Discount-driven Consumers Spur Prime Day 2023

Prompted by discounts, shoppers opened their wallets on July 11 and 12, spending more than they did in 2022 at this year’s Amazon Prime event. Fifty-four percent of U.S. shoppers said they purchased items they had postponed, per market research firm Numerator. Average household spending was $144.58, with most shoppers placing more than one order. According to Numerator, 23% of U.S. orders had an average order size of under $20, and only 5% were over $200.

The Numbers

Adobe Analytics calculates that U.S. shoppers spent $6.4 billion on July 11, a 5.9% increase over last year’s first day and the largest sales day in 2023. Amazon confirmed that July 11 was the largest sales day in history but did not provide figures.

On July 12, U.S. consumers spent $6.3 billion, up 6.4% year-over-year. The two-day total of $12.7 billion spent in the U.S. represents 6.1% growth year-over-year and sets a new record for Prime Day.

Amazon reported that members purchased more than 375 million items worldwide and saved more than $2.5 billion on deals.

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Online sales were driven by appliances (up 37% from average daily sales in June 2023) and toys (up 27%). Other surging categories included apparel (up 26%) and electronics (up 12%).

Buy with Prime

U.S.-based Prime members could shop for items on participating merchants’ own websites using the new Buy with Prime program. Selected merchants were invited to participate in promotional activities to help drive awareness of the program. These deals were featured across Amazon channels, including placement in premium on-site banners on Amazon.com. Amazon reported that merchants who participated in Prime Day activities experienced in aggregate a 10-fold increase in daily Buy with Prime orders versus the prior month.

Discounts

The largest discounts offered by merchants over the two days were for electronics (14 to 16%), toys (12 to 15%), and apparel (12 to 13%). U.S. consumers waited for Prime Day to buy big-ticket items….