Amazon India has paused its annual Prime Day sale in India, a company spokeswoman said on Friday, as the country battles a severe second wave of coronavirus infections that is taking thousands of lives every day. In the last 24 hours, the country reported over 4 lakh new infections and 4,187 deaths, taking the daily death toll to an all-time high. In the past week itself, India has reported 1.5 million new infections as the country’s hospitals run out of beds and medical oxygen. Amazon, Google, and several Indian firms have jumped in to help the world’s second biggest population battle coronavirus by pitching in with everything from airlifts of medical equipment and funding pledges to making medical oxygen.
Amazon’s plans to pause its Prime Day event in India was first reported by CNBC early on Friday. The event, offered only to members by Amazon, is typically held in July to boost sales. The discounts are a key way Amazon markets Prime, a fast-shipping and media-streaming service that incentivizes subscribers to do more shopping on Amazon. Alongside India, Amazon has postponed the Amazon Prime Day sale in Canada, according to the CNBC report. Amazon has confirmed the development and has not given any rescheduled date for the Prime Day sale in either of the countries.
This is the second time in a row that this is happening. Last year as well, Amazon had to put its Prime Day sale on hold till mid-October due to the COVID-19 pandemic itself. The annual sale, offered to Amazon Prime subscribers, is typically held in July in order to boost sales for the e-commerce giant.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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