Amazon's Prime Day two-day shopping event saw U.S. online sales rise nearly 6 percent to $6.4 billion from a year ago on its first day, as heavy discounts lured bargain-hunting customers who splurged on appliances and toys, Adobe Analytics data on Wednesday showed.
U.S. shoppers have been waiting for the best possible deals
and discounts as rising interest rates and food prices have led them to delay
purchases of big-ticket items in recent months.
Online sales for appliances jumped 37 percent compared to
average daily sales in June, while sales of toys rose 27 percent on the first
day of the sales event.
Data firm Numerator said the average Prime Day spend per
order rose to $56.64 from $53.14 a year ago.
Adobe Digital Insights expects Amazon's event to rake in
between $12 billion and $13 billion.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
To add more customers, Amazon has partnered with travel
booking site Priceline to offer discounts as U.S. consumers prioritize
experiences over non-essential spending.
In the weeks leading to Prime Day on July 11-12, members of
the loyalty program were given access to "invite-only deals" where
shoppers could request invites to specific products that they were looking to
purchase on deals.
Rival retailers, including Walmart, Target and Best Buy, are
also offering large discounts during the Prime Day week. Walmart is also using
the week as a way to lure more customers to its subscription program Walmart+
by offering 50 percent discount on annual membership sign-ups.
Rob Garf, vice president and general manager of retail at
Salesforce, said that shoppers have now been conditioned to compare deals from
various retailers during Prime Day week, meaning rising competition for Amazon.
Garf said that although people are shopping online,
retailers are seeing a drop in conversion rates -- the measure of consumers who
visit a store compared to those who make purchases.
"That's telling us is each visit is less
profitable," Garf said. Amazon offered steep discounts to "positively
influence" membership sign ups when Prime Day launched in 2015 and now
Walmart is "taking a page out of the Amazon playbook," he said.
Prime Day week deals aren't "just about the initial
sale and providing a discount, but it's Walmart and others looking to gain new
customers and turning them into strong lifetime value of those customers,"
Garf said.
International Council of Shopping Centers Chief Executive
Tom McGee said that deal events like Prime Day, Walmart+ Week and Target Deal
days "drive spending across the board, including at both small and large
retailers."
Shoppers can find the biggest discount across retailers of
16 percent on electronics on Wednesday. Apparel is discounted at 13 percent,
while toys would be 15 percent cheaper, according to Adobe Digital Insights.
Adobe's Pandey said Prime Day is a chance to stock up on
back-to-school items, especially apparel and electronics, whose sales were up
26 percent and 12 percent, respectively, compared to average daily sales in
June.
Data from Deloitte showed 69 percent of shoppers planned to
rely on Prime Day sales for back-to-school purchases. But that spending is
expected to decline for the first time in nine years as sticky inflation hurts
non-essential purchases, it said.
Adobe's data relies on direct consumer transactions based on
more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail websites.
Meanwhile, nearly 900 Amazon workers at a warehouse in
Coventry, Britain, are striking over a pay dispute for three days from July
11-13, coinciding with the Prime Day sales event.
Amazon said the site does not directly serve customer orders
and there will be no disruption to customers. © Reuters