The increasing number of consumers who rely on online shopping as a means for snagging their favorite deals will have an opportunity to do exactly that on Amazon's annual Prime Day sales event, which has been scheduled to take place October 13 thru 14, CNN reports.  

The once a year sale, which generally takes place in mid-July, was postponed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic and now that it has a new Fall date, is expected to result in even more sales than usual, Amazon's leaders say.  

"We think Prime Day this year will be the bigger than it has ever been," Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, is quoted as saying in a CNN report. "It certainly has been an unprecedented year and we have been preparing for what follows all year. We think Oct. 13 and 14 is the right time to kick off a successful and safe holiday season."

Prime Day is Amazon's version of 'Christmas in the summer,' and its sales numbers often outpace those of Black Friday. 

This is no surprise, as more consumers chose to forgo in-person shopping for bargain browsing that can be accomplished from home with a simple click of a button. 

According to a 2020 survey, 57% of consumers prefer to shop online while 31% of consumers prefer visiting physical shops and 12% of consumers said they have no preference. 

Those 57% of shoppers who check out Prime Day will notice that most of the specials will be exclusive to Prime members, which are Amazon shoppers who've agreed to a $120-a-year subscription that offers customers music, movies, TV shows and free shipping.

Amazon has thrived during the pandemic as consumers buy more goods online and limit their visits to stores, according to CNN, the company reported $88.9 billion in sales during its latest quarter ending June 30, up 40% from the same period a year earlier and net income doubled during the quarter to $5.2 billion.

Some retail analysts predict that Amazon's decision to host Prime Day in early October will motivate more brick-and-mortar competitors to begin their holiday sales early this year. Along those lines, Home Depot has already said it will offer two months of Black Friday discounts starting in early November, and Best Buy has also laid out its plans to begin promotions earlier this year.