This year, Amazon Prime Day has reached new heights in its scope. We’ve upgraded it this year — from a classic two-day sale into a thrilling four-day shopping extravaganza! This change takes place from 11th July to 14th July. It has altered the way consumers shop, upending long established rules for retailers and creating new complexities.
On the first day of Prime Day, consumers shopped slowly and steadily. So they distributed their purchases over time rather than immediately gorging themselves on all those extra purchases. And indeed, Kashif Zafar, CEO of Xnurta, an online advertising platform to more than 20,000 small/medium sized online businesses, called this shift consumer behavior.
“With four days instead of two, we’re seeing a different rhythm, consumers are spreading out their purchases,” – Kashif Zafar
Zafar additionally shared that on the first day of the event, they saw huge demand for home and outdoor products. Retailers have reacted to this increase in excitement by heavily advertising associated products, particularly during the sale. This overwhelming interest indicates a larger consumer trend towards prioritizing quality as consumers make purchasing choices with an eye to current and future economic pressures.
Amazon Prime Day comes at a difficult time for retailers and consumers alike. President Donald Trump’s dreamt-up, arbitrary up-and-down tariff policies add to this nightmare. The introduction of these tariffs has launched a nationwide debate over their impact on the overall economy and prices. In turn, U.S. consumer confidence took a nosedive in June. Many third-party sellers on Amazon have reportedly discussed raising prices on products that come from China. Many companies have already raised prices due to the tariffs.
Last year, U.S. online shoppers spent a record-setting $14.2 billion during the 48-hour Prime Day flare-up. This spending turned it into the largest e-commerce day of that year ever! However, early reports indicate that this year’s initial figures may not match last year’s surge. Zafar cautioned against drawing conclusions too early.
“Early Prime Day numbers might look soft compared to last year’s surge, but it’s too early to call the event a miss,” – Kashif Zafar
The competitive landscape has made things particularly fierce as every other retailer left scrambled to do counterprogramming events to steal shopper attention away from Prime Day. Not to be outdone by Amazon, Walmart kicked off its own six-day deals event on the same day. At the same time, Target launched its Circle Week promotion a day ahead of Amazon Prime Day. Best Buy leapt into the fray with its Black Friday in July promotion. It started on the Monday leading into Prime Day.
With Amazon Prime Day now expanded to 48 hours, this upcoming move is a smart play to bring in new Prime members. Simultaneously, it’s changing the way consumers are planning their shopping for this huge sales event. In the next four days, we are really going to pay attention to how consumer spending shifts. This is something that would be a huge blow to the larger retail industry.