Amazon reportedly pushes July Prime Day to September

Amazon shoppers will reportedly have to wait a few extra months for their midsummer deals.

The e-commerce giant will shift Prime Day, its giant deals event usually held in July, to September, people familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal. The reported shift comes as Amazon attempts to maintain its usual high-speed shipping service and as workers say the company is failing to keep them safe.

The two-day sales event will be postponed because Amazon is still trying to catch up with skyrocketing demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sources told the Journal. Amazon will also let nonessential goods resume shipping to warehouses, letting the company "lay the groundwork for shipments of a wider variety of products," the Journal reports.

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Amazon's massive catalog relies on thousands of individual sellers, who send their items to Amazon warehouses to allow for speedier shipments. But the company stopped letting sellers of nonessential items restock amid the pandemic, while increased demand on essential products led to slower shipping speeds as well. Sources told the Journal those one- and two-day delivery speeds may not be re-established for months.

Amazon warehouse workers have protested working conditions and a lack of hazard pay, saying not-so-essential items are still going out and requirements for calling out sick, even after potential exposure to the virus, were way too strict. One protesting workers' firing even prompted a vice president at Amazon to quit the company over its "climate of fear."