Amazon Prime Day kicked off yesterday, in what has turned into a 48-hour-long eCommerce extravaganza, rivaled by Black Friday and Cyber Monday as major shopping events.

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After just four years, Prime Day has grown into what retailers call the “Black Friday of July.” Last year, global sales during the event nearly doubled year-over-year after Amazon added six hours to the sales spree and an additional 17 countries to the roster of places eligible for the exclusive sales. This year with Prime Day running for 48-hours, analysts estimate that global Amazon sales will hover around $6 billion.

Amazon Prime Day is only available to Prime members, creating an incentive for consumers to turn into Prime members. For the everything store, the main purpose behind the two-day sale is to convert those non-members to Prime buyers. Members buy more, come back more, and provide more data than non-members. Cowen & Co. estimates that roughly one in ten non-Prime households will sign up for Prime during Prime Day.

Extending the hours and country access has helped bolster sales, pushing the sales blitz each year to a new high. Global sales over the past three years have quadrupled for Prime Day.

Source: Statista