The unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season — Amazon’s Fall Prime Day — was a success, at least according to Amazon. The company reported that its third annual fall savings event for Prime members was its biggest ever, with more members shopping than last year and more items sold than on any previous Fall Prime Day.
While Amazon didn’t share total sales figures, it did report that members saved more than $1 billion throughout the course of the two-day sale on Oct. 8 and 9. The company also proudly touted shoppers’ usage of many of its new shopping tools, including:
- The gen AI-powered shopping assistant “Rufus,” which was used by millions of customers;
- The platform’s social-media style Inspire shopping feed, which helped shoppers discover new ideas and products;
- The visual search tool Amazon Lens, which allows customers to upload images to find similar products; and
- The company’s new AI Shopping Guides, which offer tailored product content to help customers quickly get the information they need to make a purchase decision.
A banner turnout for the Fall Prime Day may allay fears of a spending pullback this season. There has been some concern that ongoing economic turmoil could impact consumers’ holiday spending, with discounting and deal-hunting predicted to reign supreme this season. In fact, a slew of retailers — including Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Michaels, Lowe’s, Office Depot and many others — hosted their own early holiday sales events in tandem with the Fall Prime Day.
Despite these concerns, Adobe predicts online sales in the U.S. will hit new records this year, although discounting is expected to have a large impact on both the timing and amount of that spending.
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Not to be left behind now that holiday shopping is in full swing, Amazon is planning a series of additional sales events throughout the season, including:
- The fourth annual Holiday Beauty Haul event from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3, featuring thousands of curated deals and beauty gift sets;
- An offering of 10% off select toys for customers that spend at least $25 from now through Oct. 31;
- Additional sales and promotions during Cyber Week; and
- Special Black Friday deals in tandem with Amazon’s second annual Black Friday NFL game, which will be streamed exclusively on Prime Video on Nov. 29.
“Our 2024 Prime Big Deal Days event marked a strong start to the holiday shopping season, with record-breaking sales and participation from Prime members worldwide,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores in a statement. “We’re excited to deliver for customers this holiday, and we’re grateful to our teams around the world working hard to offer compelling selection, value and convenience throughout the season.”
