Amazon Prime Day, which takes place on July 16 and 17, 2024, is guaranteed to be one of the biggest shopping (and savings!) events of the year.
In fact, Prime Day has basically taken over the summer, with roughly eight in 10 consumers (81%) saying they plan to shop Prime Day 2024. And Prime Day shoppers plan to spend more than they did last year. That’s according to our Prime Day survey of more than 1,200 U.S. adults. See survey methodology.
That spending increase is the first uptick we’ve seen in a couple years, during which shoppers tightened their Prime Day budgets due to inflation and other factors.
Planned Prime Day Spending Is Up for 2024
Amazon Prime Day is for Prime members only — but many Americans do have a Prime membership: 180 million in 2024, according to Bloomberg, up 8% year over year. Plus, plenty of other retailers throw sales on top of Prime Day, meaning that Amazon’s Prime Day has truly become a seasonal sales event.
Wherever people are shopping (whether at Amazon or with its competitors), they plan to shell out $521 this year:
- Average spending at Amazon: $300 (up from $150 last year).
- Average spending at other retailers: $221 (up from $100 last year).
Last year, our survey respondents said they planned to spend a combined $250 between Amazon and other retailers ($388 in 2022 and $594 in 2021). In other words, we’re seeing the first uptick in planned Prime Day spending in two years. The slump of the previous two years was likely a result of stressed budgets due to inflation and attempts to cut back on discretionary spending.
It’s important to note that planned spending is different from the actual spending that happens when deals start flying. Despite consumers telling us they planned to dial it back the past two years, Prime Day continued to grow in terms of dollars spent. Even so, planned spending is an important glimpse into consumer sentiment — and this year, Americans are planning to go big after years of feeling cautious.
Shoppers Are Willing to Spend, But Still Seeking Out Deals
Our survey found that, while there’s pent-up appetite for spending (and maybe a little impulse-buying), shoppers want to feel that the deal is good before they spend. Many of them are putting effort into comparison shopping. A few of our findings:
- Price sensitivity is still prominent among consumers, as 29% are price comparing with other retailers before making a purchase on Prime Day.
- 20% prefer to shop from other retailers during Prime Day rather than Amazon.
- 11% find that other retailers offer better deals than Amazon during Prime Day.
- During this event, consumers like to take advantage of purchasing items they’ve been saving up for (43%).
- 27% often end up purchasing items not originally on their lists but that are on sale during Prime Day.
What Shoppers Plan to Buy on Prime Day
Prime Day’s mid-summer timing is a sweet spot. It’s ideal for finding early summer clearance specials AND early back-to-school deals. It also has a reputation for strong tech deals.
The Top 5 categories that consumers will be shopping during Prime Day 2024 are:
- Clothing, shoes and apparel: 46%
- Laptops, computers and tablets: 34%
- Headphones: 30%
- Kitchen appliances & bakeware: 30%
- Home décor: 28%
According to our back-to-school shopping data, 36% of shoppers are expected to start their back-to-school shopping in July. Due to this timing, we expect consumers to leverage Prime Day and kickstart their school shopping during the event.
Prime Day Retail Trends
Is Prime Day worth shopping even if your budget is tight? That depends on what you’re looking for. Over the past several years, Prime Day has consistently demonstrated that it’s a mid-year Black Friday when it comes to tech. Amazon’s Prime Day pricing has consistently matched (or even beaten) the most recent Black Friday’s prices on key items (smart home speakers, tablets, smart security tech and robot vacuums). We expect this to happen again. Amazon has a track record to maintain of offering lowest-of-the-year pricing on popular tech products during Prime Day, especially its own products. We suggest putting Prime Day on your calendar if you’re shopping for:
- Echo devices (speakers and screens)
- Ring doorbells
- Amazon Fire tablets
- Pressure cookers
- iRobot and Shark vacuums
- Wireless headphones
Other categories we’ve seen trending during recent Prime Days are groceries and other practical purchases. Amazon has a robust grocery selection and, during Prime Days past, it has offered $20 off Amazon Fresh deliveries over $100 during Prime Day, as well as up to 30% off various pantry staples. Cleaning products, trash bags and more of the “boring stuff” that you totally need also go on sale during Prime Day, making it a great sale for stocking up.
However, the advantages of shopping on Prime Day have been less clear-cut when it comes to clothing — we often see the retailer offering very specific deals on very specific items (one color might be on sale, while another is at full price, for example). TVs also have a mixed track record, and we typically see a wider variety of sets on sale during Black Friday — and the biggest discounts offered on only a limited number of sets.
It’s also important for shoppers to remember that Amazon Prime Day won’t be the only sale in town. Plenty of retailers (in fact, practically all major ones) promote sales around Prime Day. Timing varies among the competitors, with some kicking off their sales just before Prime Day, some running their sales a few days after and many offering deals right on top of Prime Day. So suffice it to say that shoppers can expect a wave of sales the week of Amazon Prime Day.
RetailMeNot Prime Day Shopping Tips to Save the Most
Prime Day can be overwhelming, so use these tips to cut through the noise to the best deals:
- Do some pre-shopping prep work: Add desired items to your cart beforehand to make sure you get everything you’ve had your eye on and monitor any price changes to the items in your cart. This also lets you check out swiftly and not miss out on deals. If the idea of accidentally checking out with items you didn’t mean to stresses you out, use Amazon’s wish list feature to organize the products you want, so that you can quickly add them to your cart if they go on sale.
- Look for pre-Prime Day deals: Prime Day is the main event, but expect some pre-show deals. Amazon has been known to offer credits to use on Prime Day when you spend a certain amount right before Prime Day.
- Utilize price tracking: Price trackers are the easiest way to monitor just how good a deal really is, especially for big-ticket items. By adding an Amazon price-tracking browser extension like camelcamelcamel or keepa, you’ll be able to easily monitor the prices of your most-wanted products as well as get price-drop alerts so that you never miss a deal.
- Install RetailMeNot‘s browser extension: Prime Day or not, installing an automatic savings tracker like RetailMeNot’s Deal Finder is the easiest way to save each and every time you check out. It finds and automatically enters promo codes for you. While Amazon rarely offers promo codes (instead opting for direct price cuts on specific items and on-site coupons that you have to clip directly from Amazon), plenty of its competitors do. So, if you’re not a Prime member, or if you find a better price at another retailer, you don’t have to hunt down the promo code that gets you an even better price.
Plus, when comparing prices across retailers during Prime day, consider RetailMeNot’s cash back program. If Amazon has the same price as another retailer, but that retailer is offering, say, 5% cash back — that other retailer’s offer may be the better deal! Check out our cash back offers.
- Download the Amazon app: Tap the “heart” icon on the items you want, and you’ll get push alerts when those items go on sale. That way, you can snag deals on the go.
- Turn on one-click ordering: If you’re like the many shoppers who wait for Prime Day to purchase big-ticket items like TVs, laptops and other tech, turn on one-click shopping to ensure a quick checkout.
- Ask your smart speaker for help: Amazon has been known to offer shoppers exclusive deals (or early access) if they shop via an Echo device.
Methodology
Source: Ziff Davis Shopping Q3 Seasonal Survey Among Adults 18+. Fielded May 29-30. N=1,202.
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