Amazon's Prime Day event is in full swing, bringing substantial sales for the platform itself and injecting a strong boost into the overall U.S. e-commerce market. According to Adobe Analytics, U.S. e-commerce sales during Prime Day reached $24.1 billion, an increase of 30.3% compared to last year. This figure is equivalent to the total of two Black Friday shopping events, demonstrating consumers' enthusiasm for shopping.
More notably, the use of generative AI (GenAI) products has also seen explosive growth compared to the past. Adobe's data shows that AI traffic this year increased by 3300% year-over-year, far exceeding the company's initial expectations. More and more consumers are beginning to use AI chat services and browsers as assistants for online shopping, although this traffic is still lower than traditional channels such as email and paid search.
The Prime Day event ran from July 8 to July 11. Although Amazon did not disclose specific sales data, the company stated that this year's event set a new record, with both sales revenue and the number of items sold surpassing previous years. This year's Prime Day was extended to four days for the first time, making comparisons with previous years more complicated.
Third-party analysis firm Momentum Commerce pointed out that sales in the first two days of Prime Day decreased by 35% compared to the same period last year, but sales on the third day surged by 165% as the event progressed, indicating that consumers may have been waiting for deeper discounts. Adobe also mentioned that the popular categories for e-commerce sales this year included appliances (up 112%), office supplies (up 105%), electronics (up 95%), books (up 81%), as well as home tools and baby products, with all categories showing strong growth momentum.
In addition, the influence of social media should not be overlooked. According to the data, social media influencers contributed 19.9% to online retail sales in the U.S. during this event, an increase of 15% year-over-year. Their purchase conversion rate is ten times that of regular social media, further highlighting their important role in guiding consumer decisions.
Amazon Prime Day is not only a festival for shoppers but also an important battle among major e-commerce platforms, and the rise of generative AI has added new vitality to it.
