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Amazon Prime Day, when the e-commerce giant offers a Black Friday-like sale in the middle of summer, will take place on July 15 and 16, the company says.

It's the fifth year of the big sale and the first time it will span 48 hours, giving those who are or become members of Amazon's premium subscription service the chance to access deals on more than 1 million items.

With other retailers often launching their own sales to coincide with Amazon's, the company says this year's bargains will pop up as often as every five minutes. It's also promising new product launches by , and, for the first time, there will be specific pages of items produced by local entrepreneurs.

"It's the single largest day that we have of acquiring new members," says Cem Sibay, vice president of Prime. "But what's more important is the engagement by existing members. ... It's considered a core benefit of Prime."

Physical stores will also be part of the event. At Whole Foods, the grocery chain Amazon purchased for $13.7 billion in August 2017, there will be deals on certain items and an extra 10% discount on hundreds of products. Bargains will also be available at Amazon Books and Amazon 4-Star locations.

And in the same way Black Friday deals now roll out weeks beforehand, Prime deals are already popping up. A Schwinn special edition is available starting today, as are pairs of Levi jeans customized by New York Giant Sterling Shepard and his wife, model Chanel Iman Shepard.