Amazon Prime Day history: What to expect this year?

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It was on their 20th birthday in 2015 that the company introduced Amazon Prime Day, a global shopping event. It aimed to offer a volume of “deals greater than Black Friday,” exclusively for Prime members.

The first Amazon Prime Day launched on the 15th of July lasting for 24 hours and spanning nine countries including the US, UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria.

This year, Amazon say that Prime Day 2019, will be the longest ever, set for 48 hours, starting from the 15th of July and until 16th of July – around the world. Here is the overview of Amazon Prime Day history:

Amazon Prime Day 2015

  • Customers bought more items than on Black Friday 2014, Amazon’s biggest Black Friday ever at the time.
  • They ordered 34.4 million items across Prime-eligible countries, with 398 items ordered per second.
  • Shoppers ordered hundreds of thousands of Amazon devices – making it the largest device sales day ever, worldwide.
  • 24,000 Instant Pot 7-in-1 programmable pressure cookers were sold.
  • Amazon sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) enjoyed the biggest day ever with record-breaking unit sales growing nearly 300% worldwide.

Amazon Prime Day 2016

The second Prime Day surpassed Prime Day 2015 sales by more than 60% worldwide, and more than 50% in the US. Customers in the US, UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany and Austria, France and Belgium, and Canada enjoyed shopping Prime Day 2016.

  • Prime members saved more than double on deals during the Prime Day 2015.
  • More than two million toys and more than one million pairs of shoes were purchased by customers.
  • It was the biggest day ever for Amazon devices globally and a record Prime Day for each Amazon device category including Fire TV, Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers, and Alexa-enabled devices.
  • 215,000 Instant Pot 7-in-1 multi-functional pressure cookers were sold.
  • Prime members purchased an average of one Alexa-exclusive deal per second during Prime Day, using their voice.
  • Small businesses and sellers on Amazon offering deals to Prime members saw orders nearly triple, year-over-year, on Prime Day.

Amazon Prime Day 2017

Prime Day started on the 11 July 2017 and lasted 30 hours.

  • Echo Dot was the most popular Prime member purchase.
  • Tens of millions of Prime members made a purchase on Prime Day 2017, more than 50% higher than the prior year.
  • Added Mexico and China to the growing number of countries enjoying Prime Day.
  • More than 3.5 million toys were purchased by customers worldwide.
  • Tens of millions of customers used the Amazon App on Prime Day, with customer orders on the app more than doubled compared to 2016.
  • Prime members’ most popular purchase was the Echo Dot, which was the best-selling product from any manufacturer in any category across Amazon globally.
  • Instant Pot DUO80 7-in-1 multi-use programmable pressure cooker was a top seller in the US and Canada.

Amazon Prime Day 2018

Amazon say that Amazon Prime Day 2018 was the biggest global shopping day in Amazon history, lasting 36 hours from start to finish.

  • Members worldwide purchased more than 100 million products during Prime Day.
  • Best-sellers worldwide were the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo Dot – making this, with 12-hour early access to device deals, the biggest event ever for Amazon devices.
  • Small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon far exceeded $1.5 billion in sales this Prime Day.
  • Customers purchased more than five million items in each of the following categories: Toys, Beauty products, PCs and computer accessories, Apparel and Kitchen products.
  • For the first time, US Prime members celebrated Prime Day with a week of savings at Whole Foods Market. Members saved millions of dollars at Whole Foods Market with Prime Day deals, of which the best-selling deal was organic strawberries.
  • Members purchased more than 300,000 Instant Pot 6 Qt 7-in-1 multi-use pressure cookers.

What to expect from Amazon Prime Day 2019

Amazon say that Prime Day will start at midnight PT on Monday, the 15th of July and – for the first time ever will run for 48 hours.

There are now 18 participating countries including US, UK, Spain, Singapore, the Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Australia, and – new this year – United Arab Emirates.

Prime Day 2019 will feature more than one million deals globally, including hundreds of thousands of Prime Day deals from small and medium-sized businesses around the globe.

Also, for the first time, Prime members will be able to shop a dedicated page of Prime Day deals from US-based innovators, artisans, and entrepreneurs.

Amazon Prime Day 2019 US exclusives to include

  • Toshiba HD 43-inch Fire TV Edition Smart TV, only $179.99
  • Up to 40% off the Key for Garage myQ Smart Garage Hub + Amazon Cloud Cam (Key Edition) Kit – our lowest price ever at just $99.98
  • New JoJo Siwa products, customised Levi’s Iconic 501 for him and Levi’s 721 High Rise for her by Pro Football Player, Sterling Shepard and model, Chanel Iman Shepard,
  • Special-edition electric bike from Schwinn
  • Limited-edition natural canvas tote from FEED, and with every purchase FEED will donate ten meals in the U.S. in support of No Kid Hungry’s free school breakfast program
  • Moon and Back by Hanna Andersson – Amazon Fashion partnered with Hanna Andersson to create soft, organic cotton for comfy, hand-me-down happiness for babies and toddlers
  • Jabra Elite85h wireless headphones, with SmartSound audio technology, Alexa built-in and up to 36 hours of playtime
  • iOttie Easy One Touch Connect smartphone car mount, featuring Alexa built-in and iOttie’s patented Easy One Touch mechanism.

This news highlights the growing success of Amazon Prime Day, which will see this year’s promotional event lasting for 48 hours, keeping a high customer ‘footfall’ to the Amazon sites. The last 14 years saw Amazon extending the duration of the deals from 30 to 35 hours.

Amazon Prime success is due to Amazon’s use of customer data to personalise the shopping experience for each individual visiting their site. This means that Amazon’s customer insight is a force which helps shopper tackle their indecision by replacing irrelevant products with their the right ones.

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