Amazon is one of the largest multinational conglomerates in the world. To date, the company has a valuation of over $1.7 trillion, and it’s the most prominent e-commerce platform in history. Amazon sells nearly everything under the sun and offers worldwide shipping, so millions of customers flock to the platform to purchase anything from baby cribs to art supplies.
That’s why Amazon created a premium membership service called Amazon Prime. For a fee of $12.99 per month, Amazon Prime members get to enjoy speedy shipping, access to TV shows and movies under Prime, and delivery for groceries. However, perhaps the most coveted benefit of Amazon Prime is access to deals during Amazon Prime Day.
Amazon Prime Day is Amazon’s annual shopping event that rivals Cyber Monday and Black Friday, two of the biggest events on the shopping calendar. It began in July of 2015 in celebration of Amazon’s 20th anniversary, and it has since evolved into a two-day extravaganza that features the best price slashes across the e-commerce platform.
While Prime Day has always been a major e-commerce event, it experienced unprecedented growth in its last two cycles. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, most shoppers turned to online platforms instead of physical stores. As such, Prime Day 2020 hit a record number of sales, reaching roughly a 60% percent increase in sales compared to Prime Day 2019. Prime Day 2021 broke the 2020 record, adding in tens of millions more products sold.
Whether you’re a shopper or a seller, Amazon Prime Day is one of the biggest events on the platform and one that is much-awaited every year. Here are 25 key statistics about Amazon Prime Day that you should know about. We’re also taking a look at some of the potential deals to keep an eye out on.
Amazon Prime Day Statistics: Revenue, Users & More [UPDATED]
- 1. Over 200 million people have signed up for an Amazon Prime membership
- 2. Shopping categories with the most inflation will be Prime Day’s bestsellers
- 3. In 2022, small and medium businesses across Amazon earned a collective total of $3.5 billion
- 4. Prime Day 2022’s sales jumped to a total of $12 billion
- 5. Over 300 million products were sold during Prime Day 2021
- 6. Shoppers from 24 nations purchased products during Prime Day 2022
- 7. On Prime Day 2022, the average customer expenditure per order peaked at $54
- 8. Amazon's biggest sellers for Prime Day 2022 were its consumer devices
- 9. 78% of consumers know about Amazon Prime Day
- 10. Women are the typical Prime Day shoppers
- 11. Those who spent $500 during the previous Prime Day are likely to spend $705 the following Prime Day
- 12. Men spend more than women on Prime Day
- 13. A big chunk of Prime Day shoppers prefers Prime Day to be during the Summer
- 14. Nearly half of consumers say that Prime Day leads to unplanned purchases
- 15. Bestsellers in 2022 include electronics, health and beauty items, and apparel
- 16. Prime Day 2022 is Amazon’s “biggest Prime Day ever”
- 17. 2022 Prime Day Sales reached approximately $12 billion worldwide
- 18. Shelf-stable food items surged in popularity in 2022
- 19. Prime members purchased over 100,000 per minute
- 20. Live shopping was a hit with more than 100 million views during the 2022 Prime Day event
- 21. Prime Day 2022 was a big event for SMBs
- 22. Average order size surged to $52.26
- 23. Top five items were mostly from the electronics category
- 24. Consumers focused spending on more affordable items
- 25. The first day of Prime Day 2023 was the single largest sales day ever on Amazon
- 2023 Prime Day Deals to Look Out For
- Key Takeaways from Amazon Prime Day 2021
- Frequently Asked Questions
Amazon Prime Day’s Top Statistics
1. Over 200 million people have signed up for an Amazon Prime membership
To gain access to Amazon Prime deals, you first need to sign up for an Amazon Prime membership. You can opt for an annual or monthly fee, but your subscription needs to be active on Prime Day for it to work.
To date, over 200 million people have signed up for an Amazon Prime membership, with the majority citing Prime Day as one of their main reasons for doing so. This number is up 50 million individuals from the 150 million who had signed up for Amazon Prime membership in time for Prime Day 2020.
2. Shopping categories with the most inflation will be Prime Day’s bestsellers
PCMag also conducted a poll in 2020 to determine the products shoppers were most interested in. According to the poll, 39% were interested in deals involving streaming devices and televisions, 34% were interested in smart home devices, 31% were interested in computers and computer accessories, 30% were interested in tablets, while 26% were interested in fitness trackers.
3. In 2022, small and medium businesses across Amazon earned a collective total of $3.5 billion
In the three weeks preceding Prime Day, customers rallied behind small businesses, contributing to over $3 billion in sales as part of the 'Support Small Businesses to Win Big' sweepstakes. Over 100 million items from these small businesses found new homes, highlighting the significant customer support in the run-up to Prime Day.
4. Prime Day 2022’s sales jumped to a total of $12 billion
Raking in an impressive 12 billion U.S. dollars globally, Prime Day 2022 set a new record as the most lucrative shopping event in the annals of Amazon's history.
5. Over 300 million products were sold during Prime Day 2021
With over 300 million products sold, Prime Day 2021 shattered previous Prime Day sale records. During Prime Day 2020, only 175 million products were sold. Customers also got to enjoy their purchases within two days of their checkout date. These were the most common shipping methods chosen by consumers:
- Prime Now
- Same-Day Prime Free
- One-Day Prime Free
We can expect that the upcoming Prime Day sales will experience even faster delivery methods. Amazon is reportedly working on Prime Air, which will allow customers to receive lightweight items via drones within 30 minutes of their checkout time.
6. Shoppers from 24 nations purchased products during Prime Day 2022
Shoppers from 24 nations purchased products during Prime Day 2022
This statistic is testament to Amazon’s global reach. With a Prime membership, you can enjoy free, two-day shipping to your delivery address, and Prime Day is the perfect way to enjoy this benefit. Here are the countries that participated in Prime Day 2022:
- Austria
- Australia
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- The Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Singapore
- Spain
- Sweden
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
7. On Prime Day 2022, the average customer expenditure per order peaked at $54
Despite reaching record-breaking sales, the average customer spending on Prime Day 2022 saw a slight increase from the previous year, rising from $47 in 2021. In comparison, the average expenditure on Prime Day 2020 was $54.64, with households averaging a spend of $155.
These patterns suggest that even as the quantity of products sold annually escalates, bargain hunting remains a priority for shoppers. For Amazon sellers, these trends underscore Prime Day as a prime opportunity to offer attractive deals and promote products.
8. Amazon's biggest sellers for Prime Day 2022 were its consumer devices
Amazon's Echo and Echo Dot devices topped the sales charts, closely followed by Fire TV Sticks, Kindle e-readers, and Ring doorbells. These devices were offered at significantly reduced prices, with the Echo priced at $49.99, the Echo Dot at $19.99, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max at $34.99, the Kindle Paperwhite at $99.99, and the Ring Video Doorbell 4 at $99.99.
Shoppers also highlighted that older Amazon products, such as the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8, were available at substantial discounts, matching the deals of previous Prime Days.
9. 78% of consumers know about Amazon Prime Day
Amazon is a widely popular eCommerce platform, and Prime Day is its largest event. In a survey done by National Today, 78% of respondents have said that they know about the Amazon Prime sale and what they can expect from it. Only 22% have said that they haven’t heard of the event.
Amazon Prime Day is most popular in the United States, but as mentioned, it has global reach. 61% of consumers from the United Kingdom said that they know about the event. 35% of Singaporean consumers and 25% of Australian consumers have said the same.
10. Women are the typical Prime Day shoppers
Although men planned to spend more money on Prime Day deals, the average shopper was female. According to Numerator, the typical Prime Day shopper is a Caucasian female aged anywhere from 35 to 44. They are usually high-income, married, and living in a suburban area.
This is in line with SpendMeNot’s study earlier this year that found 60% of the women that they surveyed have said that they regularly shop on Amazon.
11. Those who spent $500 during the previous Prime Day are likely to spend $705 the following Prime Day
A study by Profitero found that those who spent \$500 during Prime Day 2021 were likely to spend \$705 during Prime Day 2022. This is an increase of 41%. The study also found that 41% of these consumers planned to spend relatively the same amount, and 15% planned to spend less.
The study's findings suggest that Amazon Prime Day is becoming a more important shopping event for consumers who are looking for big deals. As the event grows in popularity, it is likely that we will see even more consumers spending more money on Prime Day in the years to come.
12. Men spend more than women on Prime Day
Although women are known to make up the majority of the shoppers during Amazon Prime Day, men are known to spend more. This is because they are more likely to make big-ticket purchases.
According to a study by Datonics, men still spend more than women on Prime Day. In 2022, 15% of men spent over \$500 during the sale, compared to 10% of women. Men were also more likely to make big-ticket purchases, such as electronics and appliances.
The study also found that women were more likely to spend money on household goods and personal care products. However, the overall spending gap between men and women was still significant.
It is possible that the spending gap between men and women on Prime Day will narrow in the future. However, for now, it seems that men are still more likely to spend money on big-ticket items during the sale.
13. A big chunk of Prime Day shoppers prefers Prime Day to be during the Summer
While the majority of shoppers don’t have a preference about when Prime Day would be held, a third of Prime Day shoppers prefer Prime Day to be any time between June and July, which are Summer months. Profitero also found that households with lower income are more likely to have a preference about the big sale’s date.
14. Nearly half of consumers say that Prime Day leads to unplanned purchases
When it comes to online shopping, it’s often difficult to stick to a spending plan—especially if you encounter major deals and discounts. This was highlighted in Profitero’s study on Prime Day where 48% of consumers across all ages say that Prime Day is the perfect opportunity for unplanned purchases. For a closer look, those in the age bracket of 30 to 44 are more likely to make an unplanned purchase during Prime Day.
15. Bestsellers in 2022 include electronics, health and beauty items, and apparel
Some of the other best-selling categories worldwide include Amazon devices, consumer electronics, and home essentials. Top-selling items included the Apple Watch Series 7, beauty products from LANEIGE and NuFACE, Le Creuset products, Levi’s apparel, pet products, diapers, wipes, athletic apparel (golf and running), and electric toothbrushes. 35% of Prime members were reported to have waited for Prime Day to purchase items at a discount, while 28% passed on various deals because they thought these were unnecessary.
16. Prime Day 2022 is Amazon’s “biggest Prime Day ever”
During Prime Day 2022, the two-day event generated close to $12 billion, a significant increase from 2021’s $11 billion. This year’s event brought in over $1.7 billion in savings for Prime members and caused online sales to grow by 141%. The product categories that offered the biggest discounts include toys, apparel, and electronics, with price cuts ranging from 8% to 15%.
17. 2022 Prime Day Sales reached approximately $12 billion worldwide
According to Statista, 2022 Prime Day sales reached approximately $12 billion worldwide, with SMBs generating an estimated $3 billion in sales, a sharp jump from 2021’s $1.9 billion.
18. Shelf-stable food items surged in popularity in 2022
Between perishable food items and shelf-stable ones, the latter was the clear winner during this year’s Prime Day event. Purchases for herbs and spices, for example, saw a 114% YoY growth, while sales for packed produce (-26%) and fresh vegetables (-24%) went down.
19. Prime members purchased over 100,000 per minute
With Amazon offering more than 1.5 million deals during this year’s Prime Day event, Prime members worldwide bought 60,000 to more than 100,000 products per minute from categories like consumer electronics and home.
20. Live shopping was a hit with more than 100 million views during the 2022 Prime Day event
With this year’s Prime Day being the biggest yet in Amazon’s history, over 300 million items were purchased worldwide. Another clear winner was Amazon Live, the eCommerce giant’s livestreaming service, which garnered over 100 million views for Prime Day livestreams.
The platform collaborated with thousands of creators, giving them an avenue to host or share their own deals for Prime Day.
21. Prime Day 2022 was a big event for SMBs
Prime members purchased more than 100 million items from small businesses up to three weeks before the event. Amazon also gamified its approach to promoting small businesses on its platform through the “Support Small Businesses to Win Big” sweepstakes, where members had the chance to win trips to New York and LA. The eCommerce platform also launched the Small Business Badges to nurture the growth of SMBs.
22. Average order size surged to $52.26
During the 2021 Prime Day, shoppers spent an average of $44.75. This year, that average grew to $52.26, with 62% of households making two separate purchases, leading to average spending of $144.56.
23. Top five items were mostly from the electronics category
Some of the bestselling items during the 2022 Prime Day included the Fire TV stick, Echo Dot 4th gen smart speakers, Blink cameras and doorbells, Ring video doorbells, and reloads for Amazon gift cards.
24. Consumers focused spending on more affordable items
During this year’s Prime Day event, consumers put a premium on shopping for more affordable items. 58% of items on Amazon cost less than $20, while only 5% were sold for more than $100.
Top categories include household essentials, health and beauty products, and consumer electronics. The average price of items sold during Prime Day was $33.58.
25. The first day of Prime Day 2023 was the single largest sales day ever on Amazon
Setting a new record, the inaugural day of Prime Day on July 11 emerged as the highest-grossing sales day in Amazon's history. The two-day shopping extravaganza saw Prime members globally snapping up over 375 million items, reaping savings of over $2.5 billion from countless deals, marking it as the most successful Prime Day event to date.
2023 Prime Day Deals to Look Out For
While we don’t yet have a final date for next year’s Prime Day, we have an inkling of what kind of deals you can expect based on the offers from this year’s Prime Day. If the pattern holds, next year’s Prime Day may take place in July. Here’s an idea of what to expect in 2023. Note that offers may change.
- Deals on Garmin products like watches, heart rate monitors, and cycling computers
- Amazon-brand products like smart speakers, Kindles, Fire TVs, and promotions for Amazon services
- Discounts at Amazon Fresh stores
- Product bundles
The good news is, you don’t have to wait for the 2023 Prime Day to score huge discounts. If you’re an existing Prime member, you can get your hands on exclusive deals, enjoy savings and freebies with Prime Gaming, save on prescriptions, access the Prime Try Before You Buy feature, and more.
You can head on over to Amazon to see daily deals on categories like garden and outdoor products, electronics, kitchen essentials, bakeware, and apparel. Aside from Prime Day, Amazon also offers different sale events during different times of the year, such as the Amazon End of Summer Sale, Back to School Sale, Memorial Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, among other events.
Now, if you’re running a business, this is a good time as any to plan your strategy for next year’s Prime Day event. If done correctly, being part of Prime Day 2023 can help you leverage purchase intent to drive conversions and sales, as well as nurture customer loyalty.
You can start by looking at your inventory and assessing your capacity to handle demand leading up to the event. You can also prime your brand for Prime Day by engaging your customers even before the event actually takes place to raise brand awareness. Make sure you offer exciting deals, such as discounted or free shipping offers or expedited shipping, aside from discounts.
You can also take a look at your customer list and use that as a jump-off point to build interest in your brand leading up to Prime Day. Create your customer list, implement segmentation, and offer personalized experiences to your audience. Lastly, if you’re dealing with old inventory or low-velocity items, then Prime Day is a good opportunity to clear it out while boosting your sales. Using Amazon marketing software and tools, such as Helium 10 and Fulfillment by Amazon, can also help you boost your sales revenue.
Key Takeaways from Amazon Prime Day 2021
Amazon Prime Day 2021 witnessed a record-breaking number of sales, and retailers across the platform have jotted down their learnings from the event. Here are some of the main takeaways:
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Deals are the superior way to reach customers.
Prime Day is primarily popular because of its deals. Naturally, customers would gravitate toward products that they feel provide more value for their money, so Prime Day’s deals are a good way to get traffic to your Amazon store.
Brands that offer discounts and deals experience a 5.2x boost in their sales and are more likely to get new customers. Brands that don’t are still able to make a sale, but they only experience a fifth of what brands with discounts do.
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Having a big and versatile inventory is important.
Issues with the supply chain have become more prevalent during the pandemic, and brands with supply issues have seen the effect on their sales. Brands without supply issues experienced a 4.2x boost in sales, while those with supply issues only experienced a 3x boost.
Customers are more likely to purchase products from a brand if they are reassured that the items that they want are in stock. If they cannot find it from a particular brand, they are likely to look for another brand that sells items similar to what they want.
Moving forward, Prime Day is expected to grow even more. Customers around the globe are becoming more inclined to shop online, so e-commerce platforms like Amazon can expect more traffic to their sites.
Additionally, many consumers are said to be influenced by “revenge spending,” or shopping because of the pandemic’s effects on businesses and incomes. As more of the world begins to recover from the effects of COVID-19, more consumers are encouraged to spend.
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Participating in Prime Day can be beneficial for brands
If you own a business, then taking part in Prime Day can benefit your brand. Aside from being able to engage new audiences, you can drive sales for other products in your inventory and not just for the products that you’re offering through Prime Day deals. Additionally, Prime Day is a great channel for showcasing your brand and reaching out to your target audience. This is because consumers’ purchase intent tends to be higher. Plus, you can engage members before the event and reengage them after Prime Day. Moreover, having your products featured in Amazon Prime Day deals can help make your brand more discoverable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Prime Day is Amazon’s annual shopping event that’s exclusively for Prime members. To participate in future Prime Days, you need to become an Amazon Prime member first, either by opting for a free trial or a paid membership. Note that Prime Video-only members are not eligible to avail of Prime Day deals. Not a Prime member? You can still purchase items from Amazon, but you won’t get to access Prime Day discounted prices.
What can I expect from Prime Day?
Expect tons of deals on an extensive array of items, from Amazon’s own products to goods from global brands like Sony, Bosch, and Samsung. During the 2022 Prime Day, some of the participating brands included Asus, Bose, Fitbit, and Philips. Expect to see deep discounts on Amazon’s smart home tech products like its smart speakers and Kindles, as well as offers from third-party merchants on home electronics, laptops, TVs, and more.
Furthermore, Amazon promotes small businesses through its Amazon Storefronts. In 2020, shoppers were able to get credit when they purchased from small businesses. Aside from Prime Day deals, you can also look forward to time-sensitive discounts such as Gold Box deals and Lightning Deals, as well as offers on days or weeks leading up to the event.
When is Prime Day held?
The two-day event was usually held in July. However, because of the pandemic, the dates were changed to October (2020) and June (2021). This year, Prime Day was held on July 12-13. For 2023, it can be hard to determine the exact dates, as they may change. To know more about the next Prime Day, it’s best to check Amazon for the latest 2023 Prime Day updates. You can usually find deals being rolled out as early as a few weeks before the official Prime Day event date.
How do I find the best Prime Day deals?
There are several ways to stay on top of Amazon Prime Day deals. You can opt to receive alerts from the Amazon app or, if you have a smart speaker like the Echo or Echo Dot, you can ask Alexa to let you know when the 2023 Prime Day will start. You can also use price comparison apps.
What do I need to participate in Prime Day?
To participate in Prime Day, you need to sign up to become a Prime member. Current Prime membership pricing plans are as follows:
- Standard:
- Monthly: $14.99
- Annual: $139
- Prime Video membership: $8.99 per month
- Prime Student:
- Monthly: $7.49
- Annual: $69
- If you are a recipient of select government assistance programs, you can become a Prime member for only $6.99 per month.
- Note that your membership may be subject to sales tax if you live in the following states:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Iowa
- New York
- Ohio
- Texas
- Wyoming
View the full list here.