Amazon Extends Prime Day Sale, Sees Mixed Results

Amazon has expanded its annual Prime Day Summer Sale from two days to four, but the initial outcome raises concerns about the effectiveness of this strategy. On the first day, sales surged by 41% compared to the previous year, according to Momentum Commerce, which tracks online sales for various brands.

John Shea, the CEO of Momentum, noted that the extended format might encourage “treasure hunts,” where shoppers browse and add items to their carts but delay purchases, hoping for better deals later. Despite this slow start, if more shoppers make purchases on the final day, sales could see an overall increase of 9.1% over the four days compared to last year’s two-day event.

Momentum handles sales for brands like Crocs and Beats, generating around $7 billion in Amazon sales annually, providing valuable insights into the performance of Prime Day thus far.

Wall Street is optimistic about a sales recovery, as Amazon’s share price rose by 1.5% on Wednesday, in line with gains seen by other tech companies. Analyst Gil Luria from Da Davidson & Co. mentioned that the success of an event this year is hard to assess due to the longer duration, with clearer insights expected in Amazon’s upcoming quarterly report.

Initially hesitant to comment on Momentum’s data, Amazon later described those figures as “very inaccurate” without offering specifics. Jamil Ghani, a key figure at the company, previously mentioned that the decision to extend the Prime Day length was aimed at giving consumers more time to shop.

Tracking over 7,000 orders from nearly 4,000 households revealed that, on the first day, shoppers opted for low-priced items, with about two-thirds of purchases being under $20 and only 3% over $100. Popular items included everyday essentials, and the average household spent about $106 on Prime Day, slightly down from last year’s $110.