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There’s no question that powers that be at Amazon were on tenterhooks this week as Prime Day kicked off last Tuesday in the face of slowing sales growth for the e-commerce giant. Last April Amazon reported its slowest quarterly growth in years and its first quarterly loss since 2015. With global rates of inflation on the rise, it was questionable whether shoppers would back off of Prime Day this year, or at least shift their habits. So how did it play out? And which brands benefited from this giant shopping holiday?
Retailer Growth in an Inflationary Environment
In spite of huge inflationary pressures challenging shopper willingness to open their wallets, Prime Day 2022 exhibited early momentum and surprising growth. Sales increased 7.8% on the first day of Prime Day to over $6 billion. Amazon reports that Prime Day 2022 was the biggest ever globally - in the U.S. alone sales increased 8.5% from last year to nearly $12 billion. Numerator reports that the average order spend was $52.26, up from $44.75 last year. However, while Prime Day has previously been strongly linked with electronics, inflation has seen a shift in category trends…
Penny pinching shoppers shift spending to household essentials and health and beauty
The most popular categories for Prime Day this year were Household Essentials and Health and Beauty. According to Numerator:
- 60% of shoppers purchased items for themselves or their household
- 27% of shoppers bought goods they’d be buying anyway
- 20% of shoppers bought larger ticket items they’d only purchase on a deal
The results reflect our own predictions that Health and Beauty would be popular, alongside apparel and summer fashion.
Movers and Shakers in Beauty
The movers and shakers in Beauty this year were a mix of practical skin care products and small luxuries (see our Prime Day 2022 predictions regarding the post-pandemic inspired “Lipstick Effect”). In both the US and the UK Nivea and Might Patch were best sellers in the Skin Care and Face Care categories:
Laneige also stood out for its Lip Sleeping Mask which was the #1 bestseller in Beauty on Amazon.com on both days of Prime Day:
We also noticed CeraVe, one of the most searched for brands on Amazon.com during Prime Day 2021 and this year appeared to be no exception. On day 1 of Prime Day 2022, CeraVe commanded 5 of the Top 10 Movers & Shakers in Beauty.
That said, we also predicted that supply chain pressures would present added challenges for brands this year, and indeed the prevalence of vanishing products in the Movers & Shakers shows just how quickly a brand can rise and fall.
Amazon devices were the top deals in electronics
In both the US and the UK Fire TV Sticks were the #1 best seller on both days of Prime Day
Toys saw the biggest discounts
Products that saw the biggest discounts were Toys (15% off on average) and Apparel (12% off on average). Electronics, TVs and computers were lower, averaging 8% or less.
And when it came to Toys, LEGO was a “prime” example of how to win the digital shelf on Prime Day, hitting on all of Amazon’s touchpoints for winning the shopper… sound strategies for Amazon in general, not just Prime Day.
Maximizing visibility on shelf
- Sponsored banners and promoted posts
- Strong organic search performance through keyword optimization in product titles and bullet points
- Prominent in key Prime Day categories
Converting the sale with great content
- Plenty of mobile-optimised packshot images
- Multiple product videos
- Rich content below the fold
- Leveraging Prime Day Lightning Deals to ignite demand
Did other retailers play on Prime Day?
While previous years saw other retailers heavily compete with Amazon during Prime Day with their own deal days, this year was far less blatant. While some retailers like Walmart maintained their usual summer sales events, Target stood out as one retailer directly competing with Amazon in apparel offering greater discounts (a possible move to move excess inventory).
