Prime Day got off to a strong start as consumers spent a total of $6.4 billion on e-commerce on Tuesday, according to recent data from Adobe Analytics. This represents a growth of 5.96% compared to the previous year and sets a new spending record for the first day of Amazon.com’s highly anticipated two-day sales event.
Adobe’s data includes a comprehensive analysis of over a trillion visits to various U.S. retail sites, including those of Amazon.com’s key competitors who are also hosting their own sales events. Surprisingly, early data from Numerator reveals that 65% of Prime Day shoppers have planned to explore other summer sales as well. Among these shoppers, 37% will be checking out Target’s Circle Week, 32% will be visiting Walmart+ Week, and 11% have set their sights on Best Buy’s Black Friday in July.
Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, acknowledges the impressive spending figures so far and highlights that consumers are embracing their inner bargain hunters by taking advantage of great deals across various product categories. Specifically, electronics and apparel have been popular choices due to the significant discounts offered.
According to Adobe, the top items being purchased during Prime Day include appliances, toys, apparel, and electronics.
This incredible performance on the first day of Prime Day demonstrates the immense popularity and appeal of this major sales event. With consumers actively seeking out the best deals across multiple retailers, it is clear that Prime Day continues to be a significant event in the e-commerce landscape.
Amazon Stays on Top Despite Increased Competition
Despite facing fierce competition, Amazon continues to hold the upper hand in the e-commerce market. According to Salesforce data, non-Amazon retailers experienced a 7% decrease in their online sales on Tuesday compared to last year. This decline is attributed to a decrease in promotional marketing and lackluster discounts offered by these retailers. It is worth noting that the average discount rate this year was 18%, down 16% from the previous year, and significantly lower than the 30% average discount rate offered by retailers during the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday last year.
Rob Garf, vice president of retail at Salesforce, commented on the situation, stating that retailers who normally take advantage of the hype surrounding Prime Day failed to entice customers with attractive promotions and discounts on day one of their sales events. As a result, consumers did not show much interest.
In contrast, Amazon appears to be offering more compelling deals to shoppers. The company had announced earlier this summer that it would be providing “more deals than any previous Prime Day event.” According to Numerator data, 67% of Prime Day shoppers claimed that this year’s deals were either better or on par with last year’s offerings. Furthermore, 68% of shoppers expressed satisfaction with the level of discounting provided by Amazon.
This positive reception has also had an impact on Amazon’s stock price, as shares rose by 0.9% to $129.92 on Wednesday. This increase further contributes to the company’s impressive 54% gain in stock value so far this year.