Prime Day 2016 was the largest single sales day in Amazon history, generating a 60% global sales increase over the previous year’s total and a 50% jump in the U.S. Amazon has proven that it can dominate the news cycle in retail, most recently with its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods. Now the Retail TouchPoints editors debate whether the e-Commerce giant also can continue to dominate the sales cycle — particularly as recent research revealed that there are 35 million ex-Prime members ripe for the picking by Amazon competitors.
Debbie Hauss, Editor in Chief: While I do believe Prime Day will continue to be a strong event for Amazon and its sellers, I think other retailers are getting craftier about taking advantage of the hype and will reap the benefits of the runoff more effectively this year. Last year a number of retailers promoted big sales in competition with Prime Day and I expect to see even more of that activity this year. In one example, Walmart expanded free shipping for an entire week last year to coincide with Prime Day. I have to admit that I did make some purchases on Amazon during Prime Day last year, but nothing big, just staples that I would have bought anyway. I looked at the deals and was not overwhelmed.
Adam Blair, Executive Editor: Whether Prime Day III: Revenge of Alexa generates the kind of double-digit sales increases that Prime Day 2016 did seem kind of beside the point to me. While we and the rest of the news media will be focused on the 30-hour shopping spree’s numbers, Amazon will be doing what it does best every day of the year: gathering billions of data breadcrumbs about its best customers. Amazon will use Prime Day to learn, among other things, how these shoppers behave when offered special time-limited promotions. The new Prime members brought on board will be tracked from now on, to see if their behavior is different on Prime Day IV: A New Hope in 2018. As Bryan Eisenberg said during his keynote address during the 2017 Retail Innovation Conference, “A great brand today is customer-centric, data-driven and managed by narrative.” Amazon is laser-focused on its customers; other retailers should take a lesson.
Klaudia Tirico, Features Editor: I was very excited about Amazon Prime Day last year and looked forward to scoring those “crazy” deals. When the day came, I was extremely disappointed with the offerings (all I bought was a cheap iPhone case for, like, $6 — which I could probably get for $6 anyway). I’m curious to see if this year is any better. Whether or not the product offerings are any good, I’m sure sales will skyrocket. It’s Amazon after all. Stretching the day to 30 hours makes me want to roll my eyes all the way to the back of my head. It’s like when retailers offer Black Friday deals for an entire week during the holidays — too much. These events should be exclusive and if they’re just thrown around for days, they’re not as special anymore.
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Matt Halchak, Editorial Intern: Personally, I don’t get as excited for Prime Day as some of my peers. I think Amazon already does a great job of offering pretty good deals and fast shipping options, but I feel that despite the hype, Prime Day often lacks the type of deals that one can’t pass up. I’m sure I’ll still poke around and look for deals, but I don’t think I’ll actually buy anything. Many retailers offer similar sales — some even last weeks — so like Black Friday, Prime Day has lost some of its luster. That being said, I’m sure Amazon will post ridiculous sales numbers, especially with the increased length of the “day,” and they’ll gain even more valuable sales data in the process.
