Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event is over, and the results are in. The highly anticipated sale was one of the most successful 48-hour periods for Channel Key brand partners. According to Amazon, Prime Big Deal Days was the company’s largest two-day October holiday kick-off event.
“Prime Big Deal Days was a strong start to the holiday shopping season, offering Prime members an exclusive early opportunity to save and surpassing our expectations,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a statement. “This event outpaced last year’s holiday kick-off event, with more Prime members shopping this year.”
Channel Key Results for Prime Big Deal Days
Channel Key can confirm that Prime Big Deal Days far outperformed last year’s Prime Early Access Sale. Brand partners that participated in both events enjoyed a 97.6% average year-over-year sales lift. The chart below shows total sales revenue for several Channel Key brand partners and the percentage change for Day One of Prime Big Deal Days compared with Prime Early Access Sale.
Another interesting callout from Prime Big Deal Days was that Day One generated more favorable results than Day Two. This data point underscores the importance of ensuring your brand is fully prepared for key sales from the moment the event begins. Any delay in your marketing strategy can cost you significant revenue. The chart below shows total sales revenue for several Channel Key brand partners and the percentage change for Day Two of Prime Big Deal Days compared with Prime Early Access Sale.
Of all the various marketing levers and promotions available, Prime Exclusive Discounts consistently performed the best. In one case, Channel Key ran Prime Exclusive Discounts on five products, which generated 75% off all sales for our brand partner during Prime Big Deal Days. In another, a Channel Key brand partner saw a 56% sales lift from leveraging Prime Exclusive Discounts compared to using only Lightning Deals during this summer’s Prime Day.
One reason for the success of Prime Exclusive Discounts is Amazon included them as part of the top filter that showed only Big Day Deal Discounts. This provided extra visibility for these products amid a surge in traffic. Amazon also applied a red badge to products promoted with Prime Exclusive Discounts, as seen in the screenshot below.
Additional Takeaways for Prime Big Deal Days
According to analysis from Numerator based on data from 73,342 Amazon orders, 31,607 unique buyers, and 137,111 items purchased, the average order size on Prime Big Deal Days was $53.47. This is down from July’s Prime Day sale, but up slightly from last October’s Prime Early Access sale. Over half (55%) of households shopping Prime Big Deal Days placed more than two separate orders, bringing the average household spend to roughly $124.09.
Numerator reports that the typical Prime Big Deal Days shopper was a high-income, suburban female age 35 to 44. Nearly three-fourths (72%) of Prime Big Deal Days shoppers said they also shopped on Prime Day in July, while 85% said the sale was their primary reason for shopping. Nearly half of Prime Big Deal Days shoppers said they purchased something they’d been waiting to buy on sale, while a third said they bought items included in Prime Big Deals and a quarter in Lightning Deals.
Let the Holiday Shopping Season Begin
Like last year’s Prime Early Access Sale, this fall’s Prime Big Deal Days serve as the unofficial launch of the holiday shopping season. Despite continued inflation, brands have reason to be optimistic about the next two months. Retail analytics firm Adobe expects U.S. online holiday sales to hit $221.8 billion this holiday shopping season (Nov. 1 to Dec. 31), representing 4.8% growth year-over-year (YoY). In the 2022 season, shoppers spent $211.7 billion online and saw 3.5% YoY growth. Other predictions for the upcoming holiday season include the following:
- Mobile shopping is set to overtake desktop for the first time, as consumers get increasingly comfortable transacting on smaller screens.
- Discounts are expected to hit record highs this season, peaking at 35% off listed price for toys, 30% for electronics, and 25% for apparel.
- Buy Now, Pay Later usage is set to drive a record $17 billion in online spend, as consumers look for flexible ways to manage their budgets.
“Despite an unpredictable economic environment, where consumers face several challenges including rising interest rates, we expect strong e-commerce growth this season on account of record discounts and flexible payment methods,” said Patrick Brown, V.P. Growth Marketing at Adobe in a statement. “Buy Now, Pay Later in particular has become increasingly mainstream and will make it easier for shoppers to hit the buy button, especially on mobile devices where over half of online spending will take place.”
Channel Key Takeaway
By all accounts, Prime Big Deal Days was a success – both for Amazon and Channel Key brand partners. As seen during last year’s Prime Early Access Sale, brands that enjoyed the greatest success were willing to offer competitive discounts on giftable items. Channel Key recommends that brands replicate this strategy throughout the holiday season. In particular, brands should pay attention to the shift in products that were sold during Prime Big Deal Days compared to Summer Prime Day. This might be a leading indicator for the marketing and promotional changes you’ll need to make for Cyber Week. Products that sold well during Prime Big Deal Days could perform even better over the next two months with holiday messaging, advertising, and promotions. On behalf of all the Amazon experts at Channel Key, we hope the 2023 holiday shopping season is the most wonderful (and profitable) time of the year for your business.
