Listen to the article
Dive Brief:
Surrounding Amazon’s Prime Day shopping event, online spending is expected to reach $23.8 billion across U.S. retailers from Tuesday to Friday, according to an Adobe forecast shared with Retail Dive on Monday.
The anticipated performance would represent a 28.4% increase year over year when compared to July 16 through July 19 in 2024. Amazon’s Prime Day event will last four days for the first time this year, with its 2024 shopping event only consisting of two discount days.
Additionally, the expected online sales would mark the equivalent of two Black Fridays based on 2024’s $10.8 billion in online spend during the retail holiday, per Adobe.
Dive Insight:
With the extension of Amazon Prime Day this year, shoppers are expected to take advantage of extra deals offered by the e-commerce retailer and its competitors, some of which have also extended their discount periods. Walmart’s discount event this month marks an extension for the mass retailer, now at six days compared to four in 2024.
“[W]hat we aim to show is the incremental lift of extended deal days in driving consumer demand,” Vivek Pandya, director at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a comment to Retail Dive. “The strong growth Adobe is forecasting shows that discounts continue to be impactful in driving spend online (as consumers remain price sensitive), just like we had seen during the last holiday season.”
Price-conscious consumers could expect discounts in the range of 10% to 24% off listed prices, with the apparel category having the steepest discounts at 24% (increased from 20% in 2024). Consumers are also expected to utilize buy now, pay later services during the Prime Day shopping period, with Adobe anticipating BNPL to represent an 8% share of online spend compared to 7.6% last year.
Amazon is aiming to target consumers looking for extra savings with the introduction of a “Today’s Big Deals” section this year. The feature will highlight a themed daily drop of products and refresh discounts as quickly as every five minutes on items from popular brands like Kiehl’s and Levi’s.
Adobe predicts that the online shopping period surrounding Prime Day will also be a boom for back-to-school goods, such as backpacks and office supplies, when compared to June. Target’s competing event, Circle Week, was announced last month with a specific focus on school savings, featuring additional discount rates for teachers and students. Circle Week and Walmart’s Walmart Deals events coincide with Prime Day, but last longer.