Amazon scores another record Prime Day, bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined

Amazon reports 2019 was a big success, with Prime Members purchasing more than 75 million items, from devices to groceries and more, throughout the July 15-16 event. Sales surpassed the previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, the company said.

“We want to thank Prime members all around the world,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Members purchased millions of Alexa-enabled devices, received tens of millions of dollars in savings by shopping from Whole Foods Market and bought more than $2 billion of products from independent small and medium-sized businesses. Huge thank you to Amazonians everywhere who made this day possible for customers.”

Amazon doesn’t explicitly release data showing revenue generated from Prime Day, Coresight estimates that the event will bring in $5.8 billion this year (not including projected revenue from additional Prime membership sign-ups during the event), according to RetailDive. In 2018, Coresight estimated Amazon brought in $3.9 billion in global sales during its sales event. Others estimate Amazon could bring in more than $6 billion.

Global Highlights from Prime Day 2019

• Prime members worldwide saved more than one billion dollars throughout Prime Day.
• Millions of items shipped in one day or faster using Prime Free One-Day, Prime Free Same-Day, or Prime Now worldwide – making it the fastest Prime Day ever.
• Members in 18 countries shopped – double the number since the first Prime Day five years ago.

The psychology behind Prime Day

In the five years of the annual Prime Day sales, Amazon has applied psychological tactics to make the sale an “event,” not just a money-saving exercise.

“The psychology is really just the fear of missing out and timing,” said Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist, to CNBC. Similar to Black Friday being just before the holiday shopping season, Prime Day comes just before the back-to-school shopping season, retail’s second busiest shopping season. “People don’t just want bargains, they are shopping anyways and have needs.”

Naturally, competitors are lining up to compete with Amazon’s premier promotion. More than 300 retailers and counting are offering their alternatives to Prime Day this year, up 29 percent sales, according to internal data from RetailMeNot,  reported by Statista. The impact of these other sales events remains to be seen; will they impact the back-to-school shopping spree that usually comes in mid-August?

Whether retailers mark down prices or not, Adobe and Salesforce both estimate that eCommerce overall benefits from a Prime Day halo-effect, according to Statista. “Adobe estimates a 79 percent revenue bump for other retailers during Prime Day this year, while Salesforce ballparks the growth for non-Amazon retailers at 51 percent for Prime Day,” writes Statista’s Sarah Feldman.