Marketing

Adobe: Amazon sets Prime Day sales event record

Photo: dennizn - stock.adobe.com

July 22, 2024

Amazon's two-day Prime Day was a record setter, according to Adobe analysis, with a two-day total of $14.2 billion representing a 11% year-over-year increase.

Nearly half, 49.2%, of consumers used mobile devices compared to desktop shopping. Across both days, $7 billion was spent through mobile devices, reflecting a 18.6% jump compared to Prime Day event in 2023, according to a press release on Adobe's analysis.

Additional Adobe findings include:

• Buy Now Pay Later: Across the two-day event, BNPL orders accounted for 7.6% of online orders. The flexible payment method drove $1.08 billion of online spend, up an impressive 16.4% YoY as consumers seek more flexibility in managing their daily expenses.
• Discounts: Since the 2023 holiday shopping season, retailers have leaned into discounts to drive growth, given a demand environment that remains unpredictable. Shoppers found great deals across both days, with electronics peaking at 23% off listed price (vs. 14% in 2023). Steeper discounting was also seen in apparel at 20% (vs. 12% in 2023), home/furniture at 16% (vs. 9%), televisions at 16% (vs. 5%), toys at 15% (vs. 12%), appliances at 14% (vs. 7%), sporting goods at 11% (vs. 6%) and computers at 11% (vs. 8%).
• Impact of social media: From email marketing to paid search, consumers were driven to U.S. retail sites in different ways. Adobe Analytics data profiles how much each channel contributed to online sales. Social networks saw a large lift when it came to revenue contribution (up 11.1% across both days) — right behind display (up 12.5%) — and highlights the impact of social content and influencers. Other notable sales drivers included direct traffic (up 10.7%), and affiliates/partners (up 8.2%).
• Curbside pickup: This fulfillment method was used in 18.9% of online orders across the two-day event (for retailers who offer the service), again highlighting the staying power of a service that can provide speed and convenience. This is down slightly from last year at 20.2%.
• E-commerce forecast: With the bump from the Prime Day event, Adobe expects $84.4 billion to be spent in the full month of July 2024, representing 8.2% growth YoY. By the end of September 2024 (nearing the Nov-Dec holiday shopping season), Adobe is forecasting $732 billion in online spend for the year, representing 7.3% growth YoY.
• Impact of inflation: Strong consumer spending this year has been driven by net-new demand, as opposed to higher prices. The Adobe Digital Price Index, which tracks online prices across 18 product categories, shows that e-commerce prices have fallen for 22 months now — down 4.2% YoY in June 2024. Adobe's numbers are not adjusted for inflation, but if online inflation were factored in, there would be even higher growth in topline consumer spend.