It’s all over except for deliveries and returns for Amazon Prime Day 2020 as sales by the estimated 2.3 million third-party small and midsized sized sellers exceeded a record $3.5 billion (up nearly 60%) across 19 countries participating in the annual sales love-in.
Amazon is cagey about total sales but preliminary estimates by industry analysts predicted the Force was definitely with Amazon as total event sales could reach between $7.5 billion (JPMorgan estimate) and $9.91 billion (eMarketer). That compares with the estimated $6.93 billion earned during last year’s Prime Day event.
The sales record for third-party sellers was a 60% year-over-year increase for these mostly small to midsized sellers partly in response to the COVID-19 crisis. A special promotion also drove over $900 million in sales for small businesses in the two weeks leading up to Prime Day according to the company.
Biggest selling products
Consumers gorged on deeply discounted prices for all manner of the most popular-selling products around the world including the Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote, iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum, Goli Apple Cider Vinegar Vitamins, and Lego Star Wars Stormtrooper Helmet, among others.
I mean who doesn’t need a $59 Lego Star Wars Stormtrooper Helmet to help get you through a day of online shopping and US politics on cable TV?
It seemed like consumers already had enough of the 2019 best-selling LifeStraw Personal Water Filters, DUO60 Instant Pots, and 23andMe Health + Ancestry kits. Top-selling categories for third-party sellers include Beddintheg, Wireless Accessories, Nutrition and Wellness, Arts, Crafts and Sewing, and Health Care.
Amazon did disclose that Prime Member shoppers saved over $1.4 billion thanks to sales prices during the two-day blowout.
“We are thrilled that Prime Day was a record-breaking event for small and medium businesses worldwide, with sales surpassing $3.5 billion—an increase of nearly 60% from last year,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer. “We’re also proud that Prime members saved more than $1.4 billion, and we look forward to providing more opportunities for our selling partners to grow and customers to save throughout the holiday season. I’m incredibly thankful to our employees and partners around the world who helped make Prime Day possible, especially the dedicated front-line teams in our fulfillment centers and delivery operations.”
Operational highlights
Several of Amazon’s operational highlights for the Prime Day event were eye-openers.
The fastest delivery was delivered in 29 minutes and 54 seconds and included Febreze Car Air Freshener Vent Clips. It’s not the product that matters here, it’s the incredibly high benchmark of a delivery time of under half an hour that drives competitors crazy trying to match this e-commerce Darth Vader.
Prime customers also clicked and collected at Amazon Hub pickup locations and Lockers in record levels in Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Jose, and Seattle.
Amazon claims more than 10 million items can be eligible for one-day delivery coast-to-coast in the US and prime members in 47 major metropolitan areas can get same-day delivery of millions of products.
When it comes to going up against the Darth Vader of e-commerce – Amazon – competitors would be wise to consider the wisdom of Yoda from the movie Star Wars: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
You can read the Amazon news release with more detailed sales results and highlights from other large participating markets here.
Images courtesy Amazon, Disney, Pixabay: Darth Vader by Aguacero, Yoda by Efraimstochter
LET’S CONNECT