Amazon, Walmart, Target roll out early holiday sales

It's beginning to look like Christmas in stores across America as retailers kick off holiday deals off even earlier this year. Amazon is rolling out a 48-hour holiday sale for Prime members in October. 

The Seattle-based shopping juggernaut is among a handful of companies moving up their holiday sale calendars to drum up traffic and help ease the burden of holiday shopping on consumers struggling to keep up with inflation. 

Deloitte already forecast that retail spending growth will slow during the 2022 holiday season as higher costs continue to weigh on consumer budgets. 

AMAZON PRIME DAY SKIRTS INFLATION

From November through January, Deloitte projects that retail sales will grow between 4% and 6%, which is down considerably from the 15.1% growth during the same period last year. 

The current inflation rate of 8.3% means retailers would see a decrease in real sales.

For the first time, Amazon announced Monday that it's launching its Prime Early Access Sale, which gives members exclusive early access to holiday deals on Oct. 11 and 12. 

Typically, Amazon only holds one Prime Day event each summer. This year marks the first time the largest online retailer is offering a second sale amid fall dedicated to holiday deals.

The shopping holiday will include exclusive sales for Prime members across a variety of categories such as electronics, fashion, home, kitchen, pets, toys and Amazon devices.

Meanwhile, Walmart and Target have already started to advertise for their respective holiday sales. 

INFLATION TO DAMPEN HOLIDAY RETAIL SALES, DELOITTE SAYS

Arkansas-based Walmart announced last week that it will offer a wider assortment of items this year with more new brands and more Walmart-exclusives than a year ago, according to Tom Ward, the company’s chief e-commerce officer. 

The company says it's also offering more rollbacks this season to "provide even deeper savings" on items including toys, home goods, electronics and beauty. 

"More than half of Walmart customers will start their holiday shopping research in October and Walmart is prepared to meet their needs," the company said. 

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Last Thursday, Target announced that its first holiday sales event will kick off on Oct. 6 and run through Oct. 8, which is a few days earlier than last year. The department store chain also plans to extend its price matching from Oct. 6 through Dec. 24. 

The company touted that shoppers will be given the "earliest access ever to deep holiday deals on must-have items and everyday essentials."

Consumers will also find "deals and everyday low prices" online and in-store throughout the season, the company continued. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.