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While others discount, Amazon raises prices on Cyber Monday

In the 2013 holiday season, while Amazon discounted the most on Black Friday, it then raised prices the most for Cyber Monday.

November 17, 2014

When retail intelligence firm Upstream Commerce analyzed the pricing behaviors of Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Macy's and Zappos over the past three holiday shopping seasons, it found that each retailer employed pricing strategies unto itself, and that Amazon went from low prices on Black Friday to higher prices each Cyber Monday.

In the 2013 season, Upstream Commerce examined pricing of the 20 largest athletic shoe brands at Amazon, Zappos and Macy's, finding that "Each lowered its prices to start the Holiday shopping season; and while Amazon discounted the most on Black Friday, it then raised prices the most for Cyber Monday," Upstream Commerce CEO/co-founder Amos Peleg said.

"There was no consistent strategy or head-on competition among the retailers," Peleg said. "The average discount rate attained at both Amazon and Zappos (at different times in the scale), was 2.8 percent, but was only 0.5 percent for Macy's."

Similarly, when Upstream Commerce checked out television and toy pricing by Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy in the 2011 Holiday Shopping Season, it found:

• Amazon discounted the most on Black Friday, then raised prices for Cyber Monday.
• Walmart's average prices were actually HIGHER on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday (in 2011) than their pricing in the Upstream Commerce control group a few weeks earlier.