Shoppers will see savings on nearly every type of product imaginable, from HDTVs to women's shoes to health supplements. Most deals will fall into three main categories, including: 
 
 Prime Day Spotlight Deals 
 
 These deals include huge discounts on renowned brands and coveted products. Prime Day Spotlight products will be available until they run out of stock. Amazon calls Spotlight Deals the "best deals you'll find on Prime Day." 
 
 Amazon Lightning Deals 
 
 These fleeting promotions will pop up and disappear within a few hours throughout the sale. On every Lightning deal icon, a timer counts down the minutes until the deal is over, while a status bar lets you know how many items are left in stock. 
 
 Prime Savings and Deals 
 
 These promos run through the whole sale. Prime Member promotions will be available on the Prime Day Deals page, and discounts will be applied at checkout. 
 
 In addition to Amazon products, the sale will spotlight a huge array of small businesses. The online marketplace has promised twice as many third-party sellers as last year, and maintains that 30 percent of all Lightning Deals will be from independent businesses. 
 
 The Amazon Prime Day Countdown 
 
 Leading up to Prime Day, Amazon has been giving shoppers a taste of the exceptional sale to come. Every day from July 5 to 11, Amazon has doled out Countdown deals in different themes. Here's what the 2016 Amazon Prime Countdown schedule included: 
 
 July 5: Summer Entertainment 
 
 July 6: Tastes of Summer 
 
 July 7: Summer Travel 
 
 July 8: Gadgets on the Go 
 
 July 9: Outdoor Living and Summer Parties 
 
 July 10: Wardrobe Essentials: Back-to-School and Summer Fashions 
 
 July 11: Summer Basics 
 
 Throughout the Amazon Prime Countdown Sale, we saw significant savings. Past deals included things like: 
 
 $119.99 for a 32-inch TV bundle with a Fire TV Stick 
 
 20 percent off a Garmin vivofit fitness band 
 
 $250 for an Acer 15-inch Chromebook 
 
 A 50-inch Vizio with a $150 eGift card 
 
 24 set of James Bond movies for $90 
 
 Up to 50 percent off jewelry top sellers 
 
 Up to 66 percent off men's and women's bestselling watches 
 
 60 percent off luggage and accessories 
 
 Throughout the Prime Countdown sale, Amazon has been offering up to 40 percent off Kindle subscriptions, as well as deals on streaming of popular movies and TV series. 
 
 Essential Tips for Shopping the Sale 
 
 With Amazon Prime Day coming but once a year, you have only 24 hours to snap up the deals. So before you key "amazon.com" into your address bar, keep these essential Prime shopping tips in mind: 
 
 1. You'll need an Amazon Prime account. Without an account, you won't be able to shop the sale. If you're not a Prime member, set up a 30-day trial on the site. You'll be able to access the sale and enjoy Prime benefits until your trial is up in a month, when you can cancel the membership, free of charge. 
 
 2. Consider downloading the Amazon shopping app. Using the app, you can track your favorite deals and receive notifications as soon as they launch. This will help you catch the most sought-after Lightening Deals before they disappear. 
 
 3. Set up one-click purchasing. The one-click purchase setting allows you to place orders with a single click. To turn on one-click, visit your account and navigate to the "manage addresses" page to link a payment method with your shipping address. ||||| Get the Better newsletter. 
 
 / Updated By Nicole Spector 
 
 It’s Christmas in July, or so it feels like with Amazon’s annual Prime Day arriving Monday the 16th at 3 p.m EST (though we’re seeing Countdown Deals trickle in). The sales bonanza, set to span 36 hours this year (longer than ever before), is open only to Prime members (including those doing a free trial). Historically, the self-made holiday has featured a wide array of savings on items in electronics, entertainment and tech with the savings spotlight shining especially bright on Amazon-branded products like Echo andAlexa. This year should bring the same — and more. 
 
 Part of the magic of the day is the secrecy leading up to it. Amazon keeps a tight lid on the details, leaving predictions to the retail experts while it drums up the hype (like by delivering huge ‘smile’ boxes in select big cities) and promises “more than a million deals worldwide.” It’s a lot of fun if you like surprises, but it’s also somewhat stressful if you’re trying to stick to a budget or if you’re planning the purchase of a big-ticket item that may or may not make Prime Day’s cut. 
 
 Here’s a look at how to navigate the chaos to land the hottest deals and maximize your savings. 
 
 Make a wish list before you start browsing 
 
 It’s tempting to buy something you don’t necessarily want when you know you’re getting substantial savings — and Amazon knows it. 
 
 “Amazon has been designed to pull you into hours of clicking around and anticipating what you want based on your search history,” says Kevin Kelly, president of Bigbuzz Marketing Group. “For big and small items alike, it’s best to prepare a list to avoid getting derailed by impulse purchases.” 
 
 You can add these items to your own Amazon Wish List. “Amazon will notify you if any of the items you're coveting become Prime Day deals,” says Sara Skirboll, shopping and trends expert at RetailMeNot. 
 
 The usual electronics will be there but so will fashion and food 
 
 Though won’t know all the deals available until Prime Day, we can make some safe bets on what’s to come. 
 
 "Similar to previous years, noteworthy discounts are available on Amazon products such as Kindles and Echo devices,” says Chelsea Hudson, online shopping and deal expert at TopCashback.com (right now, the site offers a $15 Amazon gift card for new members). “Shoppers can also find discounts on modern electronics such as smart home devices, TVs, video games, consoles and more.” 
 
 Cooper Smith, head of Amazon Research at Gartner L2 predicts that consumers will see “a much broader range of discounting across categories including fashion and groceries.” He explains: “Fashion because the majority of Amazon’s new private label brands since last year’s Prime Day are apparel brands. Groceries because Amazon wants to accelerate Whole Foods’ customer acquisition and start conditioning Prime members to do their grocery shopping with them.” 
 
 Whole Foods has already unveiled a Prime special: a $10 Amazon credit to use during the 36-hour sale when they spend $10 or more at Whole Foods between July 11 through 17. 
 
 The Lightning Deals should strike hourly 
 
 “Don't overlook Amazon's Lightning Deals,” says Hudson. “In the past, select items receive a dramatic price drop for a very short period of time, so keep your eyes peeled for those. Every hour you'll notice another gadget is on sale, from a Bluetooth speaker to a Brita pitcher or pressure cooker." 
 
 Remember that you have a short window of time to act on these. 
 
 “Once you put a lightning deal in your cart, you only have about 15 minutes to transact," says Skirboll. 
 
 Don't get your hopes up on these non-Amazon-branded tech and kitchen items 
 
 So, what can you skip? Krista Fabregas, retail and shopping analyst at Fit Small Business, notes that shoppers shouldn't get their savings hopes up on these items on Prime Day: 
 
 Apple devices. “Find better deals designed to lure Amazon shoppers away on competing sites and stores like Best Buy and Walmart.” 
 
 “Find better deals designed to lure Amazon shoppers away on competing sites and stores like Best Buy and Walmart.” Google devices. “Amazon is not interested in pushing competing Google Home devices. Head to rival Walmart for savings on these items.” 
 
 “Amazon is not interested in pushing competing Google Home devices. Head to rival Walmart for savings on these items.” Cameras. “Better deals can be found elsewhere, like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, eBay, NewEgg, and even specialty stores like B&H.” 
 
 “Better deals can be found elsewhere, like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, eBay, NewEgg, and even specialty stores like B&H.” Kitchen appliances. “Don’t be tempted by sales on kitchen appliances since Amazon will release similar or better deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” adds TopCashback’s Hudson. 
 
 Is this the brand you want? If not, don’t settle unless it’s urgent 
 
 Last year, my fiancé and I went all out on Black Friday and bought a new TV for some 30 percent off the list price. It was not the brand we’d been hoping would see major discounts, and was smaller than we liked. But we caved in our fervor to get in on the savings action. The following March, in time for the Super Bowl, the TV we originally wanted went on sale for less than what we’d paid for the subpar model. Consider this a lesson in waiting/saving for the thing you really want rather than settling on something close enough. 
 
 “Sometimes urgency is more important than getting the exact model you had in mind, but if you have your heart set on a certain brand or model, you may not see it on sale,” says Kelly. “Decide if the purchase is urgent: Do you need that bed or washer/dryer immediately? ” 
 
 If not, consider skipping it. Labor Day sales are right around the corner, and before you know it Cyber Monday will be here. 
 
 Comparison-shopping is a must 
 
 Many retailers competing with Amazon will be seizing this opportunity to flash bigger and better sales. 
 
 “Last year, 20 percent of products discounted by Amazon during Prime Day were available from other retailers for less,” says Jared Blank, SVP of marketing and data insights at the retail marketing company Bluecore. 
 
 Check out retailers like Lowe’s, Macy’s and Sony and any others that have announced their own ‘Black Friday in July’ sales, says Sara Spivey, CMO of digital marketing company Bazaarvoice, noting that the majority of Prime Day shoppers did this in 2017. 
 
 “Last year we found that 76 percent of Prime Day shoppers visit other major online stores to research products and read ratings and reviews before making their ultimate purchase decisions, and many admitted to frequenting places like Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Home Depot to research and compare products,” says Spivey. “By offering up sales and promotions of their own, these rival retailers have an opportunity to drive more revenue too. Our research showed that not only did site traffic increase on Prime Day, but the number of orders also increased by 38 percent.” 
 
 Here’s a list of sites offering specials this July, courtesy of RetailMeNot. 
 
 Quick tips to maximize your savings 
 
 You can save even more on Prime Day by doing the following: 
 
 Get the Amazon Prime Rewards credit card , which will “get you a $70 gift card and five percent back on all Amazon purchases,” says Skirboll. 
 
 , which will “get you a $70 gift card and five percent back on all Amazon purchases,” says Skirboll. Sign up with a cashback site. (Hudson says that TopCashback is offering eight percent cashback on Amazon devices). Also check out EBates, Honey, Wikibuy and RetailMeNotGenie, and remember to use these when comparison shopping, too. 
 
 (Hudson says that TopCashback is offering eight percent cashback on Amazon devices). Also check out EBates, Honey, Wikibuy and RetailMeNotGenie, and remember to use these when comparison shopping, too. Use an Amazon price tracker. “Prices can change so quickly you have to use an hourly Amazon price tracker that can pick up on short-lived deals (think lightning deals) and notify you before the price pops back up,” says David Mercer, founder of SME Pals. “A good place to start using price histories is this lowest price deals page that shows only products selling at their historical lowest price (over the last month) right now.” You have a few options for price trackers including CamelCamelCamel, Keepa and The Tracktor. 
 
 “Prices can change so quickly you have to use an hourly Amazon price tracker that can pick up on short-lived deals (think lightning deals) and notify you before the price pops back up,” says David Mercer, founder of SME Pals. “A good place to start using price histories is this lowest price deals page that shows only products selling at their historical lowest price (over the last month) right now.” You have a few options for price trackers including CamelCamelCamel, Keepa and The Tracktor. Chat up Alexa. “Ask Alexa what’s on sale,” says Hudson. “Last year Amazon had Alexa-only deals on consumer packaged good such as cleaning products and toilet paper. Prime Day is the perfect time to stock up on household goods for cheap.” 
 
 Amazon Deals You Can Snag Right Now 
 
 Ready to shop right now? Check out these early deals. 
 
 NBC News has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not by NBC News. All prices are subject to change and items could sell out based on the merchant’s inventory. 
 
 50 percent off Echo Show, $129 (originally $229) 
 
 45 percent off Kasa Smart WiFi Light Switch, $27 (originally $51) 
 
 30 percent off 2-pack of Solimo Sport Sunscreen, $9.09 (originally $12.99) 
 
 51 percent off Pinzon Shed-Resistant White Duck Down Pillow, $24.27 (originally $49.99) 
 
 29 percent off Pinzon 400-Thread-Count Egyptian Cotton Queen Sheet Set, $34.13 (originally $47.99) 
 
 26 percent off Amazon Basics Wireless Bluetooth Speaker, $14.59 (originally $19.78) 
 
 20 percent off Amazon Basics Paper and Credit Card Shredder, $23.74(originally $29.99) 
 
 Want more tips like these? NBC News BETTER is obsessed with finding easier, healthier and smarter ways to live. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. ||||| Alas, we knew this day would come. Amazon's fourth annual Prime Day Sale is about to crash from the virtual sky like a meteor in Fortnite, and as of April, there are 100 million Amazon Prime members set to scoop up all the deals that land. 
 
 Prime Day started innocently enough back in 2015. It was a day-long sale celebrating Amazon's 20th anniversary, and a fun gift to the millions of Prime subscribers. The sale was so successful that Amazon made it an annual event, and it's been getting bigger and nuttier ever since. 
 
 This year, Prime Day will stretch 36 straight hours, and likely feature more deals then ever, and in new categories. Amazon now owns Whole Foods and is trying to promote Twitch Prime, so we can expect more food and gaming deals for starters. Below are some tips if you have something you're hoping to buy on discount. 
 
 Our Prime Day Coverage 
 
 Amazon Prime Day has started. These are our stories so far. 
 
 When Prime Day Starts 
 
 Starts: Prime Day kicks off on Monday, July 16 at 3 p.m. ET. 
 
 Ends: 36 hours later on Wednesday, July 18 at 3 a.m. ET. 
 
 That's not all, though. You can expect bursts of pre-Prime Day deals all the way to kickoff. Amazon already has a bunch of deals on its own devices, which we've highlighted below, and more are on the way. 
 
 Early Prime Day Deals 
 
 Here are a few of the early Prime Day deals Amazon has going. 
 
 Update on July 16: Amazon's Prime Day Sale has begun, and we have a list of the best Amazon Device Deals and a full list of great deals from all categories here. 
 
 Early Prime Day Device Deals 
 
 Early Prime Day Subscription Deals 
 
 How to Snag the Best Deals 
 
 Prime Day is basically another Black Friday for Amazon. There are deals on almost everything, but not all of them are great. But to join the deal party, you must be an Amazon Prime member. You can sign up for Amazon Prime here. There is a 1-month free trial, and students can get 6 months free (and a discount), but odds are you're already onboard. If not, you should know that Prime is about $10 a month (if you subscribe annually) and offers free 2-day shipping on many items and access to the Prime Video service. There are other perks, like free Kindle books, and you can read them all here. 
 
 Get Your Cards in Order: Timing is everything. Sign up for Amazon Prime, and if you don't shop on Amazon all that often, make sure your credit card and shipping address defaults are set, and that you have 1-click ordering enabled. Once you add a deal item to your cart, you'll have about 15 minutes to buy before it's released to another eager shopper. 
 
 Set Up Deal Alerts for Particular Products: If you're hoping a particular item will go on sale, there are ways to keep an eye on it. First, install the Amazon Shopping app for iPhone or Android so you can get instant notifications. Then add the items to your Amazon Cart (You can "Save for Later"). Amazon should notify you if the price changes. 
 
 Another way to track changes is by using CamelCamelCamel.com. It lets you search up the price history of any product on Amazon and track them at a click. Better yet, if you sign up (free), it can import and track prices on your entire Amazon Wish List. (You can easily make wish lists on Amazon by clicking on the "Add to List" button on every product page.) 
 
 Track Upcoming Lightning Deals: Lightning Deals can be super stressful. It's so easy to miss them, but if you have the time to browse through deals in the morning, you can track upcoming Lightning Deals using the Amazon Shopping app. Click on the hamburger icon in the upper left, then Today's Deals > Upcoming. You can click the "Watch this Deal" button on any deal that's more than 10 minutes away to add it to your "Watching" list. The app should then notify you the moment Lightning strikes. 
 
 Amazon 
 
 Set up an Echo for Alexa Exclusive Deals: Last year Amazon offered Alexa-only pre-Prime day deals, and this year it's already doling out prizes to try it. If you own an Echo device, you can set up voice purchasing. In the Alexa app on your phone, head to Settings > Accounts and select "Purchase by Voice." Learn more about it here. 
 
 Other Stores Will Have Sales, Too 
 
 Historically, retailers like Walmart and Best Buy have gotten pretty worked up about Amazon Prime Day and offered their own defensive sales to try and steal some of Amazon's thunder. Below are a few stores likely to start having sales right around Prime Day and before. 
 
 If you're shopping over the 4th, be sure to check out the Best 4th of July Tech Sales going on. 
 
 When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read more about how this works.
– Will the third time be the charm for Amazon? Its now-slightly-misnomered Prime Day (it's actually 30 hours long, not 24, this year) kicks off at 9pm EDT Monday. Its inaugural sale in 2015 didn't blow consumers over; in 2016 there were early-morning website issues for some customers. This year, Amazon is ready, at least by USA Today's account, which notes that two floors of conference rooms at HQ have been "outfitted as war rooms" to support the onslaught of shoppers, all of whom must have a Prime membership to get the deals. More: The figures: Prime Day 2016 saw an estimated $500 million to $600 million in sales (Amazon didn't release official numbers). That's a fraction of the $3.34 billion spent on the Black Friday that followed months later, but Amazon said the total was up 60% over 2015, with 2017's Prime Day expected to be even bigger. What does bigger look like? Beating 2016 Prime Day records like these perhaps, per TechCrunch: More than 90,000 TVs, 1 million shoes, 23,000 iRobot vacuums, and 200,000 headphones were sold. It's a win-win for Amazon: There's a big upside involved in reeling in new Prime shoppers (the count has increased about 20 million year-over-year in the US, to 85 million): Their Amazon spending is almost double that of a non-Prime customer: $1,300 a year versus $700. What's on sale? Some 100,000 items, per CNET, but those items don't all go on sale at once. It offers tips on how to be alerted to the best deals (one smart one involves using your Amazon Wish List). Fortune offers some other ways, including a convenient-sounding Alexa tip. So are the deals deals? In some cases. Quartz points out that the Wirecutter gadget-review site examined 8,000 deals last Prime Day and recommended fewer than 1% of them: 64. One handy tool: CamelCamelCamel.com, which prompts you to input a product URL and then lets you know how that stacks up to what Amazon has charged for the item in the past. There's reason to care: ... and also reason to avoid the "rabbit hole" altogether. Rick Broida makes both cases at CNET. One dose of reality: If you've enjoyed Amazon's tax-free shopping in the past, it's, well, a thing of the past. Forbes points out that since April 1, Amazon has been levying sales tax for shoppers in all states with a sales tax (five don't have one: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon).