Forecast: Strong ecomm growth a good indicator for Prime Day

Just what impact will Prime Day have on sales? Adobe’s experts suggest sales during the July 15 and 16 event will create a “halo effect” over other retailers, drawing more shoppers in to buy more products. Overall, Adobe’s data predicts a 79% revenue lift for Amazon and for other retailers a 70% revenue lift. They also suggest Prime Day will be the third-largest sales day outside the holiday season, potentially pushing past the $2b mark. Why will consumers not just hit up Amazon for Prime Day sales? Because of retailers’ use of BOPIS – buy online, pick up in-store, which continues to push order values higher each year.
 
How are consumers’ learning about these sales events?
 
·         Nearly 9% of Prime Day orders come from email
·         Video ads show a 55% CTR for Prime Day and a 20% completion rate
·         Return rates also increase on Prime Day, up to 30% higher than normal sales days
 
As to the mobile effect, Adobe’s data indicates that mobile commerce will continue to be a big hitter for merchants and brands, even outside the Prime Day bubble. Their data shows that most retail website visits are now coming from mobile devices, specifically smartphones. Smartphone traffic is now outpacing desktop traffic. The experts note that $1 in every $3 spent online is now spent via mobile device; they predict mobiles will be the primary device for ecommerce checkouts by 2022, and that mobiles could account for half of retailers’ revenue by then.
 
More data from Adobe can be accessed here.
 
Meanwhile, the Amazon effect shouldn’t be overlooked, even after Prime Day. Dotcom Distribution has released a new report which, among other things, finds that just over half (57%) of shoppers they surveyed have don’t “most” of their online shopping within Amazon this year. That is a 13% increase over 2018’s Dotcom Distribution Annual eCommerce Consumer Survey. Other interesting findings from the report include:
 
·         58% of shoppers say the cost of shipping impacts their purchase decision
·         62% say free shipping is their biggest influencer for online purchases
·         84% say they’re more likely to make an online purchase if they can return to a local/physical store
·         62% say sustainable packaging factors into their purchase decisions
 
“Everything moves fast today, and there may be no better example of that than the eCommerce industry,” said Maria Haggerty, CEO, Dotcom Distribution. “Tracking how online shoppers are evolving year after year provides us with exclusive actionable insights into what consumers value today. We encourage brands to leverage this information every year to create a more fulfilling experience for their customers, which, in turn, benefits their business and ours.”
 
The full Dotcom Distribution report can be accessed here.