While many retailers don’t have the size and power to turn their own “Prime Day” into an all-out shopping and media blitz like Amazon, there are a few things they can all do to compete and capture the attention of their customers during this crucial time. Here are four key areas to focus on.

Michael Osborne, president & CEO, SmarterHQ

Michael Osborne, president & CEO, SmarterHQ

Prime Day is fast approaching, with more retailers than ever joining the mid-year sales phenomenon. Nordstrom, Walmart, eBay, Target, and many others have plans to run July deals in hopes of capitalizing on Amazon’s success—and for good reason.

 

Over 100 million products were sold during Prime Day 2018, making Amazon’s sales larger than both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The now two-day event has given Christmas in July a whole new meaning and reinvigorated consumer interest in summertime splurging, making it a no-brainer for other retailers to take advantage of. It’s also a huge opportunity to gain valuable customer data and insights in advance of Back to School and holiday shopping seasons.

While many retailers don’t have the size and power to turn their own “Prime Day” into an all-out shopping and media blitz like Amazon, there are a few things they can all do to compete and capture the attention of their customers during this crucial time:

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Prime Day is Amazon’s way of making their best customers feel superior and extremely valued. Do the same for your top customers.

Jump on the Bandwagon

If you don’t already have something planned around Prime Day, get plans together quick (unless it truly doesn’t fit with your brand or target audience). 250 other retailers understand why jumping on the bandwagon right now is so important, and you should, too. Driving marketing promotions and deep discounts of your own this month, messaging specifically about Amazon Prime Day, or running even better offers after Prime Day is over could all work as a strategy to let Amazon pave the way for your benefit. Consumer interest is heightened right now and your customers are “primed” to shop—missing out on this opportunity could cost you.

Push the Right Brands & Benefits

As consumers are drawn into Prime Day frenzy, clearly not everything they could possibly want to shop for is available on Amazon, particularly specific brands. This is exactly what Nordstrom is doing by launching their anniversary sale this month, with discounts on brands such as Topshop. Push promotions and deals on specific products, categories, and brands that your customers can’t find on Amazon—plus, use the customer data you have to cater discounts/events to individual shopping preferences to make the experience feel more personalized and convenient with you over shopping with them.

And since one of the biggest pulls for Prime members is free and fast shipping, be sure to step up your shipping experience now, too, especially for your highest-spending customers and those who have exceptionally long cart abandonment times.

Pump Up Your VIP Program

Prime Day is Amazon’s way of making their best customers feel superior and extremely valued. Do the same for your top customers and pump up your loyalty program during this time. Give customers first access to your biggest sales this month, promise them exclusive free or faster shipping, and reward them with a larger percentage off than what’s on your site. And just as Amazon is vocal about Prime member deals and other perks leading up to the big day (cue their live-streaming concert a few days before), be intentional about messaging to your VIP  customers and their special status so they understand and fully embrace the hype of your promotion before it happens.

Leverage Key Data for Holiday

One of the reasons Prime Day flourishes is Amazon’s ability to provide customers with similar products to the ones they’ve previously viewed or purchased. In fact, 44% of Prime customers say they buy with Amazon based on product recommendations.

Like Amazon, be sure to track cross-channel behavior and key data during this time and leverage it to power recommendations, dynamic content, and personalized triggers for your customers this holiday season. Also, keep track of what items are hot (and which aren’t) overall this month and use those insights to power additional promotions on the same or similar products during the holidays, too.

Come Out on Top

Whether you compete with Amazon directly or you partner with them as a sales channel, Prime Day is a great online sales event to piggyback on for nearly any retailer. Let Amazon do all of the work to create an artificial reason to focus on online shopping, and tailor your marketing strategy to coincide. Those who take advantage of this month and the opportunities that come from it throughout the rest of the year will come out on top.

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SmarterHQ provides a multichannel behavioral marketing platform for retailers and consumer brands.

 

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