Amazon Prime Day India: All you need to know

We all know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but what about Amazon Prime Day? If you’re not familiar with Prime Day, it’s when Amazon goes mad for 24 hours and offers big discounts on things you might actually want to buy.

The event has garnered a lot of attention in the international market already but it is coming to India for the first time.Last year it was the biggest day in Amazon’s history: Amazon's traffic was up 36%. It sold 90,000 TVs and thousands of Kindle Paperwhites, Fire TV Sticks and tablets.

So what exactly is Prime Day? Can you trust the deals or is Amazon at it? And when will Prime Day 2017 be anyway? Read on for the answers to these questions and some you might not have thought of.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2017?

Amazon has said that Prime Day 2017 will be held on Tuesday 11 July 2017. Prime Day 2016 was the 12 of July, which was the second Tuesday of the month. This year that falls on the eleventh.

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What's the point of Prime Day?

Prime Day exists to promote Amazon’s Prime subscription service, which Amazon says is the best deal in the history of shopping. Prime Day is for Prime members, many of whom will sign up for a free trial of the service so they can get the deals. Once signed up, many of them stay as Prime subscribers.

If you're not a Prime subscriber, there's usually a big Amazon Prime sale in the run-up to the big day. As we mentioned in our Amazon Prime review, we think Prime is an absolute bargain anyway so at the discounted price it's hard not to strongly recommend signing up.

Why Amazon Prime Day matters

If you’re looking for bargains, Prime Day 2017 is important - not just for gadgets, but for any kind of item. Amazon has already given a preview of all the brands planning to launch their products exclusively on Prime Day sale. This day is one of the biggest yearly event for Amazon, and India is now one of the top markets for the company. So we are anticipating some crazy unexpected deals on this day.

Amazon Prime Day is more about personal shopping, either for treating yourself or for saving money household items.

Amazon Prime Day deals 2016

Will Prime Day 2017 India be as exciting as in US and UK?

No big claims to be made but yes, being the biggest shopping event of the year in leading countries, the Amazon Prime Day may get interesting for some of us. It's evident that we'll see some tempting deals on Amazon products like Fire Stick TV, Kindle and Amazon Fire tablets.

Amazon Prime Day 2017: What's new on Prime Video?

In addition to these products, Amazon is exclusive e-commerce partner with leading tech brands in India, who we think will step up for the event and make the most out of it.

Just like the US and UK, there will be stacks of lightning deals on the day too. Unless Amazon decides to do things radically differently in India, with laptop deals next to handbag deals next to power tools and prosecco. If only there was a website beginning with “T” and ending in “echradar.com” to find the best deals so you don’t have to delve through the dross. Hang on… there is!

As you’d expect, we’re going to be hyped up on energy drinks throughout Prime Day on both sides of the Atlantic, finding the deals that you really don’t want to miss.

Do I need a Prime subscription to get involved?

Yes and no. While Prime is for Prime customers, there will be other deals on the day that are open to everyone - it’s just that with lightning deals, which tend to have limited stock, the Prime users get to see them before anybody else. That means some of the very best deals can be gone long before people who aren’t Prime members get to know about them.

That doesn’t mean you need to pay for a Prime membership, though. You can sign up for a free trial and take full advantage of all the Prime benefits, including Prime Day. But don’t forget to cancel the trial afterwards if you don’t intend to continue. If you don’t, you’ll be automatically billed for membership when the trial period ends.

What to expect from Prime Day 2017

We’d expect Prime Day 2017 to follow the same template as in the US and UK. In the week or two before sale day, we'll see an enticing Amazon Prime subscription discount. Then on the day itself deals will be grouped into two category: Deals of the Day, which tend to be the most eye-catching and which are available in big numbers, and Lightning Deals, which cover every conceivable kind of product, have limited availability and often sell out very quickly. In the latter case Prime members get to see the deals before non-members.

Prime Day 2017 FAQ: what it is, when it happens and where to get the best deals

What is Prime Day?
It’s Amazon’s annual birthday celebration, when it discounts more than 100,000 products of all kinds.

When is Prime Day 2017 in India?
Amazon India has announced that the Prime Day 2017 will be on Tuesday 11 July 2017.

Is Prime Day 2017 Amazon only?
The name is Amazon’s, yes, but in 2016 plenty of other retailers decided to try and spoil Amazon’s fun by running their own doorbuster sales.

Are Prime Day deals real?
Yes and no. They’re real in the sense that you’re paying less than the official price for things, but sometimes that official price was just silly.

Like many retailers, Amazon is very keen on comparing prices against MRPs that nobody really expects anybody to pay. Such deals are essentially the same thing as supermarket wine promotions or amazing, never-ending furniture sales.

If you have a particular product in mind it's worth keeping an eye on the prices now to make sure the deals are genuine on Prime Day. It enable you to see exactly what prices are being charged for specific things - not just big purchases, but smaller items such as video games too.

Some of the deals will clearly be paper bargains like we mentioned above, but that doesn't mean all of them will be. Amazon will have been bargaining hard with key suppliers to cut the prices it pays for some products, and it'll sell some high-profile items as loss leaders in the expectation of cross-selling, up-selling and, well, selling. From Amazon's point of view it can lose money on big deals and make it back from Prime subscriptions and by shifting stock it wants to get rid of anyway.

How do I get the best Prime Day 2017 deals?
Know what you want, know what you can afford to spend and know the market: you’ll often spot interesting price hikes in June to enable amazing-looking discounts on Prime Day. Pay particular attention to real prices, not MRPs: TVs are particularly bad for this, with sets whose MRP is eleventy billion pounds routinely selling for five hundred quid.

It’s also a very good idea to be flexible: for example, if you fancy a Sony 4K TV then think about the features you want rather than a specific model number: the BRV123ABD54-88C-9218-B may not be discounted on Prime Day, but an almost identical set with the specification you want probably will be.

Can I get cashback on Prime Day deals?
You will get 20% Cashback on Amazon Pay balance from 29th June – 11th July and shop on Prime Day with HDFC cards to Get 15% cash back.

How can I stay safe on Prime Day?
There’s a good chance that spammers and scammers will latch on to Prime Day much as they have with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so be wary of unsolicited emails or links to deals on social media no matter how legitimate they look: anything asking for card details or login details is a scam. If you’re on a PC, make sure your security software is up to date. Many suites automatically block known scam sites.