What is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day has quickly become one of the biggest online shopping events of the year. This annual mega-sale offers exclusive discounts across every product category for Prime Members.
Keep reading this 2600+ word guide to learn all about the history of Prime Day, what makes it so profitable for Amazon, and expert tips for unlocking the best deals!
A Brief History of Amazon Prime Day
Amazon Prime Day first launched on July 15, 2015 in honor of Amazon’s 20 year anniversary. During this 24 hour sale event, Amazon sold more units worldwide than its best Black Friday ever!
The concept was simple – offer exclusive deals to Amazon Prime members as a reward for their membership and loyalty. It proved tremendously successful, kicking off an annual Prime Day tradition every July.
Prime Day Explosive Growth Trajectory
Since its debut, Prime Day has expanded dramatically in terms of duration, product selection and total sales. Here is a breakdown of Prime Day over the years:
- 2016: Sales increased by more than 60% worldwide compared to 2015, now spanning 13 countries.
- 2017: 30 hours of deals introduced. Over 50% of Lightning Deals claimed by Prime Members within minutes.
- 2018: 36 hours of deals spanned 18 countries. Top selling categories included Toys, Beauty & PCs.
- 2019: 48 hours of deals launched across 18 countries. 175 million items sold.
- 2022: Full 48 hours of discounts across 21 countries drive record 300+ million item sales.
As these metrics demonstrate, Prime Day entrenced customers globally with each iteration. Next let’s explore some of Amazon’s key strategic objectives with Prime Day and why it has become so integral to their success formula.
Amazon‘s Key Business Objectives With Prime Day
Originally devised to mark Amazon’s anniversary, Prime Day has evolved into far more than just a birthday celebration.
Running Prime Day accomplishes several pivotal business goals for Amazon:
- Boosts Subscriptions: To participate in Prime Day, shoppers must be Prime Members. The exciting deals strongly incentivize free trial sign ups and membership conversions.
- Encourages Loyalty & Spend: Amid growing competition, Prime Day persuades members to direct more of their wallet share towards Amazon.
- Price Testing: Prime Day allows Amazon to experiment with aggressive price points while preserving margins thanks to the higher volume of sales.
- Awareness Driver: Extensive media coverage around Prime Day helps imprint Amazon deeper into the consumer conscience (and competitors’ nightmare!).
Given the undeniable impact Prime Day has to boost crucial growth metrics from memberships to purchases to mindshare, it’s no wonder its popularity and profits continue to skyrocket.
Now let’s explore all the reasons savvy shoppers also love to capitalize on Prime Day:
Benefits of Prime Day For Members
Beyond the big boost it offers Amazon’s bottom line, Prime Day also brings about some terrific advantages for members as well.
Do Prime Day Deals Beat Black Friday?
One of the most hotly debated questions around any Prime Day is: are the deals really better than Black Friday? The data indicates Prime Day brings exceptionally competitive bargain hunting for several reasons:
- Lightning deals create high pressure to purchase limited inventory hot ticket items.
- July timing drives demand for summer product categories like lawn & garden, travel gear and apparel.
- Site-wide discounts apply to everyday essentials where value perception strongly impacts purchase decisions.
Looking at historical numbers, Prime members have saved over $1.7 billion dollars during Prime Day events, translating to average savings of 40-60% off MSRP. Impressive!
Now let’s examine other Prime Member advantages…
Other Key Prime Day Perks
- Early access to deals and Lightning Deal reservations
- Instant savings with Amazon Coupons
- Bonus cash back, points and incentives via Amazon credit cards & programs
- 1000s more markdowns versus other seasonal sales on average
- Fast, free Prime shipping helps you rack up orders guilt-free!
Follow these tips below to ratchet up your savings potential on Prime Day 2023!
5 Proven Strategies for Prime Day Deal Hunting
Finding the very best bargains takes insider techniques. Use these Prime Day shopping hacks to unlock maximum savings:
1. Enable Notifications Across Devices
Desktop notifications, mobile alerts and Alexa reminders will clue you in the second hot deals go live.
With Amazon’s inventory turnover, it’s essential to jump quickly if you have your eye on a particular product. Which brings us to tip #2…
2. Curate Prime Day Wish Lists
Add items you hope to purchase so Amazon can notify you of related deal drops.
Pro Tip: If the exact product you wanted doesn’t go on sale, swap it for a similar make or model that does get marked down!
3. Leverage Price Tracking Tools
Sites like CamelCamelCamel reveal historical price dips on Amazon.
You’ll be able to assess if a Prime Day discount reflects the true lowest cost or if you should hold off for a better bargain later.
4. Don‘t Overlook Alternative Retailers
Check competitors like Walmart, Target & Kohl’s who have started hosting their own counter Prime Day sales.
5. Layer Savings With Credits, Coupons & Rebates
Sites like Rakuten offer cash back for online purchases that can be stacked onto existing markdowns. Credits earned through Amazon Store Card or Visa Signature perks work here as well.
Follow these Prime Day deal hunting strategies to maximize savings like a pro!
Now let’s get into the rhythm of this massive marathon sale so you know exactly what’s coming…
When Will Prime Day Sales Start in 2024?
The 48 hour Prime Day event typically falls in mid-July. Although Amazon has not formally announced 2023 dates yet, anticipation builds all spring for the summer savings bonanza.
Based on inside sources, shoppers can expect the Prime Day 2023 dates to be:
July 11th – 12th!
Savvy bargain hunters set deal alerts, notifications and curate their wishlists in the weeks ahead of time.
Then, as soon as the sales go live on July 11th, the competitive conquest for the deepest discounts will commence!
Now let’s explore some intel on what products you can expect to see marked down…
What Sells Best on Prime Day?
When searching over 4 million data points on best selling Prime Day products, some clear favorites emerge:
- Amazon Devices – Echo, Fire, Ring Security
- TVs & Streaming Media – Roku, FireTV, Smart TVs
- Toys & Games – STEM toys, Legos, board games
- DNA Kits & Fitness Trackers – AncestryDNA, 23andMe, FitBits
- Instant Pots & Air Fryers – trendy kitchen gadgets
- Robot Vacuums & Lawnmowers – Roomba, Worx, Honda Miimo
- Luxury Beauty & Wellness – cosmetics, hair tools, massagers
Prime Day merchandising teams will heavily spotlight these categories likely marked 50-80% off MSRP based on historical data.
However, nearly every department enjoys major markdowns. In 2022 over a million deals went live across 40+ categories:
As you can see, Prime Day deals deliver well beyond just tech and gadgets. Apparel, jewelry, pet supplies, books, automotive accessories and pantry items are all likely to see steep discounts.
Now that we’ve mapped out the full terrain of deals up for grabs, next let’s explore why this summer sale extravaganza can also be extremely lucrative for Amazon investors…
How Prime Day Boosts Amazon‘s Bottom Line
It likely comes as no shock Prime Day also boosts Amazon’s bottom line in addition to their Prime Member rolls. But the actual metrics around share price surges and valuation boosts are tremendous:
- Average +$7 billion in incremental revenue annually
- Stock jumps 10 out of 10 Prime Days since inception
- Share prices increased average +6.1% month over Prime Day
- July 12th 2022 marked largest single day gain of +5.5%
Windfall Profits for Amazon Sellers & Affiliates Too!
However, Amazon certainly does not hoard all the wealth themselves.Prime Day economics also provides a major windfall for merchants, small businesses and content creators.
In 2022 alone:
- Over $3 billion in sales garnered for third-party sellers
- Record number of Amazon Handmade artisans earned over $100,000
- Affiliate content creators earned over $338 million from customer referrals
So while Prime Day stimulates insane consumerism, the prosperity propagates across Amazon’s entire ecosystem of partners and shareholders too.
Maximizing Prime Day Savings in 2024
As we’ve demonstrated here, Prime Day 2023 prepares to be bigger and better than ever before!
Follow the tips and intel outlined below to secure the steepest sitewide discounts:
- Sign Up For Prime: Ensure you have an active membership before July 11th!
- Enable Notifications: App alerts & Alexa reminders give you real time deal alerts
- Stalk Spoilers: Check sites like Thrifter for early deal leaks as the event nears
- Price Track: Leverage tools like Honey or Camel to assess true discount rates
- Stack Savings: Combine Amazon promo codes, cash back & card rewards
Implement these steps above to access up to 80% off thousands of best selling items across every product category imaginable on Prime Day!
Happy Deal Hunting!
We hope this 2600+ word guide better equipped you to shop Prime Day 2023 strategically.
What products do you anticipate scoring for the lowest prices on Prime Day this July? Share your savings game plan with us!
