Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days runs October 6 and 7, 2026, in Canada. For those two days, shoppers are in deal mode, and plenty of them compare prices well beyond Amazon.
You don’t need to sell on Amazon to get sales from that. Timing matters most. During Amazon’s June Prime Day this year, spending on brands’ own websites was up from last year in the days before the event and down sharply once it started. The brands that plan now have the advantage.
Here’s the plan we walk our ecommerce clients through.
Key Takeaways
- Prime Big Deal Days 2026 runs October 6 and 7 and includes Canada.
- In June 2026, daily spending on brands’ own sites rose 14% in the days before Prime Day and fell 45% during the event, according to impact.com.
- Launch your offer on your own site a week before Prime Day and keep it running until the event ends.
- Order sizes shrank in June, so you usually keep more margin with a bundle or multi-buy offer than with a deeper discount.
- If you sell on Amazon, get your product pages ready before the deals go live.
When is Prime Day in Canada in 2026?
Prime Big Deal Days starts at 12:01 a.m. PDT (3:01 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, October 6, and runs for 48 hours. Canada is one of 22 countries taking part, and Amazon releases new deals three times a day during the event. Amazon’s announcement has the full details.
Does Prime Day help brands that don’t sell on Amazon?
It can, because online shopping in general goes up during Prime Day. According to Adobe’s holiday shopping data, U.S. shoppers spent $9.1 billion online across all retailers during the two-day October 2025 event, up 7.3% from the year before, with discounts peaking at 18% off.
The catch is when that money gets spent. impact.com tracked sales on the websites of 1,364 North American retail brands through Amazon’s June 2026 Prime Day. Their analysis found that average daily spending rose 14% year over year in the days leading up to the event, then fell 45% during the four event days. The average shopper also took about 11 days to go from first click to purchase, up from about 9 the year before.
Shoppers research early and decide early. If your offer first appears the day Prime Day starts, a lot of them have already made up their minds.
How should you plan a Prime Day promotion?
1. Launch your offer a week early
Put the offer live on your own site a week ahead and run it through the end of Prime Day. Show the end date on the page so people have a reason to act. Everyone who visits early also becomes someone you can reach again during the event, which is where step 4 comes in.
2. Bundle before you cut the price
During June’s Prime Day, the average order on brands’ own sites fell from $221 to $160 (U.S.), and baskets held 22% fewer items. With a bundle or a “buy two, save more” offer, people have a reason to add to the cart. With a deeper discount on a single item, you mostly give up margin.
3. Time your emails and texts to the event
Your email and SMS subscribers already know you, and they cost the least to reach. A simple schedule works well: an early-access email the week before, a message on the first morning of Prime Day saying the sale is on, and a last-chance reminder before the end of the event. Our holiday email marketing tips cover subject lines and send times.
4. Build your audience now, then retarget
Set up your retargeting audiences before the sale, so early visitors can see your ads during the Prime Day event. Plan the budget for the event ahead of time and keep the campaigns running for a few days after. With an 11-day shopping journey, some people will still buy after the event ends.
5. If you sell on Amazon, fix your product pages first
Shoppers reach your listings from Deals and Sponsored Products ads and decide right there whether to buy. Check your titles, main images, bullet points and reviews before Prime Day begins, then watch your ad spend closely through the event. Our guide to the core pillars of an Amazon marketing strategy goes deeper.
What comes after Prime Day?
Black Friday is November 27, 2026, seven weeks after Prime Day. The email subscribers and retargeting audiences you build for Prime Day are still yours for Black Friday. Before you plan Black Friday and Cyber Monday, look back at your Prime Day results to see which offers are worth repeating.
FAQ
Yes, but start it before Prime Day. In June 2026, spending on brands’ own sites was up from the year before in the days leading up to the event and down during it.
About a week ahead. Shoppers took about 11 days from first click to purchase in June, so an offer that launches a week early has time to be found and compared.
Offers that raise the order size, like bundles and multi-buy deals. Average order values dropped sharply during June’s Prime Day, so a deeper discount on one item is harder to pay off.
Elite Digital plans and runs ecommerce marketing for Canadian brands, on Amazon and on their own sites. Contact Elite Digital Agency today to plan your next Prime Day or holiday promotion with our ecommerce marketing team.
