Record breaking Prime Day provides welcome boost to UK retailers following meagre growth in June despite Eras Tour and Euros

In the ten years since it started, Amazon Prime Day has become established as one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, and this year’s two-day event didn’t disappoint.

The Adobe Digital Insights team, which uses Adobe Analytics to track online spending, prices and shopping trends in the US and UK, revealed another record breaking Prime Day on both sides of the Atlantic. UK shoppers spent an impressive £1.3 billion online on the 16th and 17th July (£633.4m on day 1, £618m on day 2), beating last year’s Prime Day total of £1.15 billion by an impressive 8.8% and making them the two highest spending days of 2024 so far.

In the US, shoppers spent a total of $14.2 billion, up 11.0 percent YoY and, as in the UK, setting a new record for Prime Day. While there’s a big difference in the scale of spend going through checkouts, it’s clear that Prime Day is a global retail event across the entire sector.

Below are the top insights UK retailers need to know:

1) Prime Day is a sector-wide event

The short sale period and big discounts on offer as part of Amazon’s promotion put consumers in “buy mode,” providing a huge opportunity for the broader online retail landscape. Retailers that prepare their own promotions and flash sales over the Prime Day period and get their top deals in front of customers at the right time benefit from shoppers already browsing and buying elsewhere.

2) Electronics and personal care see deepest discounts and highest growth

Our analysis of transactions across the UK retail sector found that, as in previous years, electronics and personal care products led the way in terms of discounts and, as a result, spending growth.

Over the two-day sale period, electronics were 19% cheaper on average, leading to a 24% uplift in online sales of compared with June’s average daily levels. Popular products within the category included video games (online sales up 59%), headphones and Bluetooth speakers (up 56%), smartphones (up 51%), tablets (up 39%), computers (up 28%), and fitness trackers (up 27%).

In personal care products, online spending on fragrance and cosmetics was up 56%, and personal appliances were up 33%.

3) Offering the right deals is one thing, but the right marketing makes a big difference

Our ability to analyse the customer journey for each transaction uncovered some interesting shopping behaviours from UK consumers.

While the highest revenue lift for UK retailers originated from direct traffic (+34.5%), where UK shoppers were actively checking particular websites for their Prime Day offers, email marketing campaigns accounted for a revenue lift of 28.2%, and affiliates and partners accounted for a revenue lift of 22.4%.

The success of Prime Day came on the heels of another month of meagre growth for retailers, with spending in June hitting £9.0 billion, up just 1.3% on June 2023. Considering the boost in spending provided by England’s performance at the Euros, which saw online sales of England football shirts and other merchandise spike by 1,341% above normal levels in June, rising to 2,200% as the team won the semi-final against the Netherlands in dramatic fashion, and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hitting the UK, retailers would have been hoping for more.

After the massive impact of the two-day Prime Day period, UK retailers will be hopeful that momentum in consumer spending builds over the second half of 2024 to end the year on a high.

Adobe Analytics data reveals:

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 up 24% 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.

England’s progress to Euros final helped bolster June sales

• As the Euros got underway, the performance of online sales of England football shirts and other merchandise mirrored England’s performance on the field. In the knockout stages of the tournament, each win resulted in a significant rise in online sales.
• The round of 16 win against Slovakia sent sales up 998% above normal levels on June 30th and July 1st.
• The quarter-final win against Switzerland brought an even higher spike in sales on July 6th and 7th at 1,341% above normal levels.
• After England secured a spot in the final with a 90th minute goal against the Netherlands, sales reached their peak on Wednesday and Thursday (July 10th and 11th) at more than 2,200% above normal levels as fans rushed to buy shirts ahead of the title clash with Spain.

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About Adobe Digital Insights

The Adobe Digital Insights team uses Adobe Analytics to analyse hundreds-of-millions of visits to retail sites from UK consumers each month, tracking 100 million stock-keeping units (SKUs) across 18 product categories to provide the most comprehensive view of the UK digital economy. Adobe Analytics is part of Adobe Experience Cloud, relied upon by major retailers to deliver, measure, and personalise shopping experiences online.