Retail Holidays Calendar 2023: Let's Crack the Amazon Seasonal Sales

Z.D. Babar

Content Strategist at MarginBusiness

Compiling a realistic plan with sales and revenue forecasts is an essential part of running a healthy business. If you’re an Amazon seller, it should start with the Amazon retail holidays calendar.

Though you’ll promote your products throughout the year, you may stock products that fit better with some holidays than others. If you plan your sales around Amazon seasonal shopping, you’ll be in the best position to maximize profits throughout the year.

Early preparation will give you time to optimize your content and attract the attention of your target market, enabling you to plan marketing promotions, advertising, and social media campaigns before the holiday. The Amazon retail calendar could provide the foundation for a comprehensive plan and budget.

So, what holidays can you expect on the Amazon retail holidays calendar 2023?

New Year's Day

Every year Amazon holds fantastic sales to see in the New Year, an opportunity for sellers to sell off excess inventories left after the Christmas rush.

Consider cross-selling and up-selling deals to move items that didn’t sell as well as you had expected. It’s a great way to clear the shelves and start anew for the year ahead.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Day falls on the third Monday of each year. In 2023 that’s the 16^th of January. The day marks the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King in 1929.

Leading the civil rights movement during the late 1950s and 1960s, Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated in 1968.

Amazon holds extensive MLK sales every year to mark the day. Almost every product category is represented in the sales, so you can use the opportunity to make extra sales over the long weekend.

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day on the 14^th of February is the perfect time for sellers to show the love and increase sales all at once.

It’s time to come up with creative ideas for lovers to share. Pretty packaging and personalized messages could make your product a standout. Traditional gifts like jewelry, flowers, and chocolates spring to mind, though fragrances, books, music, gift cards, electronics, and clothing and accessories may offer alternatives to the tried and tested.

Presidents Day

Presidents Day officially commemorates President George Washington’s birthday on the 22^nd of February.

Still, Abraham Lincoln also has a February birthday on the 12^th, so the holiday is known by many as Presidents Day. It is on the third Monday of February.

Most retailers, curbside and online, have massive sales on the Presidents’ Day long weekend. Use the opportunity to sell slow-moving winter stocks and clear the racks for summer. Still, anything from jewelry to cosmetics, electronics, and furniture is up for grabs over this long weekend.

In 2023, Presidents’ Day falls on the 20^th of February. Mark it on your Amazon retail calendar.

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St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and died in 492. The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade in the USA was in 1737 and continues, to this day, on March 17^th every year. On Saint Patrick’s Day, everything turns green, from clothing to sodas and beer.

Celebrations and parades start the weekend before Saint Patrick’s Day and end the weekend after.

Statistics show that Americans spend an average of $42 per person on Saint Patrick’s Day. Over this period, whiskey and stout come out in copious amounts. Special Saint Patrick’s Day promotions and packaging will ensure a memorable occasion.

Limited edition products will sell well, as this merchandise isn’t available during any other time of the year. Switch on the power of green on Saint Patrick’s Day and join the celebrations.

Easter

In most Christian homes, Easter is celebrated with Easter hunts with chocolates, candy eggs, and toys up for grabs.

Every year Amazon runs Easter deals before the Easter weekend, including Good Friday and Easter Monday sales. This year Good Friday falls on the 7^th of April 2023, and Easter Monday on the 10^th of April.

It’s the beginning of Spring, so this is also a great time to promote Spring attire.

Mother's Day

With more than 80% of people celebrating Mother’s Day, this is not an opportunity you want to miss. The National Retail Federation NRF estimates Mother’s Day sales at $31.7 billion in 2022 and growing.

Popular gifts include flowers, jewelry, and gift cards. This is also an opportunity for subscription services, an important day to mark on your retail holidays calendar 2023. Mother’s Day is on Sunday, the 14^th of May, in the USA.

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Memorial Day

Celebrated on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day honors those who lost their lives in service to the country.

Initially called Decoration Day, it all started when, in 1868, General John Logan declared the 30^th May a commemoration for those who lost their lives in the Civil War.

As with most three-day weekends in the USA, the Memorial Day weekend is celebrated with countrywide sales. Falling on the 29^th of May in 2023, many families enjoy the start of summer with barbecues and poolside parties over the Memorial Day weekend.

Expect Amazon seasonal sales to peak over the Memorial Day long weekend.

Father's Day

Not quite as big as the Mother’s Day event, Father’s Day holds its own on the Amazon retail calendar. The estimated expenditure in 2022, according to the NRF, was $20.1 billion.

Apart from special outings, clothing, gift cards, and electronics top the list of the most popular purchases. Most buyers look for something a little different for Father’s Day, so get inventive and convince buyers that your product ticks all the boxes.

Make a note of Father’s Day on your Amazon retail calendar. In the USA, it falls on the 8^th of June this year.

Amazon Prime Day

Amazon hasn’t yet announced the date of the biggest Amazon sale of the year. Still, you can expect it to take place in the latter half of July. Amazon Prime users spent over $11.9 billion on Amazon Prime Day last year, with more than $3 billion spent on 100 million items sold by Amazon small business sellers.

Highlight Amazon Prime Day as an important opportunity not to be missed on your Amazon retail holidays calendar.

Tax-free weekends

Make the most of a tax-free weekend. Shoppers hungry for tax breaks will be on the hunt for high-value items. Many may have held back their purchases for just this opportunity. Tax-free holidays differ from state to state. Tax-free events tend to cover the following items;

School clothing, shoes, and supplies
Energy efficiency sales
Second amendment sales – These include guns and ammunition.
Severe weather readiness

Labor Day

Celebrated on the first Monday in September, Labor Day honors workers’ social and economic achievements. It’s a weekend of celebrations, parades, and, of course, sales.

Though not as great an Amazon retail sales opportunity as Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday, Labor Day sales offer you the prospect of clearing out the last of the summer fashions. Empty the shelves and make way for winter and holiday season merchandise.

Highlight the 4^th of September on your retail holidays calendar 2023.

Halloween

Halloween itself is not the biggest on the Amazon holiday retail calendar. Still, if you sell candy, costumes, or anything spooky and bizarre, you should have all your merchandise on offer weeks ahead along with promotions.

You’ll have to push to sell the themed goods before Halloween or discount the stock after the holiday.

Black Friday

This year Black Friday falls on the 24^th of November 2023, as always, the first Friday after Thanksgiving. Amazon ups the vibe at least a week before Black Friday and often runs a month of specials.

Be prepared with all your tempting sales offers ahead of time and make the most of one of the biggest on the Amazon retail calendar.

Black Friday sets the tone for Christmas retail sales. If you’re not prepped and ready, you’ll miss out on the best seasonal opportunity to increase sales. Last year Amazon sales broke records over the Black Friday weekend. Amazon sellers made sales of more than $1 billion.

Sales were 2.3% higher than sales over the same period the previous year.

Almost anything goes on Black Friday, so whatever your merchandise, you can sell goods at reasonable prices but be prepared to offer a discount.

Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday caps the Black Friday weekend. This is another growing phenomenon with more than 20% growth between 2019 and 2022, that’s a compound annual growth of 6.3%. Cyber Monday offers electronics vendors the best seasonal sales opportunity.

Whether you sell smartphones, headphones, games, or computers, this is your chance to profit and earn new customers looking for products like yours. Amazon has the largest share of potential Cyber Monday customers, with a share of 56%.

Super Saturday

The last Saturday before Christmas Eve is called Super Saturday. As you can imagine, it draws thousands of last-minute shoppers looking for inspiration for the perfect gift.

Reports are that Super Saturday 2022 drew 189 million shoppers. This is a perfect opportunity to empty the shelves of inventory. Cross and up-sell goods that may not have sold as well as you had hoped in the run-up to Christmas.

Super Saturday is late this year, falling on the 23^rd of December 2023.

New Year's Eve.

The post-Christmas sales traditionally start on the 26^th of December and continue until the end of the year. Then, after New Year’s Eve, the whole business of preparing for the new year’s sales starts over again.

The Amazon retail holidays calendar is a useful tool for planning your promotions, campaigns, and inventories. The holidays may not all affect you. Still, you can use the Amazon seasonal sales calendar to pick the holidays you want to target. Then optimize your listings, advertising, and social media communication to target those holidays.