Retailers offer deals to steal Prime Day thunder

SAN FRANCISCO — Black Friday is coming five months early for some retailers.

Stores including Macy's, Walmart and Banana Republic are offering deals around the same time as Amazon’s big Prime Day sale, which takes place on Tuesday.

Macy's is celebrating "Black Friday in July" by offering deals and free shipping on items on macys.com. From Wednesday to Sunday, customers can enjoy deals both online and in stores, and receive free shipping for orders over $50.

Walmart is offering free shipping on all orders from Monday through July 15 and launched new online deals on items including an HDTV and Apple TV.

Amazon Prime Day offers the online shopping service’s Prime users a 24-hour sale on many products, with new deals starting as often as every five minutes throughout the day.

52% of U.S. Amazon customers belong to Prime

Last year, Amazon offered 100,000 deals exclusively for Prime members.  Customers responded by ordered 34.4 million items worldwide, exceeding the service’s post-Thanksgiving Black Friday records. Amazon is promising this year will be even bigger.

Competing retailers are betting that customers in the mood to shop — and maybe do some online price comparison — will head to more than just the Amazon app.

Toys "R" Us is offering shoppers 15% off regular-priced items, plus a sale on over 50,000 toys and baby products. The toy maker said since retail is a highly competitive environment, it wants to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to save with no membership required.

Tips for getting the best Prime Day deals

The Limited, Sears, Bealls, Banana Republic, Express, the Gap and Old Navy are all offering big discounts in the week before Prime day, says Offers.com.

Banana Republic is offering an extra 40% off sale through July 11, the store confirmed to Offers.com. The Limited also confirmed to Offers.com it is offering 60% off sale items through July 11. The Gap is holding "The Great Gap Sale" July 11 only, offering 60% off sale items, according to dealnews.com.

Target is offering discounts on home items. But the company said it has more to do with the back-to-school season. Shoppers will find deals on supplies, backpacks and apparel throughout July and August, it said in a statement.

While Prime Day has been a huge hit for Amazon and for retailers as a whole, the name is a problem for them.

Trying to shy away from the P-word as just more free advertising for Amazon, other retailers have taken to calling Prime Day “Black Friday in July,” said Howard Schaffer, general manager of Offers.com.

“Obviously ‘Black Friday’ means discount to people,” so it’s a good workaround, he said.