Amazon is hoping customers donB次元官网网址檛 see any more dogs, after early problems on Prime Day meant people trying to shop got only images of the cute canines delivering an apologetic message.

AmazonB次元官网网址檚 website ran into some early snags Monday on its much-hyped Prime Day, an embarrassment for the tech company on the shopping holiday it created.

Shoppers clicking on many Prime Day links after the 3 p.m. ET launch in the U.S. got only images of dogs B次元官网网址� some quite abashed-looking B次元官网网址� with the words, B次元官网网址淯h-oh. Something went wrong on our end.B次元官网网址� People took to social media to complain that they couldnB次元官网网址檛 order items.

By about 4:30 p.m., many Prime Day links were working, and Amazon said later Monday that it was working to resolve the glitches.

In an email to The Associated Press, it said B次元官网网址渕any are shopping successfullyB次元官网网址� and that in the first hour of the 36-hour Prime Day in the U.S., customers ordered more items than in the same time frame last year.

Still, the hiccups could mute sales and send shoppers elsewhere during one of AmazonB次元官网网址檚 busiest sales periods thatB次元官网网址檚 also a key time for it to sign up new Prime members. Shoppers have lots of options, as many other chains have offered sales and promotions to try to capitalize on the Prime Day spending.

Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali at Forrester Research called the glitch a B次元官网网址渉uge deal.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭his is supposed to be one of their biggest days of the year,B次元官网网址� she wrote in an email. B次元官网网址淚 am shocked this caught them off guard. But I guess the lesson is to not have a big unveil during the middle of the day when everyone comes to your site all at once.B次元官网网址�

Are the Amazon Prime Day error dogs real or just a ploy to drive more visibility & traffic because dogs are life?

B次元官网网址� Katie (@katiegoodling)

Amazon, which recently announced that Prime membership would be getting more expensive, was hoping to lure in shoppers by focusing on new products and having Whole Foods be part of the process. It was also hoping parents would use the deals event to jump start back-to-school shopping.

Jason Goldberg, senior vice-president of commerce at Publicis.Sapient, noted that the problems could turn off shoppers for a while, particularly those who planned to sign up for Prime membership.

B次元官网网址淚f you were planning to find Prime deals to lower the cost of back-to-school (purchases), youB次元官网网址檙e almost certainly going back to your traditional venue of choice,B次元官网网址� he said.

Goldberg noted that itB次元官网网址檚 easy for Amazon to extend deals on its own devices and brands, but trickier for it to extend deals for its third-party sellers because they signed up for different promotional slots.

While Amazon doesnB次元官网网址檛 disclose sales figures for Prime Day, Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research, had estimated that it will generate $3.4 billion in sales worldwide, up from an estimated $2.4 billion last year. Prime Day also lasts six hours longer than last year.

Meanwhile, other retailers like MacyB次元官网网址檚, Nordstrom, Best Buy, Walmart and Target have rolled out their own promotions, said Charlie OB次元官网网址橲hea, lead retail analyst at MoodyB次元官网网址檚.

B次元官网网址淏rick-and-mortar retailers know that they have little choice but to continue offering their own deep discounts, which is evident in the proliferation of B次元官网网址楤lack Friday in JulyB次元官网网址� deals that are being launched earlier each year, as well as various B次元官网网址榩rice matchB次元官网网址� offers,B次元官网网址� he said in a note earlier Monday.

Amazon created Prime Day in 2015 to mark its 20th anniversary, and its success has inspired other e-commerce companies to invent shopping holidays. Online furniture seller Wayfair introduced Way Day in April, becoming its biggest revenue day ever.

Prime Day also usually helps boost the number of Prime memberships. Amazon disclosed for the first time this year that it had more than 100 million paid Prime members worldwide. ItB次元官网网址檚 hoping to keep Prime attractive for current and would-be subscribers after raising the U.S. annual membership fee by 20 per cent to $119 and to $12.99 for the month-to-month option.

B次元官网网址淚t has been one of the best vehiclesB次元官网网址� for signing up members, said Goldberg.

Anne DB次元官网网址橧nnocenzio, The Associated Press

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