Once a year, crowds of Americans go shopping as they digest turkey, mashed potatoes, and/or pumpkin pie. The National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics recorded that “a record 189.6 million U.S. consumers shopped from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday” in the year 2019. It is unclear what exactly those hundreds of millions of shoppers were investing in. Still, most of them attended shops due to a common appeal: doorbuster deals. Black Friday is an annual occasion that takes place during the holidays. It is a point in which numerous retailers will deduct the prices on their products, attracting masses to their stores. But now, a similar tradition is developing in June.

Retail giants simultaneously held sale events over the last couple of weeks. Among them were Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Kohl’s.

Best Buy was the first to launch their series of bargains. “The Bigger Deal. Savings Event” was put into effect in-stores and online on June 15. All three versions of Apple’s wireless earbuds, AirPods, were marked off by 20%. Additionally, an air fryer by Insignia was listed for $64.99. That was half off of the original price. Best Buy also minimized the costs of select massage chairs, GoPro products, cell phones, movies, large and small appliances, and headphones.

“Target Deal Days” ensued strictly on Target. com over the span of three days. New discounts were announced on June 20, 21, and 22. Target “guests” could save 30% on a blue KitchenAid 5qt Stand Mixer, $70 on an Apple Watch, and up to 40% on outdoor furniture. In correspondence with Best Buy, any consumer- not just members-could access sales such as these. Christina Hennington is the Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer of Target. She demonstrated to the corporation’s news: “Target Deal Days is bigger and better than ever for all guests, with more days and ways to save, including food and beverage deals this year. Our industry-leading, safe and easy fulfillment options deliver same-day joy — with no waiting or membership fee required.”

Thirdly, Kohl’s facilitated the “WOW Deals” sales event from June 21 to June 22. It consisted of “epic savings on hundreds of products,” according to Corporate Kohl’s News. Like Target, fresh bargains were revealed with each day. Kohl’s subtracted $70 from their asking price on the PowerXL Vortex 10-qt. Air Fryer Pro on Monday. Additionally, select throw blankets fell below $10. In contrast to Target, the retailer presented deals such as these in-stores and online.

After Kohl’s, Best Buy, and Target wrapped up their sales events on Tuesday, Walmart continued “Deals for Days” into Wednesday. It had been unfolding since 6pm CT on June 20. During “Deals for Days,” Walmart lowered the prices of the Barbie Food Truck, Roku Smart LED TV, and Tobi Robot Smartwatch. A deduction worth mentioning was the one brought upon the iHome AutoVac Nova. The “self empty robot vacuum and mop’s” original listing was $599. $299 was the amount in which Walmart customers paid for it during “Deals for Days.”

There was rationale behind the retail world’s multiple sales events this June. Business Insider declares that rivalry with Amazon was a driving factor. “This year, major retailers are once again lining up to compete with Amazon Prime Day deals. Target, Walmart, Kohl’s, and Best Buy were the first to announce their competing sales but we expect more details to be announced as we get closer to the start of Amazon Prime Day,” wrote Alison Barretta and Sarah Saril in an article entitled, “Walmart, Target, and Best Buy plan to offer rival sales during Amazon Prime Day…” It was Amazon’s 20th birthday when Prime Day was introduced to the world. Prime members across nine countries had 24 hours to shop “a volume of deals greater than Black Friday.” That was in 2015. This year, 48 hours were given to Prime members in 19 countries to browse two million sales. Prime Day 2021 launched early on June 21 and closed in the late evening of June 22.

Once the annual Prime Day became well-known, major retailers attempted to gain spotlight, too. For instance, two days before Prime Day 2015, Walmart uploaded an article. It was named, “Why Every Day is Low Price Day at Walmart.” Then, Target Deal Days debuted four years after Prime Day did. The year was 2019 and Target operated their sales event in the same 48 hours that Amazon did.

The Journal contacted the Press Center of Target. They were questioned on whether “Target Deal Days” was an approach at competing with Amazon’s Prime Day or not. A media specialist responded by forwarding an article entitled, “Target Deal Days is Back with 3 Days of Spellbinding Savings — No Membership Fee Required.” In the opening portion of the story, it read, “Target’s biggest digital sale of the summer returns…and it’s going to be refresh-your-space, update- your-wardrobe, stockyour- pantry, pamper-yourself- and-loved-ones magic.”

One may or may not interpret the recent myriad of sales events as competition between retail corporations. At the end of the day, Best Buy, Walmart, Kohl’s, and Target failed to voice their purposes in hosting them. Even so, most can conclude that a regular summertime Black Friday is a likely fortune.

“Black Friday in June is about to become a reality,” NJ Advance Media’s Nicolette Accardi claimed.