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Amazon Prime Day hits some snags

Posted at 12:08 PM, Jul 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-12 12:08:24-04

NEW YORK — Amazon’s big day has run into some glitches.

Some customers are complaining that they can’t add items to their cart to check-out.

Amazon acknowledged the troubles in a tweet saying it is working to fix the problem quickly.

The company did not immediately respond to CNNMoney’s request for comment.

Prime Day kicked off in 10 countries across the world on Tuesday.

The 24-hour sale is the company’s attempt to stir up summertime shopping mania, and it’s offering deals on a wide variety of products — electronics, kitchen appliances, jewelry, apparel. Lots of stuff.

In addition to the United States, Prime Day is being held in the U.K., Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Belgium and Austria.

U.S. customers can find steep discounts on TVs, including a Samsung Curved 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart TV ($649.99), a 32-inch Roku Smart TV ($119.99) and a 32-inch LED TV ($99.99).

Amazon is also slashing prices on its own products in the U.S., including the Fire tablet, Echo, Fire TV and Fire TV stick. Toys from Nerf, Barbie and Fisher-Price will be discounted up to 50%.

Only Amazon Prime members qualify for Prime Deals. However, shoppers can sign up for a free 30-day trial membership. (Don’t forget to cancel before the 30 days are over if you don’t want to pay the $99 annual fee.)

Shoppers with an Echo device can use Amazon’s voice-command assistant Alexa to make purchases. Alexa users will also have access to exclusive promotions and can get $10 off their first purchase of at least $20 when they use the device.

Amazon launched Prime Day last summer to celebrate its 20th year in business. The inaugural sale brought in record global sales. On average, customers ordered 398 items per second, according to the company.

Some customers grumbled last year about the sale’s inventory levels as deals sold out fast. Others used the hashtag #PrimeDayFail to vent about the lame items that were on sale — like socks and microfiber towels.

Amazon said it has worked with its vendors to beef up inventory this year. The Prime Day inventory of televisions will be twice as big as Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

But that doesn’t mean popular sale items — like TVs– will last. “They will sell out fast this year,” Amazon spokeswoman Julie Law said.

Amazon isn’t the only one offering hefty deals this week. Walmart said Monday it will offer free shipping on every online purchase through Friday along with deals on electronics, apparel and some Apple products.