Tariffs are likely to drive Prime Day purchases

Dive Brief:

Over half of consumers shopping this year’s Prime Day intend to stock up on everyday essentials, while 45% said they’re looking to buy products they think will get more expensive later in the year due to tariffs, according to a new report from Tinuiti.
About one-third of consumers said tariffs are also causing them to seek out deeper discounts before making a purchase, with the majority of survey respondents saying products need to be discounted at least 20% in order to be considered a good deal.
Shoppers will turn to social media to learn about Prime Day deals, with 47% turning to Facebook, YouTube (41%), Instagram (39%) and TikTok (28%).

Dive Insight:

Consumers are looking to save money on goods at a time when several retailers have announced tariff-induced price hikes.

Shoppers are looking to make early purchases not knowing where tariffs are headed, according to the survey of over 1,000 Amazon Prime members conducted earlier this month. Nearly a quarter of respondents said they made purchases earlier in the year due to that uncertainty.

“The finding that stood out the most is how motivated shoppers are to find good deals right now and how that’s likely to drive up demand during big sales events like Prime Day,” Andy Taylor, vice president of research at Tinuiti, said in a statement.

The messaging from the Trump administration on tariffs has caused consumer confidence to swing up and down since January. A University of Michigan survey from April showed a precipitous drop in consumer expectations of 32%, the sharpest drop on record since the 1990 recession. 

Consumers will be looking for discounts at retailers beyond Amazon: More than 50% of the respondents said they would check out Walmart for deals during the sales event, followed by Target and Best Buy.