Prime Day is now a major event for other US retail companies, rivaling Black Friday as a driver of sales.
Amazon Prime Day began in 2015 as a way for the online retail giant to unload its unwanted stock amid discounts and special offers.
Yet its impact throughout the US and global retail industry has been substantial, with the date (July 15-16) now rivaling November’s Black Friday in its importance to both retailers and consumers–and rivals are cashing in.
Walmart Inc, Target Corp and eBay Inc are all running their own special promotions to coincide with the annual sale, which this year Amazon has stretched to two days.
The mid-summer shopping event is estimated to bring in $5.8 billion in sales this year for Amazon globally, compared to $3.9 billion last year, according to Coresight Research.
Amazon does not disclose figures for revenue generated during Prime Day shopping events.
“Halo effect”
“There is this enormous halo effect to Prime Day,” Jaysen Gillespie, head of analytics and data science at ads firm Criteo, told Reuters.. “The rest of the industry is taking advantage of the free marketing that Jeff Bezos is providing, and they should really send him a thank you card…”
Last year, when Prime Day lasted 36 hours and faced technical glitches, online shoppers bought more than 100 million products worldwide, at the time recording the largest daily sales for Amazon’s own brand of Echo smart speakers, while the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo Dot were the best-selling devices.
Other top-selling products around the world were table salt in India, Coke Zero and Kleenex tissues in Singapore, and electric toothbrushes in China.
Pop star Lady Gaga announced a line of beauty products exclusively for sale on Amazon last week, which is available for pre-order during the promotional event.
Worker protests
Yet Amazon has also garnered controversy of late, particularly on labor issues. To coincide with Prime Day, more than 2,000 workers at seven Amazon sites across Germany have gone on strike over pay and conditions for logistics workers, labor union Verdi said on Monday.
Similar protests are planned across the United States and Europe.
At an Amazon warehouse in Shakopee, Minneapolis, workers said they would stage a six-hour strike to demand improved conditions. Elsewhere, activists are also asking the company to do more to combat climate change and cut alleged business ties with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Amazon Prime Day looks to be here to stay, and the ripple effect through a retail industry that has been struggling to keep up with the online giant has been overwhelmingly positive, including for the company’s closest rivals.
Yet at a time when social inequality, labor rights, and corporate social responsibility are at the top of the political agenda, Amazon also needs to be aware of the close public scrutiny it faces if it wants its dominance of the market to continue.
