Prime Day has become a tentpole event for digital retailers. Preparing for it can be a difficult task, especially with Amazon keeping the actual dates a well-guarded secret until about a month before. But even without knowing the exact dates, you can still get a head start on preparations. Use this Prime Day checklist to prepare for the sales event and maximize your brand’s success on the major shopping holiday.
Get a more detailed checklist in our Guide & Checklist to Maximize Your Prime Day Potential.
Amazon Prime Day 2023 Submission Deadlines
Amazon usually sends out their deadlines for deals, promos, and inventory in late March or the first half of April. Deadlines for the US and Canada are usually a few weeks ahead of the deadlines for Europe and Japan.
The Prime Day 2023 deadlines for US- and Canada-based retailers are:
- April 28: Prime Exclusive Lightning and Best Deals
- June 15: FBA Inventory and inbound shipping cutoff
Advertising Preparations
You don’t need to wait until Amazon announces the Prime Day dates to build your strategies. Here is a basic checklist of tasks that you can complete well in advance of that announcement.
- Plan your budgets
- Identify what products you want to run deals, promos, or coupons on
- Lay out your lead-in and lead-out strategies
- Update your Brand Store
- Build new creative if necessary
- Remove out-of-stock or low-priority products
- Add priority products
- Create a Best Sellers or New Arrivals page if you don’t have one
- Prepare bulk upload Excel files with bid and budget adjustments
Amazon Prime Day Checklist: Strategy Execution Timeline
Once Amazon reveals the dates of Prime Day, things will start happening very quickly. Below is a Prime Day checklist with suggested timelines for your executing strategies.
3-4 Weeks Before
- Launch campaigns to drive brand awareness
- Ensure you’ve submitted all Store updates
1-2 Weeks Before
- Begin launching Retargeting Display campaigns
- Finalize budgets and budget plans for Prime Day
Week of Prime Day
- Bulk download campaign settings to use to reset campaigns after Prime Day
- Finalize bulk upload for Prime Day campaign settings
- Launch Prime Day-specific campaigns
- Double check payment method
Day Before
- Bulk upload your Prime Day campaign settings
Prime Day
- Ensure campaigns aren’t capping out too early
- Reallocate budget where needed
- At the end of Day 1, update bids and budgets for Day 2 if necessary
- Double check for payment failures
1-3 Weeks After
- Execute lead-out strategies
- Reset your campaign settings to normal spend
Tying It All Together: Prime Day Checklist
Breaking down Prime Day preparations into smaller parts can alleviate a lot of your stress and headaches. This Prime Day checklist was designed to help with just that. To further explore how to execute a full-funnel strategy to make the most of Prime Day, download our Guide & Checklist to Maximize Your Prime Day Potential.
In this guide, you’ll unlock the secrets to laying a strong foundation and exceeding your sales goals this Prime Day, including:
- Lead-in strategies that will prime customers to buy from your brand when the big day comes
- Industry-specific tips to strategically plan your budget across the two days of Prime Day
- A detailed checklist of what to accomplish before, during, and after the event for full-funnel success
Download the guide and checklist now.
If you’re still looking for Prime Day advice, check out our additional resources:
