Retail analysts say the first day of Amazon’s Prime Day event and competing sales drove solid online spending.

We're only halfway through Amazon's July Prime Day event. It's a whopping four days long this year, running through Friday, July 11, which means there are more deals than ever to entice shoppers looking for a bargain.

Amazon.com Inc took a big gamble this year by expanding its annual Prime Day summer sale to four days from two, betting the extension would give shoppers more time to navigate the millions of deals on its sprawling web store.