Prime Day 2024, Day One Learnings

It was another exciting Amazon Prime Day yesterday. Full of record sales days, data outages, surprise buy box issues, and lots of caffeine. Here is Envision Horizons’ quick Prime Day 2024 Day 1 recap…

1. More Competition Isn’t Slowing Amazon Down

This Prime Day, Amazon has loads of competition, yet brands are showing 190% growth over the first day of Prime Day 2023 in Envision Horizons portfolio.

Despite the fierce competition from major retailers and platforms like Target’s Circle Week, Temu Week, TikTok Shop’s “Deals For You Days,” and Walmart Deals, Prime Day is still outperforming expectations. Brands are showing a staggering 190% growth on the first day of Prime Day 2024. This highlights Amazon’s resilience and dominance in the e-commerce space, even as the competition provides consumers with multiple options for great deals, making July one of the most competitive and dynamic sales periods of the year.

*Methodology: A similar cohort of brand partner sales were compared from July 11, 2023 to July 16, 2024?

2. You Can’t “Not Participate” in Prime Day

Even if you don’t actively participate in Prime Day by offering deals or discounts, the event’s influence is undeniable. The increased consumer activity benefits all e-commerce players, creating opportunities to ride the wave of heightened shopper engagement. Ensuring your products are strategically aligned with this surge can yield significant benefits.

These insights highlight the importance of preparation, real-time data analysis, and adaptive strategies to navigate the competitive landscape of Prime Day effectively.

In fact according to some data from Mike Ryan at Smarter Ecommerce, “86% of e-commerce advertisers face account-level competition from Amazon on Google Ads during the summer Prime Event”

3. Brands Raise Concerns About Transparent Pricing & Coupon Strategy

Participating in Prime Day by offering deals or discounts is a must, but understanding how the multitude of deals and pricing strategies interplay with each other can be confusing for sellers juggling everything else in the lead-up to Prime Day. For example, Prime Exclusive Deals (PEDs) and subscribe & save coupons stack, allowing a consumer to get a double discount.

Stay tuned for Envision Horizons’ full guide on how to correctly set up coupons & deals for big sales events like Prime Day.

A more concerning practice that was observed on Prime Day involved sellers hiking prices just before the event to create the illusion of significant discounts. For instance, a router might show a dramatic price drop on Prime Day, but the actual discount is minimal. These types of practices are discouraged and misleading but do occur. Keeping an eye on how your competition is pricing can help you defend your sales by being able to react accordingly with your own pricing adjustments.?

4. Amazon Marketing Stream Is No Longer A “Nice to Have“

Prime Day’s high traffic can lead to reporting delays or system outages. In fact, as experienced by our agency and supported by a Bloomberg report, there was an interruption in Amazon’s campaign management reporting for several hours.

Having access to Amazon’s real-time reporting through Amazon Marketing Stream API was a great backup to make quicker decisions on budgets and bidding, however, even that data was slightly delayed. In an environment where every minute matters, it’s important to have a contingency plan in place for inevitable delays in data.

Amazon Marketing Stream provides real-time insights into advertising campaigns during Prime Day, enabling swift adjustments and optimized results. By leveraging its features such as real-time data, comprehensive coverage, and integration capabilities, our team is able to manage ad spending quickly and effectively.

According to a Paid Media Manager at Envision Horizons, “We balanced our efforts throughout the month to maintain efficiency, even though early success on Prime Day hinted at a big day. Real-time data enabled us to measure our overall success and decide to go all in at the right moment.”

5. Lead-Up and Preparation Matters?

Preparation is key to Prime Day success, a well-planned strategy can make all the difference. Here’s why and how to prepare:

1. Pre-Prime Day Browsing: A staggering 93% of Prime Day shoppers browse products on Amazon the week before the event. This presents a crucial opportunity to capture attention early. Consider running teaser campaigns or “coming soon” promotions to build anticipation.
2. Strategic Advertising: Brand Defense: Set up campaigns to protect your brand terms. Competitors often bid on these during high-traffic periods. Competitor Analysis: Regularly check your competitors’ offers in the lead-up to Prime Day. This allows you to adjust your strategy and pricing accordingly. Early Bird Campaigns: Launch pre-Prime Day ads, including Sponsored Display page visit campaigns and Sponsored Products, to capture early interest.
3. Inventory Management: Ensure sufficient stock to meet increased demand.
4. Listing Optimization: Update product pages for maximum appeal and searchability.
5. Deal Planning: Structure compelling offers to boost sales. Understand how Amazon’s various promotion types (PED, Lightning Deal, Coupon, etc) will work for your brand. Strategically combining different deal types can create a comprehensive Prime Day strategy that drives sales and enhances brand visibility.
6. Cross-Promotion: Plan to leverage increased traffic across your product line.
7. Performance Tracking: Set up metrics to quickly identify Prime Day trends.

6. Evolving Dynamics: No Two Prime Days Are The Same

Prime Day’s dynamics evolve each year, keeping sellers on their toes. In contrast to last year’s end-of-day sales surge, this year saw a more even distribution of sales throughout the event. This shift underscores the importance of tools like Amazon Marketing Stream (AMS) for real-time data analysis and strategy adjustments.

The change in sales pattern likely stems from Amazon’s improved marketing efforts. Unlike last year, when many consumers learned about Prime Day as it unfolded, this year’s event seemed to benefit from more robust pre-event promotion. This led to steadier sales throughout the day, rather than a concentrated surge.

However, Amazon still employed some tried-and-true tactics, such as the 7 PM push notification to drive last-minute sales. This mix of new strategies and familiar techniques highlights why sellers must remain adaptable and data-driven to capitalize on Prime Day’s ever-changing landscape.

Stay tuned for Envision Horizons full Post-Prime Day performance report with key insights on what worked for our clients!