DETROIT – Monday is Amazon's Prime Day, which means it's the shopping holiday of the summer.
Local 4 consumer investigator Hank Winchester has been keeping a close eye on the deals throughout the afternoon. But Amazon isn't the only place where people can find discounts.
There are deals on Coleman grills, Utopia mattresses and Bluetooth wireless headphones. There's no denying Amazon is the place to be for shoppers who need to make a purchase, but other retailers are pulling out all of the stops to compete with Amazon's Prime Day.
Ebay is offering deals up to 60 percent off electronics. KMart is taking 60 percent off clothing and shoes. Target is offering 30 percent off its home brands and 25 percent off beauty and personal care items.
The deep discounts come as Amazon's dominance continues to threaten the competition. Its overall sales are expected to skyrocket 30 percent this year alone.
"The best deals this year for Amazon Prime Day are going to be on all of the Amazon branded products," Corey Hale said. "That's the Amazon Kindle, the Ecospeakers, the Fire Stick."
The retail giant is turning up the heat on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music by offering big discounts on Amazon Music Unlimited.
Also, for the first time, shoppers will get 10 percent off on "hundreds of items" at Whole Foods, which Amazon bought last year.
"This is like our Super Bowl," said Neil Lindsay, Amazon's vice president of Prime and marketing worldwide.
Lindsay took Local 4 inside the command center where Amazon is analyzing every step of Prime Day, including how items will be shipped and what people see on social media.
"We train all year for events like this," Lindsay said.
Prime Day was created in 2015 as a way to mark Amazon's 20th anniversary. But now, some question its legitimacy. While it does drum up sales during a traditionally slow month for retail, many question whether it's more about marketing than money.
"We work really hard on Prime Day to make sure it's the best deal we can get our customers," Lindsay said. "We have guidelines for our sellers as to the percent of discount we're hoping to see our customers get."
But Amazon officials said the sale benefits brands large and small.
"Fifty percent of what we sell worldwide is actually sold by small- and medium-sized enterprises, and that is a big deal," Lindsay said.
The Amazon effect isn't all bad news for competitors. Adobe said other major retailers saw sales jump 35 percent on Prime Day last year.