Amazon Prime Day 2022 will take place in July. The mega-retailer recently confirmed this date window for the two-day deals extravaganza. It's a return to the usual time of year when one of the largest shopping events in the entire retail calendar takes place. With the event on the horizon, then, we're here to keep you up to date with the latest news and updates you need to know right now.
Once again, there will be thousands of deals across everything from laptops and TVs to homewares, health and beauty products, fashion and more. On this page, we've got some early predictions for the Prime Day deals we expect to see this year based on our experience covering the event over the last eight years. You can also check out our top tips based on previous year's coverage that will ensure you make the most of the event, especially at a time when prices for consumer goods are soaring and money is tight for many.
If you're waiting for the right time to pick up a new product or bag a bargain, Amazon Prime Day is usually a good time to buy. Even though Amazon doesn't release sales data for Prime Day, it did report that over 250 million items were sold globally during the last event. And while some analysts believe growth actually slowed last year, DigitalCommerce estimated Amazon's sales to have grown by a "modest" 7% year-on-year. It still remained a record-breaking event for the retail giant.
The US figures show exactly that, with total online spending across Prime Day - so that's all retailers and not just Amazon - exceeding $11.0 billion, according to the Adobe Index. That's more than the $10.9 billion spent online during Cyber Monday two years ago - that was the biggest shopping day of 2020. It's also more than the more recent Cyber Monday where spending was $10.7 billion. Of course, Prime Day is spread over two days rather than one, but these figures are still significant for a single retailer sale. Based on that, we expect another bumper year of Prime Day deals in 2022.
Amazon Prime Day 2022: everything you need to know
When is Amazon Prime Day 2022?
Amazon recently confirmed that Amazon Prime Day 2022 will take place in July. Considering the previous two sales events have taken place in June and October, there was a lot of uncertainty as to when it would take place in 2022. It seems Amazon has decided it's time to return to the normal window.
However, the specific Amazon Prime Day date hasn't been revealed yet. Our current prediction is that it will take place from Monday, July 18 - Tuesday, July 19. We usually have to wait until about a week or two before the actual date for Amazon to make an announcement, but this is a likely option for the retailer to once again run its 48-hour mega-sale with thousands of daily deals.
Eighth: July 18-19, 2022 (predicted)
Seventh: June, 21-22, 2021
Sixth: Oct 13-14, 2020
Fifth: July 15-16, 2019
Fourth: July 16-17, 2018
Third: July 11-12, 2017
Second: July 12, 2016
First: July 15, 2015
Last year, Prime Day was held in late June for the first time. The event launched just eight months after Amazon was forced to postpone Prime Day until mid-October, following stock shortages and delivery delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Prior to this, Prime Day was always held in July, so the confirmation of this same month for the 2022 event shows Amazon wants to return things to normal once more. This is the same month it took place when Amazon originally started the 24-hour shopping event back in 2015, before evolving it to 30 hours in July 2017 and later expanding it to a full two days.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Prime Day is Amazon's biggest sale of the year. Usually held during the summer months, the annual two-day deals event is for Prime members only - while there are non-Prime offers on the site throughout the sale, all the best discounts are Prime Day deals.
To be eligible for the offers, you'll either need to sign up for Prime membership for £7.99 per month, or £79 per year, or you can start a free 30-day Prime trial closer to the date, once it's been announced.
If you don't intend to keep Prime after the sale, just make sure you cancel it within the one-month trial period. (You can read our Amazon Prime review if you're not sure.)
Prime Day originally started in 2015 as a celebration of Amazon's 20th anniversary. Designed to encourage people to spend outside of the October-December holiday season, the online retailer says its only goal was to "offer a volume of deals greater than Black Friday".
Since then, it's ballooned into one of the biggest sales in the global retail calendar, with many other large retailers launching promotions of their own to take advantage of the huge online audiences around Prime Day - although the UK is smaller on this front than the US.
We'll round up the best Prime Day deals at Amazon here once they start - and we'll bring you the biggest offers from the likes of John Lewis, Very, Argos and others too.
Amazon Prime Day 2022: our predictions
Of course, we expect there will be discounts on Amazon Echo, Fire and Kindle devices once again this year. Look out for a price drop on the fourth-generation Echo speakers that brings them in line with the older third-generation devices - so, under £20. There's also a strong possibility that Blink, Ring and Eufy products will also drop in price once more for Prime Day 2022.
Amazon has gathered more momentum with its range of laptop deals this year, and as the increased demand for these devices from the pandemic further eases throughout 2022, we may see even more discounts in this category. Typically, Amazon has gaming laptops, high-performance ultrabooks and a handful of cheap Chromebooks on offer. Hopefully, we might see more mid-range devices priced between £300 and £500 on the shelves by summer 2022.
With rumours of a new MacBook Air on the way – and considering the latest M1 iPad Air will have been on the shelves for a few months – we expect to see even better prices on Apple devices over Prime Day 2022.
In general, though, Amazon Prime Day is getting bigger with every passing year, with more variety on the shelves and deeper price cuts. That means this year's sale event looks promising already.
How to prepare for Prime Day 2022: pro tips
How do you find the best Prime Day deals?
1. Grab an Amazon Prime free trial
If you're not a Prime member yet you're not out of the running for this year's Prime Day deals. Closer to the event Amazon will likely offer a free trial of its Prime service, which means you'll be able to take part in the savings event and enjoy some extra time with Prime Video as well.
2. Know what you want to buy - but stay flexible
Having a good understanding of exactly what you want to get out of Amazon Prime Day will be key to winning. That way you'll be able to quickly recognise how good that discount really is, but stay flexible enough to know whether you should opt for another model.
For example, if you need a new 4K TV take a look at what features each brand offers, perhaps take a look at a few in person (Currys is great for displaying side by side comparisons in-store), and find a few options you would be happy to pick up. Get to know their prices and how cheap they can be so that you can identify a good deal quickly on the day.
However, it's also worth identifying the features that you could sacrifice in order to boost the specs that you really care about - you don't want to miss out on the best Prime Day deals just because the specific model you had in mind isn't taking part.
3. Keep some of that flexibility in your budget
Obviously, it's never a good idea to get caught up in the heat of the moment and spend crazy money for the sake of a good deal. However, a little room above your maximum spend will be helpful in securing the best value deals available.
Sometimes the best Prime Day deals aren't on the cheapest items available, but on the next level up that offers so much more without boosting the price too much. For example, if you're looking for a laptop you might be tempted by a super low price on a 32GB Chromebook. However, if the 64GB model is just £20 or £30 more expensive it's a far better investment.
4. Get in there early - but stick around for the full event
When the day itself comes, we'd recommend heading to Amazon as early as possible. This will give you first eyes on the biggest discounts Amazon is offering on the first day. And because many of the hottest Prime Day deals sell out particularly quickly you may need to move fast.
However, just because you've managed to secure an incredible discount straight away shouldn't mean your work is done. Amazon releases plenty more high profile savings throughout the course of the two-day event, so it's worth checking back in throughout as well.
5. You're not limited to Amazon - price check and price match
Prime Day isn't strictly limited to Amazon. We see more and more retailers offering competing discounts these days, and that extra competition often drives prices even further down. It's worth checking other shops aren't running their own version of Prime Day deals. Even if they aren't, some like Currys will offer price match guarantees and you may snag additional extras for shopping elsewhere.
Amazon Prime Day vs Black Friday: should you wait?
Both Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday are well known for some of the best deals of the year. Back when the event took place in October due to the delay to Prime Day the offers were a little closer together, but it's still worth considering whether you should wait for the November sales in 2022.
In general, we see the same devices discounted during both Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. However, there are some key differences in how each sale period operates that can change how easy deals are to find and whether you'll be able to get your hands on them before they sell out.
Prime Day deals are, obviously, limited to Amazon, which means most of the discounts are limited to one retailer and others looking to compete with them. Deals are therefore easier to find and price checking is a lot faster, which means you're less likely to lose out on top items that are selling particularly quickly.
Black Friday, however, is set across a massive range of retailers with far more variety on offer and a bigger pool of competing shoppers. That does mean we see prices fall a little further as retailers are all competing with each other, rather than just Amazon. However, some flash sales offer the lowest of these prices and with plenty more eyes on the shops, you may not be able to get the deal you're hoping for if it sells out.
While you may be able to save an extra few pounds in November, then, you're far more likely to get the best offer for you in the Amazon Prime Day deals. If you need your tech now, then we'd suggest buying today and then you don't need to worry about waiting five months. Rest assured that, even if prices do drop lower on Black Friday, you've got a much better chance of actually securing those discounts in the summer.
Last year's Prime Day
Amazon Prime Day deals were available on a range of products in 2021, from laptops and 4K TVs to headphones and the Nintendo Switch, as well as home appliances including robot vacuums. While some categories were performing better than others, Amazon's range of Echo devices were the clear winners here. The retailer dropped the fourth generation Echo and Echo Dots to brand new record low prices over the summer, with some excellent savings on the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 to boot.
Fire tablets and Kindles also saw their own record-breaking discount, with particular attention paid to the Fire HD 8 and Kindle Paperwhite. However, the cheapest Fire 7 was noticeably absent from the proceedings, not dropping a single penny over the event.
Amazon Prime Day surprised us with a few high-quality laptop deals this year as well, impressive considering previous efforts in this category have fallen flat over the year. That said, 4K TVs took a hit with very few discounts on LG and Samsung's 2021 models and returning sales on older 2020 devices. If you were after a 4K TV on Amazon Prime Day this year, options were somewhat limited to the retailer's own Fire-enabled displays.
Here are all the best Amazon Prime Day deals we saw last year.
Last year's best Amazon Prime Day deals
Will there be another Prime Day in October?
It's doubtful. Back in 2020, Amazon pushed its Prime Day deals event back to October 13-14. That kick-started the holiday shopping season, forcing many of the retailer's rivals to launch holiday sales earlier than usual, in an effort to win back consumer spending from Amazon.
Despite some concerns around stock and shipping during the pandemic, this event surpassed 2019's, selling an extra $3.24bn-worth of products. Much of this increase is likely due to how close Prime Day was to the holiday season, but the pandemic also changed shopping behaviour, with more people shopping online in 2020 than ever before.
Still, Amazon didn't bring back a second October-based Prime Day last year - and we're not expecting to see one this year, either.
