If the goal of the Amazon Prime Early Access Sale was to get shoppers to go bargain hunting for holiday gifts early this year, it may have been a success. Amazon said “tens of millions” of Prime members shopped during the 2-day event.
And third-party sellers were beneficiaries – Amazon said Prime members ordered over 100 million items from Amazon’s selling partners, most of them small and medium-sized businesses.
Amazon said some of the best-selling categories worldwide during the sale were Apparel, Home, Toys, and Amazon devices. And some of the top holiday prep and décor items sold in the U.S. included wreaths, garlands, decorative lights, and Halloween costumes.
Amazon executive Doug Herrington said the sale was a great kickoff to the holidays and said called it “only the beginning.”
“Customers will find millions of must-have deals throughout the season that will help them continue to save money on gifts for loved ones,” Herrington said. That includes on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. He also made time to thank employees, vendors, and sellers, saying Amazon was grateful for their commitment to serving customers.
You can find the full announcement on the About Amazon press release page.
Just not sure why or how Amazon is able to falsely promote “savings’ on Prime Days and continue to rake it in. I’ve checked on items I’ve purchased on Prime Day later & in most instances the regularly offered price is the same as it is on Prime Day. And a couple of times I’ve found it to be less. I’m sure there are valuable items offered at a discount–and those are “on the clock.” That is what will hold people’s attention. Plus, items placed in the cart will time out. So impulse purchases are continuously made.
Honestly, it is so sad how much Amazon is using decades old techniques to con people into making a purchase & believing they have gotten “a deal.”
DROP your Amazon Prime membership. Take a step back & if you have items in your cart–leave them there until you get the min $25 to get free shipping. Often I think you’ll find you have items in your cart that looked good at the time, but you rethink later.
Yes, having dropped my membership I am STILL ordering from Amazon. But the savings I’m accruing by using this method has dropped my monthly spending by more than half. Now I see my savings account increase instead of holding or decreasing each month. Feels good. Real good.
Funny. This is Amazons spin, however, others see this data differently…
Last Friday, on CNBC, a group of retail analysts and Stock Market fund managers say that Prime October was a flop. Even though “millions” showed up for the sale, the dollar amount per transaction was 20% less than sales generated in Prime Day, this past summer.
What this says to investors, is that the consumer is indeed holding back on spending which is always noticed on the amount spent per transaction, rather than the amount of people who showed up for the Sale.