Business

Shoppers Disappointed in Much-Hyped ‘Prime Day’ Sales

Published

11 years ago

July 16, 2015

Oakland Post

In this Oct. 18, 2010 file photo, an Amazon.com package awaits delivery from UPS in Palo Alto, Calif. Amazon on Thursday, March 13, 2014 said it is raising the price of its popular Prime membership to $99 per year, an increase of $20. It's the first price increase since the online retailer introduced its Prime membership program in 2005. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Mae Anderson, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Amazon aimed for Christmas in July with its much-hyped “Prime Day” sale. But some shoppers found a lump of coal instead.

The online retailer said Prime Day would offer bigger sales than those during the winter holiday shopping season. The goal was to boost $99 annual Prime loyalty program memberships during the sluggish summer months. The sale gained so much attention, other retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s and Best Buy, had sales of their own.

But some Amazon customers were disappointed by Prime Day. Some thought the discounts weren’t deep enough. Others didn’t like that the deals were only available for a limited time and in limited quantities. And still other Amazon customers criticized the types of products that were marked down.

By midday Wednesday, Amazon was offering a Kindle Fire marked down to $79 from $139, a GoPro camera bundle marked down from $691 to $500 and a Blu-Ray “Lord of the Rings” trilogy set marked down from $120 to $28. But there also were markdowns on more mundane household items like detergent and baby wipes, causing some shoppers to compare Prime Day to a garage sale.

“The biggest disappointment is that Prime Day seems to focus more on quantity over quality,” said Emily Wienberg, 24, from Boston, who was looking for a Bluetooth speaker or printer on sale.

Doug Messer, 21, from Westchester, New York, was disappointed in the sale too.

“I was frustrated to see that only a certain amount of users could claim each deal,” he said. “We found a TV we wanted and when we went to claim it, we were added to a waitlist. Not really a deal if only a certain percentage of visitors can take advantage of it.”

The promotional day highlights the risk marketers face when they try to hype promotional deals and sales and don’t deliver.

Larry Chiagouris, marketing professor at Pace University, said if people get disillusioned with Amazon’s sales announcements they won’t trust future sales. “They haven’t damaged the trust people have in the overall Amazon brand, but they have done major damage to the credibility of sales announcements going forward,” he said. “People are going to get numb to sale announcements and they’ll no longer provide the traffic kick start they’re designed to.”

Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor Associates, said that customers won’t completely lose trust in the Amazon brand, but he questions the overall strategy of the sale.

“If you’re going to offer this, then you have to really do it right,” said Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor Associates. “The Amazon business model is everyday value. Jumping on the bandwagon to try to create Black Friday in muggy July really feels off-brand for Amazon.”

Early data showed the promotion boosted sales, though. ChannelAdvisor, which tracks sales of third-party sellers on Amazon, said sales jumped 80 percent compared with the same day a year ago in the U.S. and 40 percent in Europe. On a normal non-sale day, that figure would be up about 25 percent.

Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said that was “decent” for a sales day. But a big sale like Cyber Monday, the busy online shopping day after Thanksgiving, or Alibaba’s Single’s Day, an annual sale in November, generates a lift that is two, three or five times normal sales.

“It’ll be a decent day for them but is it going to be earth shattering? No,” she said.

Amazon said by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the speed with which customers were ordering had already surpassed 2014 Black Friday. Shoppers picked up “tens of thousands” of Fire TV Sticks, 35,000 Lord of the Rings Blu-Ray sets, 28,000 Rubbermaid sets, and 4,000 Echos in 15 minutes. A Kate Spade purse on sale sold out in less than a minute and 1,200 Samsung TV bundles on sale for $999 sold out in less than 10 minutes.

Thomas Palladino, 23, in public relations in New York, snapped up an Amazon Fire TV stick marked down from $39 to $15 and Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses marked down from $142 to $57. He said the sale made him feel like Amazon appreciated its Prime members.

“I have been completely satisfied with their offerings so far, but this just goes above and beyond,” he said.

___

Associated Press Writer Anne D’Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

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1 week ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.