PRIME DAY

In just a few years, Amazon's annual global shopping event, Prime Day, has cemented itself as a major can't-be-missed retail sales holiday.
With its competitive savings and breadth of deals, Prime Day is just one of the benefits Prime members can enjoy, and it has only grown bigger since 2015.
Whether this is your first Prime Day or you're a seasoned shopping pro, the bottom line is that Prime Day 2018 will not disappoint.
Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2018 will begin at 3 p.m. ET on Monday, July 16, and run through Tuesday, July 17.
Check out early Prime Day deals here on Amazon devices like the Echo and the Kindle, furniture and lighting, and more exclusives just for Prime members.
Big retail sales are no longer limited and timed to only major US holidays. In fact, many retailers have created their own "holidays." Nordstrom has its popular Anniversary Sale. Nike has Air Max Day. And of course, the online behemoth Amazon has Prime Day.

Introduced in 2015 in part to celebrate Amazon's 20th anniversary, the first Prime Day was a one-day-only retail holiday that sought to overtake Black Friday as the sales event of the year.

The inaugural Prime Day received some criticism from shoppers who weren't happy with the quality and quantity of deals offered, but Amazon has stepped up its game in both realms since, and to great success. Prime Day 2017 was the biggest shopping day in company history until it was surpassed by Cyber Monday shortly after.

Prime Day has also been made available in more countries outside the US every year. In 2017, it was extended to Canada, the UK, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Belgium, and Austria. This year, it's also available in Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Prime Day as we know it is a global shopping event where Prime members can shop hundreds of thousands of deals sitewide, with new deals starting as often as every five minutes.

Amazon has announced that Prime Day 2018 will begin at 3 p.m. ET on Monday, July 16, and run through Tuesday, July 17.

From popular Amazon devices like the Echo Dot and the Kindle Paperwhite, to cult-favorite appliances like the Instant Pot, to innovative products from small businesses, there should be no shortage of deals to choose from, since this year's Prime Day will feature more than 1 million deals worldwide.

Prime Day is no doubt the best time to buy an Amazon device — Amazon says it's going to offer double the deals on Amazon devices and the biggest deals yet on Alexa-enabled products like the Echo, the Fire TV, and Fire tablets.

If you're a Prime member who shops frequently at Whole Foods, you'll also benefit. By downloading the Whole Foods Market app and scanning the Prime Code, Prime members can get deep discounts on select popular products and an additional 10% off hundreds of sale items throughout Whole Foods stores.

In the meantime, Prime members can already start enjoying exclusive offers and deals in the days leading up to Prime Day, including:

$100 off the Echo Show (now $129.99, originally $229.99).
Four months of Amazon Music Unlimited for $0.99.
Three months of Kindle Unlimited for $0.99.
Up to 30% off Amazon brands like Presto and AmazonBasics.
Free PC game giveaway every day through July 18 through Twitch Prime.
It sounds counterintuitive, but Prime Day is also a great time to shop everywhere except Amazon.

Plenty of other online retailers will be looking to compete on savings and steal away shoppers. At the same time, few can match the convenience of Amazon's fast shipping, so there is some give and take if you plan to shop elsewhere on the internet on Monday or Tuesday.