July means Fourth of July barbecues, beach trips, baseball—and Amazon Prime Day.
Amazon.com Inc. hasn’t yet announced when Prime Day will be this year, but it has made clear that there will be one. Sources tell Internet Retailer it will be a 30-hour event, instead of 24 hours as during the first two Prime Day sales, and it will take place between July 10-16.
One thing retailers can count on is that there will be a lot of shopping that day, and most of it will take place on smartphones and tablets as consumers enjoy the summer weather outdoors. Mobile devices have accounted for a larger share of traffic to online retail sites during the Prime Days of 2015 and 2016 versus Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, in those years, according to web activity measurement firm comScore Inc.
Amazon, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 1000, accounted for 77% of online purchases on Prime Day 2016, which fell on July 12, versus 42% earlier in July, according to Slice Intelligence, which tracks online retail purchases via the receipts emailed to consumers.
However, there also are opportunities for rivals, given that many consumers attracted to the thousands of deals Amazon offers on Prime Day go to competing sites to compare prices. For example, Macy’s Inc.’s Macys.com attracted 41% more traffic on Prime Day 2016 than on the prior Tuesday, and traffic was up 20.7% week over week at Walmart.com, operated by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to web traffic monitor Hitwise, a division of Connexity Inc.
Competitors including eBay Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Toys R Us Inc. and Newegg Inc. have confirmed they plan sales in July that will compete with Amazon’s Prime Day offers. One thing is certain: They will have to counter a big barrage of Amazon email. Amazon sent 179 million emails from the day it announced 2016 Prime Day, June 30, through July 12, the day of the sale, in 181 separate campaigns, according to eDataSource, which tracks retailers’ email marketing campaigns.
For more detail on what Amazon Prime Day 2016 and 2015 looked like, and what experts and consumers say about the upcoming Prime Day, check out Internet Retailer’s just-published Amazon Prime Day Report: 2017 edition.
More information also will be presented on a webinar next Thursday entitled “How retailers can prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2017.” The webinar will feature Fareeha Ali, Internet Retailer’s expert on online marketplaces, and two Amazon Marketplace sellers who have participated in previous Prime Day events: Karen Kang, vice president of communications at AccessoryGeeks.com, and Matt Kubancik, president and founder of online apparel retailer Street Moda.
Walmart.com is No. 3 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 1000, Newegg No. 21, J.C. Penney No. 33, Street Moda No. 750 and AccessoryGeeks.com No. 863. Macy’s is No. 6 and Toys R Us is No. 38.
Favorite