According to Internet Retailer, shoppers in the United States will spend approximately $1.56 billion on Amazon Prime Day. This will be an increase of 20% from the$1.3 billion that was spent by shoppers in the U.S. on Prime Day last year. Globally Amazon Prime Day sales this year are expected to reach $2.18 billion, a 21% increase from last year’s estimated $1.8 billion.
Part of the reason why there is an increase in global sales is that Amazon’s Prime Day promotions are this year being run in 3 additional countries – Mexico, China and India. The ten countries which had Prime Day promotions last year and which are running them this year include Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Prime loyalty program
Trial Prime membership is also offered by Amazon for a period of 30 days. Students are also offered special rates which includes half a year for free and a 50% discount for the four years they are in school. The student membership rate ends upon graduation. Customers who are on an assistance program from the government are also eligible for a discounted monthly rate of $5.99.
Most popular category
In the last two years the most popular category on Prime Day was consumer electronics. Last year, sales of consumer accessories accounted for about a third of all Prime Day sales. This was almost double the figure for the category that was ranked second in popularity – home & Kitchen.
Last year’s Prime Day also emerged as the largest-ever sales day for Amazon. Compared with the previous year’s Prime Day, global orders increased by 60% while orders in the United States increased by over 50%.
This year Amazon has tweaked Prime Day by increasing the number of hours that the promotion period will run. While for the last two years it has been running for 24 hours, this year it has been raised to 30 hours.
