MarketWatch polling suggests interest in Amazon’s super-sized Prime Day is muted. BofA analysts say the longer event suggests Amazon has more capacity to offer discounts, despite tariff fears.

Amazon’s Prime Day takes place from July 8 through July 11.

For the past couple of years, Amazon.com Inc. has recalibrated its Prime Day shopping events to entice cautious consumers and play defense against stiffer competition from the likes of Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and TikTok, who have launched their own discount days in response.

Now, as the online retail giant prepares for its longest Prime Day event yet — from July 8 through July 11 — analysts say 2025’s super-sized event is a response to tariff-related anxieties. But as its big-box rivals struggle more directly with tariffs, they also say Amazon could nudge the bar higher for everyone else, as it leans on its vast delivery network, artificial-intelligence shopping assistants and extra perks related to travel and food delivery.

Vivek Pandya, manager of Adobe Digital Insights, said such features would become more important to standing out during an event that has become the summer equivalent to Black Friday, with more retailers piling in and deals becoming more prevalent but less distinct.

“It becomes incumbent on the retailers to ensure they’re competing on experience, and making sure that their promotions are really competitive,” he said.

Analysts predict a jump in demand next week, helped by the extra discount days. But some MarketWatch polling also suggested limited interest in Prime Day among shoppers, who remain worried about the economy and saving money.

They also noted the timing of this year’s Prime Day, which encompasses July 9, the day the pause on the Trump administration’s harshest tariffs on many other nations is set to end. Shoppers will likely want to stock up beforehand.

“This summer is more important because of the pending tariffs,” said Matt Pavich, senior director of strategy and innovation at Revionics, a firm that provides pricing analytics to retailers. “You want to get some of those sales earlier in your fiscal year.”

Doing so could offer some cushion for the company if the second half of the year gets bumpier, he said. Offering more deal days, he said, could bring in people who might otherwise forget if it were only one day long. And he said a longer discount period is likelier to make people equate Amazon with lower prices, even if they don’t last.

“As you are about to raise prices due to tariffs, it helps your price perception by having some really good offers in the market,” he said.

BofA analysts said the Prime Day event could bring in $21.4 billion in gross merchandise value, a measure of the total value of items sold. That would mark a roughly 60% gain year over year. They said this year’s four-day Prime Day stretch could account for around 10% of Amazon’s gross merchandise value for the third quarter, a bit higher than the 7% from last year’s event.

“While competition from other retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy has increased during Prime Day(s), we believe that the event will remain a positive driver for Amazon branding and Prime sign-up/retention,” BofA analyst Justin Post said in a research note Tuesday.

“Extending the savings window suggests that Amazon has greater retail logistics capacity to offer promotions, and that inventory availability is not a constraint, despite tariff concerns,” he continued. “Notable enablers include Amazon’s improved inbound network, optimized inventory placement, and recent robotics implementation.”

Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy, during the first-quarter earnings call in May, said the company had been trying to stock items closer to customers’ addresses. During that quarter, he said, the company had set new delivery-speed records.

Amazon said this year’s Prime Day will offer its Prime members “millions” of deals for things like food, home improvement and back-to-school supplies. It will also offer perks for younger shoppers ages 18 to 24, savings on gasoline, travel and some Grubhub deliveries, as well as deals on Prime Video. This year’s Prime Day will be held in 26 nations.

As Amazon tries to get bigger and faster, some workers have expressed concerns about the working and safety conditions. And as the company and others in Big Tech plow ahead with stratospheric spending on AI, concerns persist about the ability of the technology to convey information accurately.

Still, the online retailer, in its press release announcing this year’s Prime Day, is also talking up ways to use AI to shop — including its assistant Rufus, AI-powered shopping guides and custom prompts based on interests. Post, at BofA, said Amazon was requiring a sign-in to use some AI tools, “helping set up the company for a broader retail agentic AI rollout.”

Emarketer noted this week that retailers like Best Buy Co. Inc., REI, Kohl’s Cos. and Dollar General Corp. had poured on the promotions ahead of Prime Day, in an effort to siphon off sales.

Those chains don’t have Amazon’s reach or its tech and media arsenal to offset the retail industry’s current struggles, as consumers, particularly lower-income ones, remain selective on spending. Still, Post said, the competition wouldn’t come without risks to Amazon’s stock.

“We maintain our Buy rating on Amazon,” they said. “The risk is that added Prime Day promotions could impact 3Q margins.”