Amazon Prime Day sales up 11% to $14.2 billion

Consumers flocked to Amazon’s annual Prime Day sales event, spending 11% more this year, thanks in part to deeper price cuts, according to Adobe Analytics. Sales during the two-day event (July 16-17) totaled $14.2 billion, up $1.2 billion from last year’s event.

Adobe reports that consumers spent $7.2 billion on the first day and $7 billion on the second day. Most of the increase in spending was due to higher demand, not inflation.

The event was held more than a week later this year to get closer to back-to-school shopping. Adobe reported that spending on backpacks, lunch boxes, writing supplies, and school supplies increased 216% over the two days compared to the average daily spend on those items in June 2024. Additionally, spending on youth apparel increased 165% over the same period.

Adobe reports that year-over-year spending on electronics was up 15%, overall apparel spending was up 24%, while consumers spent 76% more on school supplies than they did during the July 2023 Prime event. Amazon noted in a recent executive blog that the 2024 sales event was the largest Prime Day in its history.

The company said Prime members purchased more than 375 million products worldwide and saved more than $2.5 billion on millions of deals on Amazon in the two-day period.

Economists say consumers continue to show resistance to discretionary spending, despite their bargain-hunting and intentional shopping patterns. Adobe also found that 6.5% of orders used buy now, pay later (BNPL), which generated $927 million in revenue, up 20% year over year. Deferred payment was more prevalent in the apparel, furniture/home and electronics industries.

Consumers searched for discounts, according to Salesforce data, which found that discounts in the U.S. increased by 10%, averaging 22% savings for customers, while global discounts increased by 8%, averaging 20%.

“Consumers flocked to big deals as they became increasingly focused on value. Makeup, skincare and apparel were big winners as back-to-school season approaches,” said Rob Garf, Salesforce’s director of retail and consumer goods. “Prime Day gives us a glimpse of what to expect this holiday season, and retailers need to smile. Online traffic and demand are up. And most of the online growth was driven by people buying more, not just higher prices.”

Numerator reported that the average order size was $57.97, up 7% from a year earlier. Additionally, 60% of households that shopped during Prime Day placed two or more separate orders, resulting in an average household spend of about $152.33.

Numerator also examined the demographics of the typical Prime Day shopper this year. The research found that the average age was between 35 and 44, with a high income and living in the suburbs. The data showed that 85% had been Prime members for more than a year, and 84% would shop on Prime Day 2023 as well. More than half (53%) said they were waiting for Prime Day to make some purchases.

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