Amazon.com Inc. this year added 12 hours to its Prime Day sale, which helped the retail giant generate 20% more transactions during the 48-hour event compared with the 36-hour event last year. Transactions are the number of checkouts on Amazon.
Overall, the retail giant reported the two-day sales event was its largest event to-date, and Internet Retailer estimated Prime Day 2019 sales increased 71% over last year.
Jumpshot also finds that Amazon had 75% more transactions during the two-day Prime Day, compared with an average number of transactions on a typical Monday and Tuesday during summer 2019.
This year, Prime Day occurred on Monday, July 15, and Tuesday, July 16. The two-day total conversion rate for Amazon was 14.6%, up from the two-day total of 13.6% for Prime Day 2018.
The two-day total conversion rate increase was bolstered by the longer sale as shoppers had access to deals for 12 more hours and were likely to purchase, Jumpshot says. Jumpshot finds that on Prime Day Tuesday, Amazon’s conversion rate was 15.1% in 2019, a decrease compared with 15.5% in 2018. Prime Day Monday in 2019 had a conversion rate of 14.0%, up from 11.7% for the Monday in 2018, when only half of the day was considered “Prime Day.”
The five most-purchased products on Prime were all Amazon-branded products:
- The Fire TV stick
- Echo Dot
- Fire TV Stick 4K
- Amazon.com e-gift Card
- Amazon Smart Plug
These five products accounted for 10% of all transactions on the first day of Prime Day, but only 7% of all transactions on the Tuesday of Prime Day. This suggested that non-Amazon brands had a better sales day on the second day of sale, Jumpshot says.
Part of Amazon’s Prime Day success could have stemmed from its omnichannel initiative with its Whole Foods grocery chain. Amazon offered shoppers $10 toward their Prime Day purchase if they bought $10 at Whole Foods via Prime Now or at a Whole Foods store in the days leading up to Prime Day. Whole Foods had 20.3% more visitors to its store on the Saturday before Prime Day and 26.8% more visitors on the Sunday before compared with an average Saturday and Sunday in 2019, according to Placer Labs Inc., which uses smartphone location data to track foot traffic.
A Prime Day halo effect
Prime Day also produced a halo effect by helping boost sales on other retailers’ websites. For example, Nike.com’s transactions on July 15-16 period increased 153% compared with Prime Day 2018, and Gap.com’s transaction increased 100% in 2019 over 2018, according to Jumpshot.
Jumpshot’s analysis is based on its review of more than 160 billion clicks on ecommerce sites made monthly by 100 million consumers globally. Jumpshot says U.S. consumers comprise a significant portion of its panel. Jumpshot tracks the click-stream of consumers to track on-site searches, product page views and online conversion points. The conversion rates include mobile and desktop but exclude apps.
Digital marketing technology vendor Criteo also found a similar Prime Day influence on sales for a significant share of its clients. 34.5% of the 464 retailers it analyzed, generated at least a 20% increase in sales on the Monday and Tuesday of Prime Day compared with an average sales day in June 2019. Criteo also found that its clients had elevated sales on the Sunday before Prime Day and the Wednesday following the event. Retailers in the following categories had the largest jump in sales: outerwear and sleepwear for babies and toddlers, socks, and back-to-school products, including books, backpacks, laptops, lunch boxes, water bottles, food storage containers and toys, according to Criteo.
Amazon is No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top 500, Walmart No. 3, Target is No. 16, Gap is No. 28 and Nike is No. 34.