Amazon.com Inc. has moved its Black Friday shopping day up by seven weeks, a sign the mega-retailer wants holiday orders in the pipeline as soon as possible to avoid delivery snafus caused by persistent supply chain bottlenecks.
In an announcement Monday, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) said it was making “Black Friday-worthy” deals available “earlier than ever” across every product category. Black Friday, which historically falls on the day after Thanksgiving, is scheduled this year for Nov. 26.
Amazon has pulled forward its peak season cycles before. However, it has never advertised Black Friday sales as early as the first Monday in October.
The retailer is in the process of hiring 125,000 full- and part-time U.S. fulfillment and logistics employees for what could be a record-breaking peak season. Unlike its delivery competitors, Amazon avoided associating the job openings with the seasonal cycle.
Amazon said it now offers same-day deliveries in 12 U.S. metro areas for members of its Prime service.
