News Roundup: Amazon Prime Day Is Here Again

What Happened
Today marks Amazon’s second Prime Day sales event, the ecommerce giant’s answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Before you run to Amazon.com and try to get yourself some heavily discounted goods, check out all the related news about the second Prime Day:

• Amazon says this year it is increasing the number of items on sale to 100,000 across all departments and product categories, as well as upping the frequency of flash sales from every ten minutes last year to every five minutes.

• Leading up to Prime Day, Amazon started offering exclusive deals via Echo, prompting users to try voice ordering via Alexa.

Walmart is taking on Amazon Prime Day with a week-long free shipping deal for all shoppers who order on Walmart’s website, with no minimum purchase required.

• Some major retailers such as Target, Sears, and Banana Republic are offering one-day-only deals today in response to Prime Day.

Menswear e-retailer Mack Weldon is opting to sit out on Prime Day for it wants to ensure “ full control over customer experience.”

• According to a new CIRP report, Amazon Prime now has 63 million members in the U.S., who are estimated to spend $75 billion on Amazon this year.

Why Brands Should Care
The first Amazon Prime Day sales event last year was met with tepid response, with many customers voicing their dissatisfaction with the sale selections and comparing it to a “garage sale.” Nevertheless, it significantly boosted the sales volume on Amazon, with U.S. sales almost doubling itself year over year according to online retail tracker ChannelAdvisor, and attracted “hundreds of thousands” of new members to sign up for Amazon Prime. By all measures, it was a solid start for Amazon to develop an online shopping holiday a la China’s Singles’ Day sales event spearheaded by Alibaba. For participating brands, Prime Day provides a good opportunity to increase brand exposure and stay relevant in the ecommerce space. The ones that choose to opt out of Prime Day can still ride its coattails and capture interested online shoppers with their own sales.  


Sources: various publishers as linked in article.

Header image courtesy of Amazon.com