🔆 The Prime Day halo effect 🔆 [MDSR #27]

Inventory management was the biggest pre-Prime Day priority among MDSR readers this month — and in light of record-breaking sales numbers, something tells us it paid off.

More to unpack on that front, along with the fresh eCom intel and million dollar advice you need to keep the momentum going. Let’s get into it.

Hot Off The Presses 📰

Amazon sellers may have aired their grievances about the cost of selling on the platform ahead of Prime Day — but with Amazon continuously setting a new high watermark for sales from the shopping event, the truth is that they can’t afford not to.

Last year’s top products were electronics and cosmetics, but this year it was household essentials like trash bags — and snail serum — that rose to the top of the Prime Day product leaderboard (no thanks to Rufus, the unhelpful AI shopping assistant) while sellers navigated unforeseen hurdles in the background before, during, and after the shopping event:

• Just before Prime Day, some sellers were penalized with the loss of the coveted Buy Box when Amazon’s pricing algorithms found their items were being sold for less on Target’s marketplace during their competing Circle Week event. 

• Then in the midst of Prime Day madness, Amazon’s self-service ad portal crashed rendering the system unusable for sellers during a highly competitive advertising period. 

• And finally, there was the Crowdstrike outage just 24 hours after the close of Prime Day, disrupting shipping giants, delaying Amazon deliveries — and jeopardizing customer satisfaction — at a time when more shoppers than ever are expecting packages.  

In spite of the chaos behind the scenes, July 2024’s Prime Day will go down in history as a success. Evergreen discounts like Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program may be losing their appeal, but this year fleeting Prime Day deals lured in back-to-school shoppers looking to avoid big-ticket purchases — and not just at Amazon — proving that the Prime Day effect is real with a halo of sales across the whole eCommerce landscape. 

It’s safe to say that as one of the largest merchants on the planet, Amazon’s decisions — whether to hold a sales event, expand their ad offerings for external sellers, swallow the AI industry, or crack down on fake reviews — affect not just the entire eCom industry, but those that support it. And invite FTC scrutiny upon themselves and others, for that matter. 

More to say than usual re: Amazon this week, but allow us to close with a pivot that will allow advertisers to heave a sigh of relief: 

Just like that, Google is ditching their plan to deprecate third-party cookies. You’re welcome.

Million Dollar Advice 💸 

We can all agree that ambitious eCom sellers are constantly learning new tactics — and adding more tasks to their plate. 

It’s easy to assume that doing more is always better, but when it comes to turning a product into a bestseller? Ezra Firestone will be the first to tell you that it’s best to go deep, not wide, and focus on just one.

Prime Day by the numbers  💸

By now we’ve established that July’s Prime Day sales event broke some pretty lofty records for the eCom giant — but to look at the actual numbers is impressive, if not staggering.

The event reached $14.2 billion in sales (11% higher than last year’s $12.7 billion total) with sales from third-party sellers outpacing Amazon’s retail business.

For a closer look at exactly what was selling and who was buying before an official report comes out in August, don’t miss the early read data from Numerator’s live tracker for the 48-hour sale event.

The stats that stood out to us are below —

• The average order size for Prime Day 2024 was $57.97 — but 60% of households placed 2+ separate orders over the course of the event, bringing the average household spend to $152.33

• 63% of Prime Day items sold for under $20, while 4% sold for over $100

• More than 50% of shoppers purchased something they’d been waiting to buy until it went on sale

• About two-thirds of shoppers were highly satisfied with this year’s Prime Day deals

   

• 54% of shoppers compared prices at other retailers before ordering — and 35% shopped at competing sale events from Target and/or Walmart

Think this is helpful?

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Calling all San Diego-based eCom sellers 📣

Looking to connect with like-minded eCom sellers and expand your network?

Join us at our next San Diego Ecom Lunch, a free event hosted by MDS. 

📅 Date: August 20

⏰ Time: 12 - 3 PM PDT

📍 Location: Harland Brewing - One Paseo

🎫 Admission: Free

Experience a vibrant and collaborative meetup for local eCom entrepreneurs. Network, exchange ideas and tools, and support each other’s businesses in your very own city.

This event welcomes anyone building and scaling their e-commerce brand on any marketplace — no MDS membership is required!

Register below ⤵️

Can’t make this one? It’s never too early to secure your early bird ticket for MDS Inspire 2025… 

Did you see that post 📲

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How it’s going…

Until Next Time ✌️

As always, thanks for sticking with us until the end. 

If you’d care to share your thoughts on this newsletter, we’re all ears. Just hit reply to sound off. 

See you next time with more of the latest and greatest content you need to succeed this year 🔥

Sincerely, 

Looking for a mastermind community?

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If you are looking for a business professional community made for ecom entrepreneurs, then consider applying today. 

*To qualify, you must be a full-time seller or brand owner and do at least 1 million in verified annual revenue.