Prime Day 2022 was a success any way you look at it. According to Adobe, the 48-hour sale generated $11.9 billion in U.S. sales – an 8.5% increase from last year. Amazon announced Prime members purchased more than 300 million items worldwide during Prime Day 2022, making this year’s event the biggest Prime Day event in Amazon’s history.
More importantly, this was the highest-grossing Prime Day for small and medium-sized businesses. Customers spent over $3 billion on more than 100 million small business items included in the Support Small Businesses to Win Big sweepstakes, a promotion designed to promote purchases from small businesses. By contrast, customers spent $1.9 billion on 70 million small business products last year.
Prime Day 2022 was also the highest-performing event in Channel Key history. Average client sales growth reached 38% compared to 2021, a 342% increase over the national average. Below is a sample of year-over-year sales spikes for Channel Key clients in various categories:
- Back-to-School: 328% YoY Increase
- Lawn and Garden: 188% YoY Increase
- Beauty and Personal Care: 223% YoY Increase
- Grocery and Gourmet Food: 68% YoY Increase
- Apparel: 75% YoY Increase
- Home and Kitchen: 56% YoY Increase
- Luggage and Travel Gear: 32% YoY Increase
- Pet Products: 17% YoY Increase
- Sports and Outdoors: 15% YoY Increase
“Prime Day is a celebration of our Prime members, who look forward to this event every year, and we’re thrilled to have delivered incredible savings to them once again,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Stores. “This special event is made possible because of the support of our employees, vendors, and sellers, and I want to give a big thank you to all of them for making this a Prime Day to remember.”
Below is a summary of additional worldwide and U.S. shopping trends for Prime Day 2022 provided by Amazon:
Worldwide Prime Day 2022 Trends
- Prime members worldwide purchased more than 100,000 items per minute during this year’s Prime Day event.
- Some of the best-selling categories worldwide this Prime Day were Amazon Devices, Consumer Electronics, and Home.
- Prime members worldwide did the most shopping from 9 a.m.—10 a.m. PT on Tuesday, July 12, during the entire Prime Day event.
- Since Prime Day shopping began on July 12, select Fire TV, Echo, and Blink devices were some of the best-selling items on Amazon worldwide.
U.S. Prime Day 2022 Trends
- Prime members in the U.S. purchased more than 60,000 items per minute during this year’s Prime Day event.
- Prime members in the U.S. did the most shopping from 8 p.m.—9 p.m. PT on Wednesday, July 13 during the U.S. Prime Day event.
- Some of the best-selling categories in the U.S. this Prime Day were Consumer Electronics, Household Essentials, and Home.
- Customers in the U.S. used Prime Day to celebrate summer, purchasing more than 1.2 million pairs of sunglasses and more than 1 million swimsuits.
- Since Prime Day shopping began on July 12, select Fire TV, Echo, and Blink devices were some of the best-selling items on Amazon in the U.S.
Channel Key Takeaway
Prime Day 2022 outperformed expectations. While few analysts put it in writing, there was a general sense of caution in the conversation about sales projections leading up to Prime Day. Last year’s event generated $11.2 billion in sales, a 10% increase from the prior year. With inflation at a record high and supply chain challenges still impacting sellers, it was uncertain whether shoppers would be motivated. As it turned out, this was the most lucrative Prime Day in Amazon history – and a strong sign that customers are hungry for deals. Brands that decided to sit this one out due to concerns about the struggling economy can take comfort knowing Amazon is hosting a second Prime Day this fall. While the date has yet to be revealed, the performance of the first event signals that competition will be even stronger in round two.
