Retailers have debated back and forth about how they’re going to generate sales and traffic on Prime Day, but one online retailer is turning to both its own e-Commerce site and Amazon to attract shoppers. As part of its Prime Day strategy, eBags is offering twice as many ‘Extreme Deals’ as it did last year during the week of Prime Day, with markdowns on products such as backpacks, luggage and handbags.
Discounted items are often best-sellers, with initially announced merchandise deals including a JanSport Superbreak Backpack, a Travelers Club Hardside Expandable Spinner Carry-On, or a Travelon Anti-Theft Exclusive Handbag.
“The decision to double the deals comes from the fact that we had such great success last year,” said Mike Edwards, CEO of eBags, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “We asked the question, ‘Did we leave money on the table?’ And we believed that Amazon would continue to build momentum with their incredible base of customers…we should assume that it’s going to grow the same as last year, if not more. To keep up with that, we really needed to up our offerings and make them more compelling.”
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But the retailer isn’t relying solely on its deals to create compelling offers and attract more consumers to its various channels throughout the week. Edwards indicated that eBags aims to showcase its vast line of exclusive products so that consumers can “win on selection,” while leveraging its travel-centric brand to emphasize the online shopping journey.
“Under that brand vision, it really implies that we must have the best product content possible within our category that educates, informs and helps the customer ultimately find the right bag for their journey,” Edwards said.
One way of differentiating involves eBags adding value to purchases by including a $7 connected tag that enables shoppers to protect and track bags via their mobile app. The retailer will also up the ante via its loyalty program throughout the weeklong event, not only providing eBags Rewards members with the standard 20% off discount on any product, but giving them 20% extra Rewards Points on every purchase. For this limited time, eBags also will offer free shipping on orders over $35 rather than the typical $50 threshold.
Prime Day Prep Takes A Holiday-Sized Effort
Edwards noted that the preparation that goes into Prime Day is reaching the levels of the major holiday days, including Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday (and diving into back-to-school season immediately after Prime Day). Retailers take note: it’s safe to say that Prime Day has arrived and has to be top-of-mind throughout the year.
“We spend a good five or six months thinking through and planning out either the marketing investments or the deal structure that we want to approach Prime Day with, both on Amazon as well as our own site,” said Edwards. “We certainly utilize data from previous years to figure out what worked and what didn’t work from a pricing or category standpoint. We really aim to serve our best, highest-viewed, most in-demand products at a great value. That’s part of our overriding philosophy going into it, because we know that the customer is really searching for those one or two items they want to pick up because they’re getting a great deal.”
