Amazon claims its new global shopping event ‘Prime Day’, introduced for the first time on 15 July, broke all global records with a spectacular 266% increase in orders compared to the same day last year and 18% more orders than generated on Black Friday in 2014.
Customers ordered a total of 34.4 million items during the 24-hour shopping event that started at midnight on July 15 in the USA, UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Austria, and which was open exclusively for Amazon Prime members.
This broke all Black Friday records with 398 items ordered per second. In addition, more new members tried the Prime programme on that day than any other single day in the company’s history.
Sellers on Amazon who use Amazon’s shipping service also registered record-breaking unit sales with nearly 300% growth. These sellers included local retailers and businesses of all sizes
According to Amazon, its Prime members also saved millions on Prime Day deals which made it a ‘great savings day’ as well. With customers ordering hundreds of thousands of Amazon devices, the retailer sold more devices worldwide than on any other day. Prime Day was also the biggest day for sales internationally. Customers ordered hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Sticks, making it the best-selling Prime Day product globally.
Greg Greeley, Vice President, Amazon Prime, said: “Customers worldwide ordered an astonishing 398 items per second and saved millions on Prime Day deals. Going into this, we weren't sure whether Prime Day would be a one-time thing or if it would become an annual event. After yesterday’s results, we'll definitely be doing this again.”
In the UK, the response to Prime Day has surpassed all expectations, Christopher North, Managing Director at Amazon UK, said. “Prime Day was our biggest day of deals ever – we sold even more deals than on Black Friday. We can’t wait to do it again next year.”
In Germany, the Prime Day sales surpassed those of Cyber Monday in 2014. While the number of visits on Amazon.de tripled at midnight on 15 July when Prime Day started, the highest number of products was sold at 9 pm. Every second website visitor used a mobile phone and the Amazon app, with customers clicking five times more on product offers than on the other days.
In France, the order peak on Prime Day occurred at 11 am when more than 700 articles per minute were bought by the Amazon Prime members. Amazon’s distribution centres delivered orders to 102 countries on 15 July alone.
As a reaction to Amazon’s Prime Day, US major retailer Walmart announced the launch of new deals this week available for everybody “with no hidden costs or admission fees, and not just for one day”, referring to the Prime Day sale. The lower prices on items in categories including electronics, home, baby and toys will last 90 days which is the typical time period for discounts which Walmart organises several times per year.
Taking on Amazon, the retailer issued the statement “Why Every Day is Low Price Day at Walmart”. “Low prices, no hidden fees or premiums, plus savings for everyone – now that’s something we can all celebrate,” Walmart posted on its website this week.
“We’ve heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale. But the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us,” Walmart said, referring to the Amazon Prime member fee. “We’re standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save.”
In terms of delivery costs, Walmart added that its free shipping offer will be reduced from $50 to $35 per order for at least 30 days “making it easier for customers to save on shipping all summer long”.
