Report: Amazon Pushes Prime Day Back to October The annual sales event won't now happen until Oct. 5 at the earliest, but it could be delayed further.

For the past five years, Prime Day has been held in July, but it looks as though the ongoing pandemic has seen Amazon decide to break with tradition and delay its big sales event by three months.

As CNBC reports, Amazon has decided that now is not the time to launch a massive sales event online as it continues to be one of the key suppliers of goods to people stuck at home. An email sent out to third-party sellers confirms that Prime Day won't happen until Oct. 5, but that's a "placeholder date" meaning it could still be moved further back in the year.

Publicly, Amazon will only confirm that "We have not made any announcements regarding Prime Day," but the email to sellers suggests a decision has already been taken to shift it to October. Doing so is understandable considering Amazon's current focus is on coping with increased demand for orders and deliveries while implementing measures to keep its workforce safe through regular testing and new procedures.

This isn't the first time we've heard it suggested Prime Day is being postponed. Back in April an internal memo revealed the sales event would not happen until August. Clearly that proved too optimistic. A Prime Day much later in the year could prove beneficial for consumers who can bag a few bargains just in time to use as Christmas presents.