Amazon Prime Day, which started in 2015 to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, has grown into one of the Internet’s biggest shopping events of the year. Amazon has officially announced that Prime Day 2018 will begin at 3p.m. ET on Monday, July 16 and will run through Tuesday, July 17. This means 6 more hours to shop for deals. Prime Day sales are expected to hit $3.4 billion this year, a 30 percent year over year lift, according to retail think tank Coresight Research.
At Theory House, we’ve scoured the net to uncover some of the more interesting Prime Day nuggets.
Some deals are already live – Early access deals are available now, the most tempting of which includes $100 off Amazon’s Echo Show smart home hub. And if you’re interested in Amazon’s subscription services like Amazon Music Unlimited and Kindle Unlimited, both are already on sale for 99 cents for three months.
The deals may not be so hot – A study by Market Track that tracked pricing for over 800 randomly selected listings across a variety of categories from TVs to toys and games to wearable technology found that, on average, Prime Day prices were only 0.8 percent lower than the preceding 50-day average, and were actually 0.3 percent higher than the following 50-day average.
Whole Foods gets in on the act – The Amazon-owned grocery chain is offering Prime members a $10 credit to use during the 36-hour Prime Day extravaganza when they spend $10 or more at Whole Foods between July 11 through 17.
The winners – According to Amazon’s recently published Small Business Impact Report, more than 20,000 SMBs surpassed $1 million in sales on Amazon in 2017, thanks in part to Prime Day. The report also found that there are more than one million U.S.-based small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon, generating hundreds of thousands of jobs across the U.S.
The losers – The bad news for other retailers is that Prime Day has an unfortunate halo effect. Walmart, JCPenney, Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Sears, Kohl’s, Target and Best Buy all saw an average 24 percent decrease in traffic on Prime Day, according to data from mobile data analytics provider Sense360.
Competition isn’t taking it lying down – Online retailer eBay recently announced that it will offer deals up to 80 percent off for one week starting the week of July 16. The website will also offer free shipping on deals including electronics, home, fashion, sporting goods and more. Google (a Theory House client) has deals on its devices and throughout July, Walmart, which pushes “free two-day shipping with no membership fee” is offering customers $10 off orders of $50 or more for pickup orders.
Private brands are in play – Amazon said its lowest prices would be found on products exclusive to the e-tailer. That includes 25% off furniture and décor from Rivet and Stone & Beam, up to 20% off AmazonBasics and 30% off household and health products from Presto!, Mama Bear and Solimo.
Amazon Music is at play too – Ariana Grande will headline the Amazon Music Unboxing Prime Day concert in New York on July 11, streaming for fans globally on Amazon.com beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
Prime Day is just another example of the new realities at retail. Browse our site to see how Theory House can help you imagine what’s next or phone us at 704.665.0714.
