Amazon Prime Day – which is really four days – reached record sales this year. Stretching from July 8th to 11th, U.S. retailers saw $24.1 billion in online spending, which is 30.3 percent year-over-year growth. It’s also the equivalent of two Black Fridays, given 2024 online Black Friday sales of $10.8 billion.
There’s a lot to unpack but starting with definitions, $24.1 billion measures gross sales for online merchants. Measured by Adobe Analytics, these figures aren’t limited to sales on Amazon. It rather includes all U.S. online merchants, with the thought that Prime Day boosts competitive sales.
These results were notably greater than estimates, which had predicted that $23.8 billion would be spent – a 28.4 percent year-over-year jump. Among other things, this signals that U.S. consumer shopping is healthier than many think – a good confidence signal for the U.S. economy as factors like tariffs loom.
Dangled & Pulled Back
Speaking of tariffs, they could have some impact on these numbers, or at least the fear of tariffs. As tariffs continue to be dangled and pulled back, many consumers may want to purchase things now rather than wait until prices possibly rise. It’s hard to say exactly how much of an impact this had on Prime Day.
Going deeper into product categories, appliances led the way – up 112 percent versus average daily sales in June. Office supplies also saw healthy growth (up 105 percent), as did electronics (95 percent), books (81 percent), tools and home improvement (76 percent), and home & garden (58 percent).
As for traffic sources, paid search represented a 28.5 percent share, which is up 5.6 percent year-over-year. Social media influencers meanwhile drove 19.9 percent of Prime Day traffic, which is up 15 percent year over year. This counters growing sentiments that the influencer economy is losing steam.
But to zero in on paid search, this is a positive signal for the broader search industry. And the time is right, as search is under fire from AI engines that continue to siphon off search traffic. AI summaries from Google and others have also diminished traffic to major publishers, a la zero-click searches.
Limited & Early
Speaking of AI, it had a big influence on eCommerce spending during Prime Day(s). Specifically, Adobe reports that traffic to U.S. retail sites from AI engines grew by 3,300% year-over-year. The absolute traffic is still far less than search & social, but the rapid growth is notable and worth watching.
To define what we’re talking about here, it’s AI engines broadly. These include chatbots or any AI tool that helps users shop, compare prices, or find products. These tools are growing fast but still relatively limited and early stage. This shopping phenomenon could accelerate with the rise of AI browsers.
As for methodology, Adobe Analytics looks at 1 trillion+ visits to U.S. retail websites, including 100 million SKUs in 18 product categories. From that sample, it then estimates the full universe of sales during the specified period. Though extrapolated, this gives a consistent reading over time for longitudinal analysis.
