It’s that time of year again – Prime Day! Happening across 2 days (July 16-17, 2024), Prime Day has become a major industry-wide e-commerce moment, as consumers take advantage of discounts across retailers.
Today, we’re releasing our online shopping insights for the 2024 Prime Day event. Based on Adobe Analytics data, the report provides the most comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing commerce transactions online, covering over one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories. Adobe Analytics is part of Adobe Experience Cloud, relied upon by over 85 percent of the top 100 internet retailers in the U.S.* to deliver, measure and personalize shopping experiences online.
Prime Day spending sets new record
Consumers spent $7.2 billion on July 16 (Tuesday), the first day of the Prime Day event, which represents 11.7 percent growth year-over-year (YoY). On the second day (July 17, Wednesday), consumers spent $7 billion online, up 10.4 percent YoY. This brought the final 2-day total to $14.2 billion, up 11.0 percent YoY and setting a new record for Prime Day.
Consumers have embraced shopping on smaller screens, with mobile devices driving nearly half (49.2 percent) of online purchases versus desktop shopping — Across both days, $7 billion was spent through mobile devices, up a significant 18.6 percent YoY.
Back-to-school shoppers and product refresh cycle drove growth
Strong growth this year has been driven in part by back-to-school shopping, with the Prime Day event happening later in the month (the 2023 event was from July 11-12) and being closer to when many start school in August. Spend for products such as backpacks, lunchboxes, stationery, and other school/office supplies are up 216 percent across both days (compared to daily sales levels in June 2024), while spend for kid’s apparel is up 165 percent in the same time period.
Another growth driver is an apparent product refresh cycle, with consumers looking to upgrade or add new electronics and home furnishings to their homes. Online sales for the electronics category are up 61 percent across the 2-day event (compared to average daily sales in June 2024), driven by products including tablets (up 117 percent), televisions (up 111 percent), headphones and bluetooth speakers (up 105 percent), fitness trackers (up 88 percent), computers (up 80 percent), smartphones (up 71 percent), and cameras (up 60 percent).
Across home, furniture, and appliances, online sales for small kitchen appliances are up 76 percent across both days, as well as kitchenware and cookware (up 25 percent), mattresses (up 21 percent), home office furniture (up 14 percent), and bedroom furniture (up 11 percent). And in apparel, online sales for suits are up 36 percent across both days, in addition to outerwear (up 19 percent), footwear (up 17 percent), and accessories (up 17 percent).