Case Study

PRIME DAY 2021: SALES BOOST 237% (SHORT-TERM) & 44% (LONG-TERM)

August31, 2021

Metrics

237%

Lift in
Sales vs. Average

112%

Lift in
Sales vs Prime Day
2020

44%

Lift in
July Baseline Sales

Context

Since its inception in July 2015, brands have been working hard to maximize one of the biggest sales events of the year: Amazon Prime Day! While this still held true this year, performance across Amazon compared to 2020 was soft with total sales up just 7.6% ($11.19B) compared to the 48-hour event in October 2020 ($10.39B).

Interestingly, growth this year was tilted more towards 3rd-party marketplace sellers, which saw sales grow 12%, compared to the 5.3% for 1st-party Amazon-owned products.

Secondly, Amazon ran 2 Prime Day events in the same year for the 1st time ever, with the 2nd event, “Prime Early Access Sale” (dubbed Fall Prime Day), occurring in October only about 5-6 weeks before Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotions began. Because of this, consumers got a head start on their holiday shopping earlier than ever.

While brands/sellers like to look at the immediate results to understand performance, what is likely even more important is the long-term impact of the event.

In other words, how did Prime Day set you up for success in the long run?

Over a month since the end of the main event, we look at the data to see not just how our brand partners with active Prime campaigns performed during the event, but how they performed in July, the month following the event (see “sustainability view” below).

WE KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN.

Vendo Growth Metrics Sustainability View: May 2021 vs. July 2021

Vendo Growth
Metrics vs. May Average

Vendo Growth
Metrics vs. Prime Day 2020

*outliers consist of brands over 1000%

Vendo Partner’s Performance by Category

On-Amazon Ad Performance

• % lift in sales week over week: 127%
• % lift in spend week over week: 104%
• High-priced items, likely because of perceived higher discounts, fared well during Prime Day, with items at or above $50 seeing huge 3-digit percentage increases for the event
• Food brands with large off-Amazon customer bases saw large 3-digit increases as well, as loyal customers sought discounts on their loved brands, despite sometimes/usually purchasing from the brand’s website
• Any brand that did not participate in an aggressive lead-up saw worse sponsored and organic performance, with higher CPC for above the fold placement
• Overall, we saw huge increase in branded conversions, driving the overall CPC down for many brands, and driving conversion rate up to 17% across our entire portfolio

EXTERNAL TRAFFIC DRIVERS PAY OFF

Vendo leverages external traffic drivers (i.e., paid search, paid social, organic social, email, SMS, influencers, and more) to further bolster reach, traffic, and sales.

Compared to pre-Prime May averages, brands that leveraged external traffic drivers saw sales increase 620% whereas brands that did not saw sales increase 278%.