Black Friday-like sales are now in summer too, as Target, Best Buy compete with Amazon Prime Days

America’s big retailers, including Best Buy and Target, continue to lean into big mid-summer events to boost sales as the back-to-school season begins.

Amazon Prime Days is the impetus for the dayslong sales, but each retailer has done things to stand out.

“We try to do everything that is the best of who Best Buy is, so it’s the mixture of every category, it’s the mixture of Doorbusters, the ‘Deal of the Day’ and then obviously bringing additional value on top of that to our members,” said Jason Bonfig, senior vice president of customer offerings and fulfillment for Best Buy.

The “Black Friday in July” promotions come as the Richfield-based electronics retailer is trying to regain ground.

The sales also come at a time when consumers are limiting how much they spend on nonessentials. According to a PwC survey of nearly 1,200 parents, 37% of shoppers plan to pull back on back-to-school spending and 44% are lessening spending on technology. More than one-third plan to only buy items on sale.

Best Buy’s sale runs July 7-13, overlapping with Amazon’s extended Prime Day offering from July 8 to 11.

Minneapolis-based Target’s summer promotion, Circle Week, runs from July 6 to 12.

Prime Day previously ran for two days, giving Best Buy a clear advantage when it came to “top tech” deals.

This year, Best Buy has changed its sale a bit to sway consumers. The retailer will also offer Doorbusters — a sales initiative offered on Black Friday — for the first time during this year’s event.

Like Prime Days and Circle Week, new deals will be available every day. My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total members will also get exclusive access to rewards, such as a $20 reward for every $200 spent on tablets, e-readers and accessories.

Target made its Circle Week announcement last Monday as part of its back-to-school promotion events. College students and teachers will both receive a one-time 20% off storewide discount with Target Circle. The company is also holding the pricing offered last back-to-school season.

“This is such an important time for everyone preparing to head back to class — or heading off to school for the first time,” said Rick Gomez, chief commercial officer at Target. “The Target team will be there for families by holding last year’s prices on key school supplies and standing tall for unrivaled style, quality and exceptional value.”

Best Buy’s sales event comes a little over a month after its midnight opening parties, celebrating the Nintendo Switch 2 launch. The launch marked a major sales moment for Best Buy, but the company also saw it as a starting point for continued engagement — both for Nintendo-related sales and renewed interest in the retailer’s offerings.

It also sets the stage for the launch of Best Buy’s third-party digital marketplace. CEO Corie Barry said the retailer is “on pace for a midyear launch” in a first quarter earnings call.

The electronics retailer previously opened its website to select outside sellers from 2011 to 2016. About 200 sellers were participating before the initiative ended, reportedly due to low sales and customer confusion around returns.

Similar to Target, Best Buy’s rebooted marketplace will bring in vendors by invite only.

Best Buy launched a refined approach to the third-party marketplace in Canada in 2016. Third-party sellers now account for 25% of orders shipped on BestBuy.ca, according to Jefferies.

The U.S. marketplace could account for 14% of online sales by the end of the decade, according to the investment bank’s research.

“Canada’s had a marketplace for nine years and we’ve learned a lot from all the success they’ve had. We want to make sure we replicate that in the U.S. and even make it a little bit better,” Bonfig said.

Barry previously said Best Buy’s U.S. marketplace will focus more on new products and offering multiple versions of the same product.

“I think what we’ve learned from Canada is that there is a demand to go deeper into the assortment,” Barry said in an earnings call. “We can see that in customers who are searching our website and looking for a broader selection or looking for a broader quantity of products, and we just don’t have them there.”