Prime Day Kicks Off a COVID-19 Christmas

Delayed from its usual July observance to Oct. 13-14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon’s 2020 Prime Day sales bonanza is serving as the unofficial kickoff to what will be a very different holiday shopping season.Originally created to fill a mid-summer shopping void, this year’s three-month delay has put Prime Day in a position to capture holiday shoppers early at a time when they are doing more of their buying online than ever before. Kantar research indicates that 56% of the 3,000 shoppers it surveyed (both Prime members and non-members) plan to spend as much as last year or more on this year’s event, with 28% expecting to spend more. Only 3% of Prime members surveyed don’t plan to buy anything, down significantly compared to 16% who did not buy anything last year.Usually a record-breaker even in normal times, Prime Day 2020 will almost certainly net out as the biggest event in Amazon’s history. JPMorgan analysts expect the company’s Prime Day revenue to surge to some $7.5 billion, up 42% from last year’s estimated $5.3 billion, while eMarketer predicts $9.91 billion in worldwide sales, $6.17 billion of those coming from U.S. shoppers.The event has always sparked competing sales, but activity has ramped up more than ever this year as many brick-and-mortar retailers have had to dilute their typical Black Friday crowd-drawing sales events in favor of longer promotions intended to spread out the usual rush of shoppers amid the pandemic. With no one willing to be the last out of the gate as holiday demand is pulled into early October, retailers and brands — big and small alike — are staging promotions to coincide with Prime Day as shoppers compare prices across platforms. (For details, see Related Updates below.)A survey by NDP Group found that 57% of consumers plan to do some of their holiday shopping during Prime Day this year, 63% say they are very likely to compare Prime Day promotions with other retailer promotions before making a purchase, and more than one-third think they will find a better deal during Prime Day versus the more traditional Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales.Not willing to let the competition steal all its thunder, Amazon has amped up its own promotional activity, launching holiday gift guides and exclusive online storefronts earlier than ever while also equipping Alexa to answer queries such as, “Alexa, give me gift ideas under $50.” To Prime member homes, the retailer sent a "Joy Delivered" holiday catalog offering nearly 100 pages of kids' gifts shoppable by QR code, interspersed with seasonal activities and recipes. A flurry of brands including Lego Group's Lego, Mattel's Hot Wheels and Barbie, Hasbro's Tonka and Play-Doh, MGA Entertainment's L.O.L. Surprise!, Hallmark Cards' Crayola and Canon received dedicated pages.Amazon's Prime Day landing page lets visitors navigate deals by a wide range of product categories, with several advertisers including Newell Brands, Apple, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo running prominent sponsored ads on the destination. Amazon also offered early deals on generic categories such as "gifts" and on fashion brands including Frye, Dickies, Calvin Klein as well as its own private labels.New this year, Amazon shone a spotlight on small businesses by offering up a selection of celebrity favored products picked by the likes of Jessica Alba, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Arianna Huffington while also dangling a $10 Prime Day credit when Prime members spend $10 on items from select small businesses. Amazon also used the opportunity to drive traffic beyond amazon.com, dangling another $10 Prime Day credit with $10 in-store purchases at the new Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, Amazon Pop Up and Amazon 4-Star, as well as both in-store and online purchases at Whole Foods Market, both before and during Prime Day. Sales at the retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores climbed 8% in the first quarter amid the initial pandemic-spurred surge in consumer demand but dropped 13% in the second quarter even as online grocery sales tripled.In related cause activity, Amazon brought back a dedicated storefront stocking items giving a portion of sales proceeds to global HIV/AIDS nonprofit (RED) for the fourth consecutive year. This year the funds go not only toward the fight to end AIDS but also to combat the effects of COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa.

Prime Day Kicks Off a COVID-19 Christmas

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