Amazon Prime Day — and its fall counterpart, Prime Big Deal Days — are highly anticipated annual shopping events that attract millions of consumers from around the world. Last year, global Prime Day sales topped $12 billion in 48 hours. Data from Capital One Shopping Research shows that in 2022, customers in 20 countries purchased more than 300 million items, with a year-over-year increase in spending of nearly 17% per shopper. All that to say: Prime Day is kind of a big deal.
Prepping starts months in advance for brands that want to capture Amazon’s vast audience (and their wallets). In this blog, we’ll outline what Prime Day is (and why it matters for merchants), promotion strategies, and recommendations for a successful Prime Day for brands and their customers.
Typically held in July, Prime Day is a two-day sales event hosted by the world’s largest online retailer. In 2022, Amazon launched a second Prime event in the fall (this year, it will take place October 10-11) to help brands and shoppers get ahead of the holiday rush. These events are designed to reward Amazon shoppers with great deals on products ranging from household essentials to electronics. Prime Day benefits brands with a large customer base that is ready to convert. With added visibility through Amazon’s Prime Day Launches and Deals of the Day, brands can grow awareness and increase sales.
Sellers participating in Prime Day typically extend promotional pricing and deals throughout the entire week. The bestselling categories during Prime Day events include consumer electronics, household essentials, and health and beauty. Most product categories will see meaningful sales lifts with a promotional strategy in place.
When it comes to promotion strategies, brands have a few options available:
Here are the differences between Amazon Lightning Deals and Best Deals:
A Lightning Deal is a promotion strategy that features a discounted item for a limited number of hours (usually four to 12) on the Amazon Deals page. A Best Deal features a discounted item for a limited number of days on the Amazon Deals page. For both kinds of deals, the following are true:
According to Amazon, to be eligible for a Lightning Deal or Best Deal, the seller or product must:
A Prime Exclusive Discount (PED) is just what it sounds like — a discount available only to Prime members. Product offers with a PED will show a discounted price with the regular price crossed out. Typically, these discounts will also display a “deal” badge. Buyers will see a savings summary in search results and on product detail pages. One of the major benefits of PEDs is that there are no participation fees and the seller determines the exact duration of the deal down to the hour.
Coupons can be offered as a percentage or dollar amount discount. Brands can see a defined campaign duration and budget for coupons. From the allotted budget, clip redemptions are deducted. Coupons are displayed in search results, on the Amazon Coupons page, shopping cart, and on the All Offers display page.
Brands can create three different kinds of promotions:
Brands that want to run sales can set up a sale at the SKU level under the Offer tab. The customer will see a contrast between the “List Price” (the reference price or MSRP) and “Your Price” (the discounted price). With sales, there is no “deal” badge. Rather, there is a price strikethrough and a graphic showing the discount percentage. Sales are displayed in search results and on the product detail page. There are no fees associated with running a sale.
Here are a few recommendations from our Amazon experts on how to make your Prime Day deals a success:
Need help crafting a winning deal strategy? Talk to one of our Amazon experts today.
