Amazon’s October Prime Day two-day sales ended on a high, with the e-commerce giant reporting that this year’s holiday kick-off event “outpaced last year’s” but fell short of July’s Prime Day record-breaking $13 billion.
“Prime Big Deal Days was a strong start to the holiday shopping season…with more Prime members shopping this year,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a press release.
The event surpassed expectations, the company added, with 25 million items sold on its first day. This is the second year the Amazon held two-day sales in October.
By the digits: How much Prime Day shoppers shelled out
Data firm Numerator surveyed 3,000 US shoppers for an early read on the Prime Day sale numbers. Among their findings:
$55.86: The average spend per order, slightly lower than that of July
$108.86: How much the average household spent during the two-day sale
48%: Share of households the bought two or more items
6%: Share of consumers that placed more than five orders within the first 30 hours
22%: Items purchased that were priced under $20
17%: Items purchased that were priced under $100
American shoppers’ tightening wallets
With a few economic factors hitting American wallets—including sustained inflation and student loan repayments resuming this month—consumer savings are down, and shoppers are feeling the strain of the holiday season, according to Natalie Kotlyar, national retail and consumer business practice leader at BDO, an advisory firm.
“Consumers are spending and likely purchasing the same number of gifts for the holidays, but we will likely see a lower dollar value per gift,” she told Quartz in an email.
Numerator’s survey showed nearly half of Prime Day shoppers held off from buying items until the sales, while one-third bought general sale items. More than half checked competing retailers for better prices.
Kotlyar added that consumers are much smarter in detecting false discounts (or significant markdowns on inflated prices), and retailers should keep in mind that shoppers would seek “legitimate discounts.”
Shoppers turn to AI for help
This year 4 in 10 shoppers will look for presents in physical stores, according to digital marketing firm Criteo, which surveyed 2,385 US shoppers ahead of the holiday season.
Criteo noted that while 1 in 5 shoppers will use curated gift lists to aid their shopping decisions, 4 in 5 shoppers find AI chatbots to be useful in identifying the best prices, to answer product questions, and to generate gift ideas.
Both Numerator and Criteo predicted Black Friday would be the major shopping event for consumers to save.
Still, Kotlyar noted, retailers shouldn’t bet on a strong winter season.
“Overall, we expect to see more muted average sales during the holidays this year with a strong divide between those who are already thriving and those in a more challenging financial position,” she wrote.