Companies from Walmart to TikTok Shop are stretching out sales and sweetening deals to compete with Amazon Prime Day

It’s a pattern the retail world has seen before: Companies keeping pace with Amazon’s calendar in an effort to one-up it. Last October, for instance, retailers from Walmart to Best Buy offered fresh deals around the same time that Amazon held its fall sale. In today’s challenging economic environment — and the month before many kids go back to school — both companies and consumers benefit from these extra sales, sources pointed out. Retailers can capture more dollars, and shoppers can take advantage of a large swath of deals. What’s more, thanks to Amazon, July is now a hot month for sales outside of the holiday season — and no retailer wants to be left out or let shoppers down.

“It’s advantageous for retailers to [keep up with Amazon], because we’re in a very price-sensitive environment right now,” said Stephanie Cegielski, vp of research and public relations at ICSC, formerly known as the International Council of Shopping Centers. “Consumers are already looking for deals, and they will look across multiple retailers for those. If they can find those, it’s a win for them and a win for the retailer.”

It is, however, a curious phenomenon, Luc Wathieu, professor of marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, pointed out: “By matching the timing of the sales of Amazon, other retailers are basically confirming Amazon’s dominance,” he said.

However, if the terms of one deal are better on, say, Target or Walmart than on Amazon, shoppers may go there instead, Cegielski said. “Consumers are going to go and look for what they want,” she said.

In fact, Similarweb data shared with Modern Retail shows that 53.4% of consumers plan to browse retailers other than Amazon during Prime Day. “Amazon naturally has a structural advantage in scale, logistics and brand loyalty, [but] the data suggests there is meaningful opportunity for other retailers to close the gap in the U.S. market,” Daniel Reid, senior insights analyst at Similarweb, told Modern Retail via email. 

There’s also a barrier to entry for Amazon customers. Participating in Amazon Prime Day comes at a cost — it’s only open to Prime members, who pay either $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Sales events at places like Target and Walmart, on the other hand, are open to all. What’s more, not all Amazon sellers are committing to Prime Day this year after dealing with higher costs from tariffs. Some are returning, as Modern Retail has reported, but are doing so with lighter promotions and narrower product selections.

Amazon rolled out its first Prime Day in July 2015 as a way to celebrate its 20th birthday. Initially, the event was 24 hours only and limited to nine countries. In 2017, Amazon extended Prime Day to 30 hours, and then, in 2018, 36 hours. It became a two-day event in 2019. 2025 marks the first time Prime Day became four days, and it’s now open to 26 countries. Shoppers spent a record $14 billion online during Prime Day last summer, according to Adobe Analytics.

Amazon Prime Day is a competitive event to keep up with — especially when it’s four days long. And yet, for retailers like Walmart, extending a sales window to match Amazon’s isn’t enough on its own, Reid of Similarweb said. Adding more days of discounts “is unlikely to be sufficient to remain competitive in e-commerce,” he said. What retailers need, he said, is a “differentiated and credible value proposition.”

To this point, some retailers are sweetening their deals this time around. Walmart is holding its Deals event in person and online for the first time after limiting the event to its website and app last summer. And this July, Target is giving its Target Circle 360 members (who pay $99 annually or $10.99 per month) early access to its Circle Week deals by 24 hours. It did not offer this during Circle Week last summer, according to a 2024 press release.

Also new this year: TikTok Shop is offering cash back to customers watching Deals For You Days livestreams if they find a lower price on featured products somewhere else. And it’s giving people $10 off a purchase of $50 or more if they use Venmo for the first time at checkout, it confirmed to Modern Retail.

It’s a good idea to have such varied deals, especially for companies like Target and Walmart that have a strong in-person presence, Cegielski said. Walmart could see higher sales this year after bringing Walmart Deals in stores, industry data indicates. The ICSC calculated that two-thirds of customers who make a purchase online and pick it up in store will make another purchase while they’re in store. “It’s beneficial for the retailer to offer sales in both channels,” Cegielski said.

TikTok Shop, meanwhile, could boost customer loyalty by offering to match other prices. “Any retailer is smart if they’re going to do a price match,” Cegielski said. “We live in this digital age where consumers have a lot of information literally in the palm of their hand, so they’re able to quickly look up the best price.”

That isn’t to say that all deals this year are a step up from last year’s. When offering sales last summer, Dick’s Sporting Goods sold some items, like leggings, for up to 90% off. This year, it is pledging “up to 50% off” various categories. Overall, though, companies including Amazon are betting on special promotions and sales of some kind to try and woo cost-conscious shoppers.