Black Friday and Cyber Monday once had the feel of a brief, frenetic dash. Merchants would cut prices, push aggressively for two days, and see inventory vanish off the shelves. But Amazon has changed the rules of the game, and what was once a weekend rush has become a weeks-long marathon.
In 2025, Prime Exclusive Discounts (PEDs) will no longer just span Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Rather, they will run for multiple weeks, creating a blur between discrete sales events and a single protracted promotion season. For sellers, it will be both opportunity and challenge.
Managed incorrectly, prolonged PEDs can lock you into discounts that last too long, stockouts that occur too quickly, and delivery schedules that are extended right when customer demand is highest. But managed well, the prolonged sales window can be a strong boon.
Here’s how to adjust.
Stage Your Discounts Like a Marathon
The greatest error that sellers commit with long PEDs is to consider them as one static event. Executing a single discount over the whole duration not only eliminates margin but also stifles momentum.
Instead, imagine you are staging a race. Begin with tentative early-bird discounts to snare shoppers who refuse to wait. The further into the event you get, the more new bundles or marginally deeper discounts you introduce to stimulate interest again. Finally, save your best offer for the last few days when urgency naturally intensifies.
This tactic allows you to draw out engagement over weeks without burning out your strategy prematurely.
Build Urgency Inside the Long Window
A longer sales event doesn’t mean shoppers feel more motivated. In fact, the opposite can happen—customers delay purchases because “the deal will still be there tomorrow.”
That’s where urgency tactics come in. Coupons, lightning deals, and time-bound offers give buyers a reason to act now instead of later. By layering urgency inside a longer event, you avoid the lull that often happens in the middle of extended PEDs.
Shoppers should feel like each stage of your campaign offers something new and unmissable.
Plan Inventory for Multiple Spikes
Extended PEDs put an extra spotlight on operational metrics, especially On-Time Delivery Rate (OTDR). If your OTDR slips below 95%, Amazon may stretch delivery timelines on your listings—and nothing kills conversions faster than a long shipping window displayed at checkout.
This means keeping fulfillment processes tight is just as important as your marketing strategy. If you’re using FBA, stay ahead of inbound shipping cutoffs. If you’re fulfilling yourself, ensure your logistics partners can handle the sustained volume over several weeks.
Customers don’t just want deals—they want fast, reliable delivery, even in the middle of Q4 chaos.
From Sprint to Marathon: The Mindset Shift Sellers Need
The extension of Amazon’s PEDs has changed the very nature of BFCM. What was once a speedy dash to the finish line is now a longer, more strategic test of endurance. It takes pacing oneself, strategically staging offers, keeping things urgent, and running operations with precision.
For sellers who adapt, the “extra time” isn’t a burden—it’s an opportunity. A well-run marathon generates more touchpoints, more brand exposure, and ultimately more sales than the old two-day sprint ever could.
The sellers who will win Q4 2025 aren’t waiting until November to prepare. They’re testing mobile-first ads, refining their offers, and building systems now to handle the extended push.
