Summer Is the New Holiday Season: Prime Day Drives a Record $26.4 Billion

06-29-2026

Adobe released final figures for the Prime Day event (recapping June 23 to 26, 2026), profiling consumer spend and other trends across U.S. retailers. Adobe’s report provides the most comprehensive view into U.S. e-commerce by analyzing direct transactions online, covering over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.

Competitive discounts drove another e-commerce record

U.S. retailers drove $26.4 billion in online spend from June 23 (Tuesday) to June 26 (Friday), representing 9.3% growth year-over-year (YoY), trending above Adobe’s initial forecast ($26.3 Billion, up 9% YoY). This is changing the shape of the Summer shopping season, which is beginning to rival the holiday period. As a comparison point, consumers spent $32.4 billion across Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2025. Mobile continues to be the dominant transaction channel, driving 54.2% of online sales (vs. desktop shopping) during the Prime Day event, which represents $14.2 billion of overall spend and all-time high.

Competitive discounts drove online demand, as shoppers have been conditioned to wait for big promotional periods to hit ‘buy’ on products they’ve had their eyes on. Consumers found great deals that were on par with last year’s Prime Day event, with discounts for electronics peaking at 24% off listed price (vs. 23% in 2025). Strong discounts were also seen in apparel at 24% (vs. 24%), toys at 20% (vs. 19%), televisions at 19% (vs. 18%), appliances at 16% (vs. 16%), furniture at 16% (vs. 15%), computers at 15% (vs. 13%), and sporting Goods at 10% (vs. 9%).

Some consumers also opted for greater payment flexibility. During the Prime Day event, ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) orders accounted for 6.6% of online orders. This amounted to $2.1 billion in online spend from June 23 to 26, representing 9.5% growth YoY.

Shoppers gravitated towards pricier goods

Strong discounts during the Prime Day event drove many shoppers to “trade up” to higher-ticket items. Across all categories tracked by Adobe, the share of the most expensive goods increased by 19% (compared to average levels year-to-date). In electronics, the share of the most expensive goods rose significantly by 51%. Adobe also observed consumers trading up in categories such as toys (up 37% YoY), appliances (up 30% YoY), personal care products (up 27% YoY), furniture (up 24% YoY), sporting goods (up 24% YoY), and apparel (up 11% YoY). Categories where consumers embraced lower priced products included home and garden (share of most expensive goods down 5%) and grocery (down 4%).

Consumers that begin their shopping journeys with AI are more likely to make a purchase

Shoppers continued to embrace AI-powered chat services and browsers to research products and find deals. In the first 5 months of the year (Jan-May), AI traffic to U.S. retail sites (measured by shoppers clicking on a link) increased by 235% YoY. The trend continued across the Prime Day event, where it was up 89%.

Once these individuals landed on a retail site, they converted 40% better than non-AI channels (such as paid search, email, social media), a measure of visits that become actual purchases. This is a notable shift from the Prime event last year, where AI traffic converted 23% worse. And while the overall volume of AI traffic remains modest compared to other major channels, the data shows the impact of AI in the shopping journey, shortening the time it takes for consumers to confidently get the information they need.

What consumers were buying during the Prime Day event

At the category level, online sales across U.S. retailers were driven by electronics (up 120% vs average daily sales in June 2026), appliances (up 90%), tools and home improvement (up 70%), home and garden (up 65%), and furniture and bedding (up 55%). At the product level, Adobe observed upticks in the following areas:

Health and wellness: Online purchases of smartwatches were up 120% (vs average daily sales in June 2026), with exercise equipment up 85% and activewear up 50%.
Purchases for the kids: Back-to-School shopping remained a sales driver, with upticks seen across kid’s apparel (up 140% vs average daily sales in June 2026), lunch boxes (up 105%) and backpacks (up 115%). Additionally, purchases of baby products were up including strollers (up 195%), car seats (up 140%), formula (up 75%) and diapers/wipes (up 75%).
Purchases for the home: Consumers took advantage of deals to refresh their living spaces. Online purchases of bedroom/bathroom linens were up 130% (vs average daily sales in June 2026), with mattresses up 80% and bedroom furniture up 45%. In other parts of the home: Bathroom furniture (up 65%) and bathroom fixtures (up 55%). In the kitchen: cookware (up 75%), other kitchenware (up 50%), kitchen and dining furniture (up 40%), and kitchen fixtures (up 35%).
Everyday essentials: Personal hygiene products (oral care, shampoo, antiperspirant) were up 125% and household goods (trash bags, detergents, paper products) were up 60%.
Summer travel: As some consumers prepare for the upcoming travel season, online purchases were up in areas like luggage (up 95%), car seats (up 140%), noise canceling headphones (up 155%), portable chargers (up 70%), travel size toiletries (up 70%), and portable fans (up 55%).

Adobe tracked the impact of marketing investments during the Prime Day event, profiling how different channels contribute to revenue share. Social media continues to make a big impact, driving 4.4% share of revenue but growing the fastest (up 15.8% YoY). Affiliates and partners—which includes social media influencers—saw strong growth as well (21.3% share, up 7.0% YoY).

Notably, influencers converted shoppers (individuals making a purchase after seeing influencer content) 11 times more than social networks overall. Affiliates and partners also drove the highest 'add-to-cart rates' at 9%, along with checkout initiation at 56%, outpacing social media overall at 3% and 28%, respectively. This highlights the stronger conversion impact from affiliate and partner channels, with social continuing to play more of an upper-funnel (awareness) role.

Vivek is the director of Adobe Digital Insights who has worked with some of the largest CPG & Technology organizations, in the world, to drive key digital marketing & data science initiatives. As the Director for Adobe Digital Insights (ADI), he launched & spearheads the popular Adobe DEI (Digital Economy Index) & Holiday Retail reports, as well as other industry reports that profile emerging technology, creativity, and travel trends.