Amazon’s annual fall Prime Big Deal Days returned October 6 and 7, giving Prime members an early opportunity to shop for the holiday season. As in prior years, we reviewed 116 brands and retailers to see how they responded to Amazon’s event across their websites, promotions, loyalty programs, and fulfillment offers.

Some Of Our Key Findings

  • Fewer retailers copied Amazon, but promotions were everywhere. Fifty-seven of the 116 brands and retailers we reviewed held a concurrent special event, down from 66 during the same event in October 2025. Yet 93 retailers offered some form of discount, suggesting that promotions have become a nearly continuous feature of the fall retail calendar rather than something reserved to be timed with Amazon’s event. The distinction was often subtle: Some retailers had promotions running during Prime Big Deal Days but we didn’t count those as event “participants” because their offers were part of longer seasonal campaigns or routine discounting. American Eagle and Ann Taylor, for example, ran promotions during the period, but the timing or positioning did not clearly connect them to Prime Big Deal Days.
  • Retailers tried differentiating their promotional branding. Best Buy brought back its “Techtober” sale, JCPenney promoted “Digital Deal Days,” Overstock declared that “Overstocktober is on,” Michaels ran a “Flash Cyber Sale,” and Wayfair offered “5 Days of Deals.” Other retailers used fall sales, member appreciation events, and early Black Friday language to generate urgency without explicitly mentioning Prime. Only a few brands, such as Owlet, directly invoked Prime Big Deal Days, while iRobot linked shoppers from its home page to its Amazon storefront for Prime Day savings. Retailers also leaned on countdown clocks and short promotional windows to create urgency around their own events.
  • Loyalty counts: Many retailers offered exclusive discounts to members. Only seven retailers offered a sitewide discount, compared with 14 that we observed in our October 2025 review. Seven offered free shipping specifically for the sale period, the same number as last year, while many others attached minimum-purchase requirements or reserved free shipping for loyalty members. Retailers including Barnes & Noble, Bass Pro Shops, Skechers, Target, and Ulta used member rewards, member-only pricing, additional loyalty points, or exclusive offers to compete. The result was a promotional landscape built less around one universally compelling offer and more around segmented incentives designed to acquire members, capture customer data, and encourage repeat engagement.

What Retailers Should Do Next

For the remainder of the 2026 holiday shopping season, retailers should simplify their value proposition. Consumers are navigating a marketplace crowded with discounts, promotional codes, loyalty benefits, membership requirements, and shipping thresholds. Rather than layering on complexity, retailers should choose one highly visible benefit and communicate it consistently across channels. The goal is not to outpromote competitors but to make value more obvious and easier to redeem.

Looking ahead to 2027, retailers should continue investing in proprietary sales events that offer more than temporary markdowns. The strongest events create differentiation through loyalty perks, exclusive products, personalized offers, services, and fulfillment advantages. Retailers that build anticipation around experiences customers cannot get elsewhere will be better positioned to drive incremental demand without relying solely on deeper discounts.

Forrester clients, please book a guidance session or inquiry with me to discuss the 2026 holiday shopping season. And check out our just-published report, A Retailer’s Guide To The 2026 Holiday Season, for lessons from 2025 and our insights and advice as you plan your 2026 holiday strategy and tactics.

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