Amazon is primed and ready for its annual sales event, which will take place on October 13 and 14.

Prime Days have traditionally been held in July. This year’s event was delayed by the pandemic, however, and is now set to play out ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday (November 27 and 30, respectively).

The sale includes items in categories including toys, electronics, fashion, beauty and homewares. Prime Days 2020 also features a new promotion for small businesses; Amazon will provide a US$10 Prime Day credit to consumers when they spend US$10 on items sold by select small businesses between now and October 12.

Last year, Amazon reported that Prime members purchased more than 175 million items during the event. In 2018, meanwhile, over 100 million products were sold.

COVID-19 may have delayed Prime Day, but it has also increased consumers’ reliance on the retail giant. Amazon posted US$75 billion in revenue in Q1 2020, and US$88.9 billion in Q2. Online shopping overall in the US in April and May exceeded what retailers saw during the 2019 holiday season.

But as more consumers have embraced online shopping, the pressure on manufacturing and shipping has increased exponentially. The varied start of lockdowns in different countries caused major shipping delays, customs and safety inspections got backed up due to understaffing, warehouses closed down without warning, and Amazon changed its shipping policies in March in order to prioritize sending essential items (like personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies) to its fulfillment centers.