‘No membership required': Target launches ‘Deal Days' to compete with Amazon Prime Day

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Two can play this game.

Target announced this week it's launching "Deal Days," offering online discounts on thousands of items to compete with Amazon Prime Day, with "no membership required."

Target Deal Days are set for July 15 and 16, the same days as Prime Day, and will include sales on items for the home, apparel, toy brands and more, the company said. The event will also include "rarely-on-sale" items.

Customers who order items on Target.com or on the Target app during the event can get their items through same-day delivery or in-store pickup. Using the app, online shoppers who don't want to leave their car can also have employees bring orders out to the parking lot.

Customers can get free two-day shipping when they spend $35 or use their Target REDcard, the company said.

Last year, Target held a one-day sale event on July 17, which fell on the final day of Amazon Prime Day 2018.

"Last year's Target.com One-Day Sale was one of our biggest days of the year for online sales," said Mark Tritton, Target's executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, in a release. "This year, we're giving guests more discounts across even more of our assortment with two days to save on hundreds of thousands of items and offering the best options in retail for delivery and pick up on their terms, including same-day."

While Target Deal Days discounts are available to anyone, Prime Day is only open to Prime members. It costs $119 for an annual membership, with student discounts available, or $12.99 for a monthly plan.

Prime Day, which begins at 12 a.m. PT on Monday, July 15 and runs for 48 hours, will offer Prime members more than one million deals globally, the company said.

The E-commerce giant said last year's 36-hour event was the biggest shopping event in Amazon's history, according to Fox Business. Prime Day 2018 brought in more sales than any Black Friday, Cyber Monday or previous Prime Day.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.