There is much being written about how Amazon netted out with the already historic Amazon Prime Day. We thought it would be interesting to take a look at the marketing emails from top retailers to see what they did in response to the newest online shopping holiday:

There were several approaches:

Declare it Christmas in July

While this theme is not a new one and many retailers already began using it earlier in the month, some like JomaShop (IR No. 203), reserved their Christmas in July promotions to coincide with Amazon Prime Day. Like Amazon, this retailer of luxury watches deemed it to be “better than Black Friday,” and, wisely, extended the sale to 48 hours.

Make Wednesday Black Friday in July

While Amazon promised more deals than Black Friday, many retailers, including fast fashion retailer Forever 21 (IR No. 306), simply deemed Wednesday “Black Friday in July” and pulled out the stops with significant savings and free shipping.

Approach it Subtly

Others took a more low-key approach, like popular outdoor outfitter Cabela’s (IR No. 63). You can almost here a “Pssssst…” before the subject line, "Fishing for deals?” There was no frenzy created in the email itself either, with its relaxed photo of friends fishing and even omission of exclamation point after the warning, “make sure these deals don’t get away.”

Tack on Free Shipping

A number of retailers simply stepped up summer sales already in progress by adding the always-popular free shipping for the day. Hanes (IR No. 687), for example, added a one-day email exclusive free shipping on all orders offer to the witty Change Your Underwear Sale that began earlier in the week.

Do Your Own Thing

Amazon Prime Day, what? The so-called new holiday and Amazon birthday celebration just happened to coincide with the birthday of Steals.com (IR Social No. 12), who celebrated the occasion with subscribers by offering secret steals for all.

What did you see?