Amazon’s Prime Day: First Half of 48-Hour Sale Event Sets Record for U.S. E-commerce in 2024
Amazon’s Prime Day sales event has led to the biggest U.S. e-commerce day of 2024 so far. On July 16, U.S. consumers spent an estimated $7.2 billion through online platforms, marking a new record for daily online and mobile sales in 2024, according to Adobe. This spending aligns with the first half of Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day event, which also includes sales from various other retailers.
The $7.2 billion mark signifies a nearly 12% increase compared to the first half of Prime Day 2023, which took place from July 11-12. Adobe’s analysis reveals that popular items included electronics such as headphones, Bluetooth speakers, televisions, fitness trackers, computers, and e-readers. Other significant purchases were video games, small kitchen appliances, and perfume.
Back-to-school items also saw substantial growth, with spending on products like backpacks and lunchboxes rising by 210% compared to daily levels in June. Adobe’s report is based on the analysis of over one trillion visits to U.S. retailers, covering 100 million stock keeping units (SKUs) and spanning 18 product categories.
As the sale continues, Adobe predicts ongoing high discounts for Day 2 of the Prime Event, with markdowns expected across electronics (23%), apparel (20%), televisions (17%), and home/furniture (16%). Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, commented that significant discounting has characterized e-commerce this year as consumers seek maximum value for their spending.
The report also highlighted increased usage of buy-now-pay-later options on the first day of the sale, which suggests consumers are leveraging flexible payment methods to manage their finances amid inflation. Despite rising costs, consumer spending remains strong, partly driven by new demand.
Amazon’s Prime Day has solidified its place as a major event in the e-commerce calendar, prompting other retailers like Target and Walmart to launch their own discount events. Even social media platform TikTok has tried hosting a similar sale. Nevertheless, Amazon continues to emerge as the primary beneficiary of this mid-year sales surge.