Another year, another record-breaking Prime Day for Amazon.
Although Amazon typically keeps specific results close to the vest, the company did publicly christen this year’s Prime Day “the biggest” in the annual event’s 8-year history.
Amazon did say that shoppers spent more than $3 billion buying 100 million small-business products and saved $1.7 billion while purchasing 300 million items worldwide during Prime Day, which took place July 12-13. The eCommerce analysts at Adobe estimate that overall sales reached $11.9 billion, an 8.5% increase over 2021. Those are fairly impressive results considering the current state of the U.S. economy.
Due to the existing high-inflation environment, we believe that most of this year’s Prime Day sales were driven by the purchase of necessities like groceries and home goods — sparked in large part by the many brands that used the event to encourage stock-up and full-basket purchases on those kinds of items.
Having spent Prime Day relentlessly tracking the marketing activity taking place (while maybe making a purchase or two themselves), The Mars Agency’s eCommerce team is now combing through the available data to identify key learnings for our clients.
In the meantime, they’ve already identified a few general takeaways that marketers should consider as they plan their next Prime Day activation (which actually will take place this fall, according to media reports). Since they reflect shopper behaviors that probably aren’t exclusive to Prime Day, these tips might also help inform shopper engagement planning for the upcoming holidays or other key selling seasons.
Target the Deal Hunters: One-time buyers seeking extreme savings are prevalent during Prime Day, so brands should consider programs that will entice them to stock up — especially on bulk-size items. “The more you buy, the more you save” offers were common across grocery categories this year.
Keep in Touch: Brands should find ways to retarget their Prime Day buyers during the holidays and other key selling seasons. You very likely attracted New to Brand shoppers that you’ll want to keep in the fold, and follow-up offers can drive purchases across your portfolio.
Showcase New Products: Prime Day gives brands an ideal opportunity to showcase new products at a time when Amazon’s site traffic escalates dramatically and shoppers are in a “buy now” frame of mind. Keep in mind that product pages need to be optimized before this becomes an option.
Beyond Meat, Milk-Bone, Gatorade and CoverGirl were among the many brands promoting Prime Day deals on new products. In addition to showcasing the offers via search results and the Prime Day landing page, these brands all featured the items in a “New Products” tab in their brand store. Elsewhere, Seeds of Change and Ben’s Original presented new Amazon-exclusive variety packs.
Inspire Usage: Deals are great, but savvier brands also entice shoppers by presenting them with new usage occasions and new ways of enjoying classic products. Combining inspiration with value is especially important these days, as post-pandemic consumers continue trying to rebalance their at-home and out-of-home experiences (while monitoring their spending closely).
Advertise: During massive eCommerce sales events like Prime Day, visibility is even more critical. Brands need to invest in off-site media to drive awareness and traffic or risk getting lost in the crowd. Social media in general and influencers in particular are a great way to get the word out.
On Amazon, use Sponsored Brand Ads to drive shoppers to your brand store, where shoppers will be able to explore additional deals and products they may not have seen otherwise. In the Beyond Meat promotion mentioned earlier, the brand used Sponsored Brand and Video Ads to tout its new plant-based jerky.
At The Mars Agency, we’re committed to being leaders in innovation. To help our clients stay ahead of the competition in a fast-paced and constantly evolving environment like eCommerce, our eCommerce team closely monitors news in the Amazon ecosystem. For more information, contact John Willkom at [email protected].