Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner, June 21 and 22. With a late October Prime Day last year, 2021’s annual discount day comes only eight months later.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day is an annual exclusive event for Amazon Prime members. It lasts 48 hours, includes lightning deals, and offers some of the retailer’s biggest discounts.
It started back in 2015 to celebrate Amazon’s 20-year anniversary and has become a staple for Prime shoppers and the ecommerce ecosystem as a whole. Many retailers outside of Amazon announce similar discount days to compete with Prime Day. This year, Walmart and Target have already joined in on the fun.
2020: A Record-Breaking Prime Year
If last year was any indication of what this year is going to be like, get ready. Last year was record breaking. Here’s the 2020 Prime Day breakdown:
- Spending rose 45% from 2019
- 175 million items were purchased
- Sales reached $10.4 billion
- Electronics were the most popular category
The takeaway? Shoppers are spending a ton of money on Amazon – and things aren’t slowing down. We expect this year to bring in some impressive numbers.
What Prime Day Shoppers Need to Know
While the exact deals are kept under wraps until June 20, there are still plenty of things shoppers can do to prepare for the big day.
- Make a plan. Items sell out fast and shoppers are ready to go as soon as the event starts. Set your alarms and know what you’re looking for in advance.
- Don’t settle. Retailers outside of Amazon (like Walmart and Target) are also offering big discounts during the Prime Day window. You don’t have to shop exclusively with Amazon. Leverage a variety of retailers to get the biggest bang for your buck.
- Kickstart the holidays. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. Take advantage now and save time and money during peak season.
- Validate the “deals.” Just because you see it on Prime Day, doesn’t mean it’s a great price. Do your research and know if the price you’re paying is actually a good deal.
- Make sure you’re a member. You can’t shop the deals unless you’re signed up for Prime. It’s a quick and easy process and you can start with a 30-day trial before you commit.
Prime Day Seller Strategy
Last year we hosted a webinar with Eugene Stark, head of Amazon services for Hawke Media. He shared some amazing tips for dominating Prime Day as an FBA or FBM Amazon seller. They still apply today.
Eugene’s last-minute Prime Day tips included:
(The timecodes in parentheses will help you locate each tip faster, but the whole thing is full of eleventh-hour ways to make more money on Prime Day, so give it all a listen!)
- Don’t underestimate inventory. (3:58)
Hawke Media has seen its clients double or triple their sales over Prime Day in the past. The other tips here will help you maximize your sales, so don’t hamper those efforts by not having enough product to sell during this important period. - Pay attention to your keywords. (5:26)
Eugene estimates that most of Hawke Media’s clients get 50-60% of their overall sales from organic searches on Amazon. Learn the tactics Eugene and his team use to get products to the top of organic search results. - Boost your ad budget. (8:00)
Hawke Media tells their clients to triple their ad budgets for the Prime Day period — running out of ad spend is just as bad for your profits as running out of inventory because the competition is so high. - Build your storefront with A+ content. (9:02)
Amazon gives sellers a lot of ways to build their brand and keep customers buying, including A+ Content, which includes images and enhanced text to create a brand story that brings in more buyers. Hear how Eugene helps his clients increase conversion with A+ Content. - Ship your inventory early to avoid warehouse logistics problems. (13:40)
The pandemic created internal headaches for Amazon that made it more difficult for them to quickly fulfill customer orders, like ensuring that workers could safely social distance while working. Hear how getting your inventory to Amazon earlier for Prime Day will help them fulfill customers’ orders faster. - Take advantage of Prime Day’s proximity to the holidays. (16:25)
This one is a real gem: The more you sell during Prime Day, the higher your products will rank organically after it’s over — which just happens to lead right into the holidays. If you get your keywords right and convert on them, your Prime Day sales velocity will get you noticed by the algorithm, leading to more sales down the line. Listen to get the full scoop from Eugene. - Offer a coupon. (21:58)
Coupons draw more shopper attention to your products and help them stand out in a crowd. Learn which coupon values do best with Amazon shoppers. - Use Amazon Attribution to measure conversion from Facebook, Google and influencers. (25:08)
Find out how to use this important tool to pinpoint which campaigns are working best for you so you can manage your advertising budget wisely. Hawke Media clients typically double their sales using this method!
There’s still time left to get your inventory, storefront, keywords, content and ads in shape before Prime Day arrives. If you want to hear all these tips and even more insights from Eugene, download our webinar replay now.
If you’re an Amazon FBA seller, make sure you are maximizing profits this Prime Day “season.” Our always-on audit can help. Sign up for free. >
FBM sellers, plan for achieving 2-day prime standards if you are, or want to be a part of, the Amazon’s Seller Fulfilled Prime program. Logistics Intelligence gives you the insights to just that – and much more. Get a free demo to learn more. >
