New data from Adobe, powered by Adobe Analytics, revealed that online spending around Prime Day reached record highs again this year, hitting £1.3 billion as retailers across the ecommerce universe joined Amazon in offering deals during the two-day event.
The summer Prime Day sale has become a key annual shopping holiday, with retailers ranging from small independent brands to e-commerce giants offering deep discounts to stimulate sales over July 16th and 17th. Online spending jumped 8.8% above 2023 levels as discounts of up to 18-19% in electronics, apparel, and TVs encouraged Brits to head online to bag a deal.
The first 24 hours of this year’s Prime Day event saw £633.4 million spent online, making it the biggest day for online shopping so far in 2024. The second day saw a further £618 million spent online, coming in at a close second place. The top performing categories were electronics, apparel, and home/furniture, with the largest discounts seen in electronics and apparel. 14.9% of online sales across the 48-hour period were funded through Buy Now, Pay Later services, accounting for £186.4 million in spend, up 6.5% year over year.
The record spending over July 16th and 17th could signal an upturn in fortunes for UK retailers, who have faced sluggish growth in online spending this year. Despite the progress of the England team through the Euros and Taylor Swift’s Eras tour landing in the UK, online spending for June grew by a meagre 1.3% YoY, reaching a total of £9bn.
Prime Day has once again proven to be the biggest online shopping event for the UK market with the two-day sales period seeing significant growth and an increase of £101.3 million in sales compared with last year. With the first UK leg of the Eras Tour and England’s performance in the Euros failing to deliver the levels of growth retailers were hoping for, these major shopping events become even more important. This year’s boost will come as welcome relief for retailers who have faced sluggish growth in the first half of 2024, but the heavy discounting needed to generate these sales will put a bigger squeeze on margins.
– Vivek Pandya, Lead Analyst, Adobe Digital Insights
Adobe Analytics data points
Amazon’s Prime Day sales event sees record spending
- A total of £1.3 billion was spent online in the UK across the two days of the Prime Day sales event – up 8.8% year-over-year.
- The first day of Prime Day (July 16) was the biggest online shopping day in 2024 so far, with £633.4 million spent online.
Electronics in high demand, as online prices dip 19%
- Electronics were a strong driver of growth during this year’s Prime Day event, with average online sales from July 16-17 up24% over average daily levels in June. Popular products included: Video Games (up 59%), Headphones and Bluetooth Speakers (up 56%), Smartphones (up 51%), Tablets (up 39%), Computers (up 28%), and Fitness Trackers (up 27%).
- Other high-demand products driving growth included:
- Personal Care Products: Fragrance and Cosmetics (up 56%), Personal Appliances (up 33%)
- Sporting Goods: Bicycles and Accessories (up 37%), Exercise Equipment (up 32%)
- Home/Furniture: Decor (up 30%), Kitchenware and Cookware (up 18%), Bedroom Furniture and Mattresses (up 15%), Appliances (up 12%)
- Others: Kids Apparel (up 20%), Baby and Toddler Products (up 17%)
- On average, online prices were discounted 14% when compared with usual levels, with the deepest discounts in electronics (19% cheaper), apparel (18% cheaper), TVs (18% cheaper), Home/Furniture (17%) computers (14% cheaper), and toys (13% cheaper)
Buy Now Pay Later finances 14.9% of all online spend during Prime Day
- Total spend using BNPL on Prime Day (July 16-17) came in at £186.4 million representing a year-over-year growth of 6.5%. 14.9% of online orders during this period used a BNPL service.
- Across major marketing channels, direct traffic (+34.5%) saw the biggest increase in revenue lift during Prime Day. Email/Newsletter (+28.2%), and affiliates / partners (+22.4%) were also contributors.
