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Amazon’s second annual Prime Day is well underway. The retail giant’s answer to Black Friday purports to offer deep discounts on more than 100,000 items — everything from pressure cookers to waterpiks — in an effort to drive major sales.
However, also for the second year running, Amazon is faced with a barrage of complaints that the deals aren’t living up to Amazon’s hype. The hashtag #PrimeDayFail is trending for the second year in a row.
Amazon Prime Day has been mentioned 68,000 times online today, according to data from BrandWatch, with the #PrimeDayFail hashtag being used more than 600 times.
Here’s a sampling of complaints:
Best deal ever! #PrimeDayFail pic.twitter.com/zPknpqx5zA
— Brandon Hu (@Brandon0902) July 12, 2016
Sweet! I can finally get that new technology all the kids have been raving about. #PrimeDay #PrimeDayFail #wtf pic.twitter.com/Q0EucJjpgW
— 80s FTW (@80sFTW) July 12, 2016
Sad to say #PrimeDay deals are very lackluster. Meh #PrimeDayFail
— Sara Proegler (@saraeproegler) July 12, 2016
Technical glitches are also plaguing Amazon’s website, angering shoppers that actually found a deal they want. People are posting screenshots on Twitter of the “Add to Cart” option freezing when they press it.
#PrimeDay is awesome until you actually try to buy something…. #PrimeDayFail pic.twitter.com/2SJ1FHtOLS
— Stephanie Caraway (@scare_away) July 12, 2016
Looked forward to #PrimeDay only to find items and that they can’t be added to my cart! Way to go @amazon #PrimeDayFail
— Christopher Sugar (@NEemploymentlaw) July 12, 2016
#PrimeDayFail when the Lightning deals go down and you can’t add anything to your cart. I expect so much better @amazon #PrimeDay
— Caleb Gurujal (@Blazer692) July 12, 2016
In a comment on Twitter, Amazon said that “some customers are reporting difficulty with checkout. We’re working to resolve this issue quickly.”
Not to be outdone, Walmart is offering five days of free shipping as well as a roster of discounts for all shoppers, not just members. “We believe saving money every day is better than just one, and that all customers should save, not only some,” the company said in a statement with a pointed dig at Amazon Prime.
In spite of it all, Amazon is expecting Prime Day to be another boost for sales — and getting to people to sign up for its subscription service. Learning from last year’s mistakes, Amazon is placing more “top quality” items on sale and broadening the day’s global appeal.
This year’s prices are mostly a deal, according to BestBlackFriday.com. The discount shopper site is live-blogging the day’s sales, comparing today’s prices with last year’s Black Friday and Prime Day, and find that today’s deals either match or are cheaper than those other two days.
“While it is still early, many Prime Day 2016 prices are better than what was offered last year on Black Friday and Prime Day, most notably Amazon’s own line of electronics,” the company said.
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