Dive Brief:
- Taking its place among a summer full of deals, Amazon is launching a book sale starting Wednesday and going through Monday, according to a company announcement. Early deals on items started May 8.
- Customers do not have to be a Prime member to shop the sale.
- The new shopping event has deals across eBooks, print, Audible and Kindle Unlimited. Shoppers can receive up to 80% off thousands of books on Kindle and up to 50% off physical print bestsellers.
Dive Insight:
Amazon’s first gateway page read “Welcome to Amazon.com Books!” and touted that the company had one million titles with “consistently low prices.” Users could search the company’s online catalog or look at recommended books in over 20 categories.
Nearly three decades later and the company now “dominates” the book industry, with 71% of U.S. adults stating they purchased a book from Amazon in the past year, according to a report by Statista.
Amazon opened its first physical store in 2015, a bookstore called Amazon Books, which at the time stated it was a “physical extension of Amazon.com.” By 2022, Amazon announced that it was closing a number of its retail concepts, including its 4-star and Books locations.
The company is concurrently running its Summer Beauty Haul shopping event, which started Monday and will go through Sunday. Amazon Pet Day, which offered discounts on pet food, treats, toys and electronics, was held May 7 and May 8. Amazon also announced recently that Prime Day will take place in July, but has not yet revealed the date of the event.
