Amazon is launching a second ‘Prime Day’ event, reports say

A ‘Prime Fall’ event will come at some point in the company’s fourth quarter

(AFP via Getty Images)

Amazon plans to hold a second Prime Day event this year.

The shopping giant has one event on 12 and 13 July, and is planning another within its fourth quarter.

The company sent a notice to third-party sellers about a “Prime Fall” event. Sellers should plan “lightning deals” to be sent to Amazon by 22 July.

CNBC reports that Amazon’s notice states: “The Prime Fall deal event is a Prime-exclusive shopping event coming in Q4. Submit recommended Lightning Deals for this event for a chance to have your deal selected!”

Another message, reported by Business Insider, had a deadline of 2 September. Amazon did not provide comment.

A second Prime Day would be a key opportunity for more revenue for Amazon, which had the slowest growth in April since 2001. Last October, the company had a beauty product day, and in May it held “Amazon Pet Day”.

However, some sellers are critical of Amazon for not giving them enough time to prepare for a new sale – with only a few weeks to submit deals.

Participating sellers must require a discount of at least 20 per cent to join the Prime Fall Deal Event, and all promotions must match or beat their lowest price since the start of the year. All products must have a three-star rating or higher.

"It’s an entirely new promotional event with little information about when it will be, how Amazon is supporting the event and naturally no historical data to fall back on," said Tom Baker, who runs the agency FordeBaker, to Insider.

"Amazon’s lack of transparency doesn’t help sellers to make informed decisions."

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Prime Day growth has slowed and customers are not purchasing orders as large as they once did. Amazon also seems be investing less in the event as it has in the past.