Amazon is preparing for Prime Day 2020 as usual according to new emails

What you need to know

• Amazon is still preparing for Prime Day 2020 as normal according to newly obtained emails.
• Sellers are being notified to have stock ready to ship to Amazon by mid-May.
• The event will likely take place in mid-July as usual.

Last month it was reported that Amazon was unsure of what impacts our current situations would have on Prime Day 2020, but some leaked emails now show that Amazon is continuing to push forward with planning. Business Insider has obtained emails sent out to some of Amazon's largest first-party sellers that show the company wants the sellers to have inventory available for Amazon to start ordering against as early as March 31, and that the company wants vendors to have deals submitted by April 17. Lightning Deals and other limited time promotions have a slightly extended deadline of May 8, but there will be an extra $500 per deal cost associated with it.

One of the emails sent out read:

All deal inventory should be ready to ship by mid-May to reduce risk of out-of-stock on Prime Day.

While another note that Amazon posted earlier in the month for sellers contained additional instructions for making sure they had deals submitted and that "Prime Day is quickly approaching". Given that Amazon has had to scale back its deliveries of all products to focus on just essentials as it ramps up staffing, it's a bit ambitious to think that having Prime Day take place in mid-July is a good idea. Several Amazon warehouses have already had to close due to sick employees, and halted inbound shipments from third-party sellers that weren't essential items.