Amazon India Postpones Prime Day Sale Due To COVID-19 Surge

Due to the massive surge in the COVID-19 cases across India owing to the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic, there are many restrictions that have been announced by the government to curb the spread. In one such move, Amazon India has called off the Prime Day Sale, which is slated to take place in June on a global scale.

Amazon Prime Day Sale Postponed

As of now, this move is only applicable in India and Canada due to the increasing number of infections. Amazon will go ahead and host the Prime Day Sale in the US, UK, Germany, France and Spain as intended as the situation has eased in these countries. Also, there is no new date regarding when the Prime Day Sale will be hosted in India and Canada.

Notably, last year, the sale that was to be hosted in July was pushed to October in most global markets while the sale in India took place in August due to the pandemic crisis. This year, it preponed the sale to June saying it would be better for sellers, vendors and customers. However, it stands canceled due to the surge in the number of cases affected due to the coronavirus infection.

What Is Allowed?

While the upcoming sale has been called off, the online retailer Amazon India continues to deliver essential products and services in select states that are under lockdown adhering to the government's guidelines. While there is no specific estimate on the overall e-commerce industry's performance in India in 2021, experts believe that the sales are down across the country due to the low consumer sentiment during the second wave.

Notably, the only bright spots for the e-commerce industry all over the country are food and grocery, and pharmaceutical segments. The sales of these categories have surged after there has been a massive jump in the caseloads and stringent lockdowns in many states starting from April to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection.

Besides calling off the Prime Day Sale, Amazon India along with several other tech giants such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. are contributing to help people in the form of donations or supply of medical equopment such as oxygen concentrators.