Amazon slides as tech issues weigh on Prime Day (AMZN)

One of the most popular events in online shopping commenced on Monday. 

Amazon launched the fifth iteration of Prime Day, the internet retailer's largest sale of the year. For the first time, Prime Day will last for a total of 48 hours with deals on Amazon's Echo Dot, FireTV Stick, Kindle readers, and thousands of items from other retailers. 

Shares of Amazon slid as much as 0.5% after the sale kicked off on Monday, and as the company faced technical difficulties for a second straight year.

The company said Prime Day 2018 was the "biggest in history" with Prime members buying more than 100 million products. Amazon's Echo Dot and FireTV stick were among the best selling items. 

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Meanwhile, thousands of Amazon workers across Europe and the US began protesting Prime Day on Monday over harsh working conditions and low-pay for warehouse employees. 

The protests come as Amazon extended the event for additional 12 hours this year while also promising one-day delivery. Prime Day 2018 lasted for 36 hours. 

Amazon's pioneering of new Black Friday in July has pushed other retailers to launch competing sales. Walmart, which has been trying desperately to compete with Amazon, announced it's own sale starting on July 14 running until July 16. 

Shares of Amazon are up more than 33% year-to-date.

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Source: Business Insider

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