Since 2017 I’ve written an analysis of Amazon’s Prime Day — 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017. While last year’s Prime Day occurred in June, the company returned to its traditional July event in 2022.
Like last year, Prime Day 2022 ran for 48 hours, on the 12th and 13th. This year Amazon, in partnership with Affirm, made BPNL (buy now, pay later) available to shoppers who purchased at least $50 of eligible items from June 28 through July 13.
Amazon offered Prime Day this year in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, the U.K., the U.S, and, for the first time, Poland and Sweden.
In a press release, Amazon revealed that Prime members purchased more than 300 million items worldwide, an increase from the 250 million items sold in 2021’s event. Amazon does not disclose total sales for Prime Day, although it did state the top-selling categories in the U.S. were consumer electronics, household goods, and Amazon-branded devices. Consumers also focused on groceries as inflation continues to take a toll on households.
Statistics
Adobe Digital Economy Index data indicates total U.S. online spend across all retailers (not just Amazon) rose to $11.9 billion — $6.0 billion on day one and $5.9 billion on day two. This represented 8.5% growth compared to the $11.0 billion last year. The two days garnered the most online sales in the U.S. to date in 2022. Discounts for toys (15%) and apparel (12%) were the highest for all categories according to Adobe. Email at 197% and display advertising at 201% were the marketing channels that amassed the largest increase in revenue contribution during the first day.
Data and research firm Numerator reported Amazon’s average U.S. order size in 2022 was $52.26, up from $44.75 in 2021. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of U.S. households shopping on Prime Day placed more than two separate orders, bringing the average household spend to roughly $144.56.
The top five items sold in the U.S. according to Numerator were all Amazon-branded products: Fire TV Sticks, Echo Dot (4th Gen), Blink cameras and doorbells, Amazon Gift Card reloads, and Ring Video Doorbells. Consumers focused on less expensive items this year; 58% sold for less than $20, while only 5% sold for over $100. The top categories consumers purchased were household essentials (29%), health and beauty (28%), and electronics (27%).
Ninety-six percent of U.S. shoppers surveyed by Numerator were Prime members, with 2% joining during the event. According to Coresight Research, 54.9% of U.S. adults have a Prime membership, and another 25.7% have access to a membership through another household member.
Forty-one percent of respondents in the Numerator survey stated that Prime Day discounts were their main reason for shopping. Forty-four percent said they did not consider other merchants for their purchases.
Prime Day Competitors
Prime Day competitors have traditionally been omnichannel merchants such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. Target started its three-day “Deal Days” discounts one day before Amazon. Target’s discounts were online only, but consumers could choose in-store pickup on many items. Fashion items at Target were up to 50% off according to “The Prime Day Effect” report by Alvarez & Marsal, a retail consultancy.
Walmart did not directly compete with Prime Day this year. Instead it started deep discounts several weeks earlier. Select back-to-school items were 75% off. Discounts on televisions were 35%.
Best Buy’s “Black Friday in July” ran Monday, July 11, through Wednesday, July 13, with up to $300 off select laptops. TVs sold for as low as $79.99. According to Alvarez & Marsal, Best Buy is known to match Amazon’s Prime Day pricing for phones, tablets, computers, and TVs.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Marcia Kaplan, Khareem Sudlow
