Nathan Burrow is an editor who covers shopping, retail trends, and deals. He has scanned countless sales and discounts. Most underwhelm.
The seventh annual Amazon Prime Day is looming. But this year, Amazon’s invented shopping holiday (coming to an internet near you on July 12 and 13) is going to feel very different than in previous years.
Why? Well, largely because of COVID-19–related supply-chain issues and inflation causing prices to spike.
Inflation hit 8.6% in May, the largest year-over-year jump in 40 years, ballooning the prices of many products and services. Still, Amazon swears that its Prime-members-only sales event will offer big savings on “products from national brands and small businesses across every category.” And amid a tough economy, a great deal on a great product is arguably more valuable than ever. But be careful. Price spikes caused by supply-chain issues and inflation may call into question just how good many of these supposed “deals” are.
How Wirecutter is approaching Prime Day 2022
Wirecutter’s research-intensive approach is deeply focused on finding and recommending the products that will truly solve your problems and improve your life. Subsequently, our Deals team searches for meaningful discounts on the gear and gadgets tested and recommended by our experts. We separate the real deals from the marketing pablum. The Deals team’s mission this Prime Day (as always) is finding you the best possible price on quality products to help your dollar stretch as far as possible.
The Deals team recently did a deep dive into how inflation has affected pricing on Wirecutter picks. Street prices (the price a product usually sells for) are climbing ever higher, and that affects what we think is a good deal price that meets our standards. We’re going to benchmark Amazon Prime Day deal pricing against prices from Black Friday and Prime Day 2021 sales, and then we’ll factor in 2022 inflation to decide which discounts are worth posting and which discounts aren’t worth it.
The good news for bargain shoppers is that there will be good deals. Amazon’s own products (Echo speakers, Kindle Ebook readers, Show smart displays) are always discounted to exceptional levels during Prime Day. And some retailers are actually experiencing an excess of inventory they’re eager to unload—even at low prices—in certain product categories, as supply chains recover and a backlog of inventory orders is fulfilled.
How you can find the best deals on Prime Day this year
Search early. We anticipate sales starting before the launch of Prime Day, on July 12, and at all hours during the official Prime Day window. So we’ll be tracking sales as they appear prior to Prime Day and at all hours of the day during the course of the event. Because Prime Day falls on Tuesday and Wednesday this year, we think the prior Monday will be a de facto third day of Prime Day as Amazon seeks to expand the sales window.
Go beyond Amazon. Even though Amazon’s event is the catalyst for the sales during this window, Amazon isn’t the only retailer option available—Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and others will match much of Amazon’s pricing and offer sales of their own. This is important not only for finding the best price but also for determining the best retailer option for you. You may prefer local pickup, or you may have a retailer-specific card that offers additional benefits. Or maybe you don’t have a Prime membership. Whatever your reasons, we’ll be searching for the very best deals from all of the reliable online storefronts out there and actively monitoring retailers for price matches.
Follow Wirecutter. You can bookmark our Deals page and circle back regularly to find a comprehensive, constantly updated list of Prime Day deals. We’ll also offer extensive Prime Day coverage and tweet every deal we find on the Wirecutter Deals twitter feed. Finally, whether you’re interested in seeing deal roundups or keeping tabs on Wirecutter’s most recent product reviews, you can subscribe to Wirecutter’s newsletter for daily highlights in your inbox.
This article was edited by Annemarie Conte and Ben Frumin.
