Here's What Sold Best During Amazon's Prime Days

Nearly 30% of people who shopped at Amazon on Prime Day purchased holiday gifts, according to The Chicago Tribune citing a report from Chicago-based research firm Numerator.

“Amazon’s strategy to hold Prime Day as a precursor to the holiday shopping season seems to have paid off. ... While most Prime Day buyers still plan to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they plan to spend less than last year,” Numerator analyst Amanda Schoenbauer said in an emailed statement.

Amazon said people spent more than $3.5 billion at third-party sellers worldwide, up nearly 60% compared with last year, but did not say how much consumers spent in total. One estimate said the company could see sales of close to $10 billion from the event. That doesn’t count sales at rival retailers with competing sales, including Walmart, Best Buy and Target.

Here’s a look at what people shopped for at Amazon on Prime Day, and why, based on Numerator’s data from consumer orders and surveys:

• The average Amazon order was $44.21, down from $59.02 on Prime Day 2019, and had 1.6 items. Average household spending, $110.02, declined as well, but that figure is expected to increase, since Numerator collects receipts from shoppers for up to two weeks.
• Of the 29% of people who bought holiday gifts, 25% said they knocked out at least half their holiday shopping on Prime Day. Still, most are still shopping: 80% and 88% of Prime Day buyers expected to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, respectively.
• Some of the early holiday shopping could hit Black Friday and Cyber Monday: 17% of Prime Day shoppers said they expect to spend less on those days because of their Prime Day purchases.
• About 62% of people shopped for themselves or their household.
• Only 52% bought something that was part of a Prime Day deal.
• 21% of Prime Day shoppers also bought something from another retailer. Another 16% hadn’t shopped elsewhere when surveyed but said they might.
• Like last year, the most popular items all came from Amazon: the Echo Dot smart speaker, Amazon Smart Plug, Fire TV Stick, Echo Show and either new or reloaded gift cards. Nearly one in three Prime Day shoppers bought Amazon-branded electronics, which tend to be discounted on Prime Day. The iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum, MyQ Wireless & WiFi Enabled Smart Garage Door Opener, LifeStraw Personal Water Filter, Goli Apple Cider Vinegar Vitamins, and Kids Against Maturity card game were other popular deals in the U.S., according to Amazon.
• Household essentials, health and beauty products, toys and video games and home and garden products were other popular categories: each saw a purchase by at least 1 in 5 shoppers.