Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has said that it will postpone the annual Prime Day in Canada and India due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the countries. Although the company confirmed a pause to the two-day discount event, it has not offered a rescheduled date for the same in either country.
Amazon puts on hold Prime Day event in India and Canada
The annual Prime Day launched in 2015, and the discount celebration seeks to promote Amazon’s products and services, secure new Prime members, and offer sales boost. Besides Canada and India, the Prime Day event will go on as scheduled in other countries, including the US, UK, France, Spain, Germany, and China. The e-commerce giant announced when it released its Q1 earnings that it will hold Prime Day in June.
Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky confirmed during the Q1 earnings release that Prime Day, which typically takes place in June, will be moved forward to June, which will likely better for vendors, sellers, and customers since July is a famous vacation month.
Last year the company put the Prime Day event on hold until October because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company postponed the event as the number of cases grew, but it also saw a massive increase in the number of online orders since most physical stores remained shuttered. Consumers opted to remain at home to curb the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 cases surging in India and Canada
In the past few weeks, the number of coronavirus cases has been on the rise in India, which accounts for around 46% of COVID-19 cases globally. COVID-19 cases in India crossed 20 million, with media reports suggesting that burial grounds and crematoriums have been overwhelmed with bodies of people dying from COVID-19. Several states in the country have upped measures to contain the spread of the virus with curfews and lockdowns.
Similarly, Canada’s new COVID-19 cases have risen, surpassing those of the US. This could be due to lagging vaccination rates in Canada compared to the US.
