Executive Summary

Amazon Prime Day has emerged as a massive midsummer shopping event that drives incremental spending at Amazon and competing retailers. It also serves as the unofficial lead-in to the back-to-school shopping season.

How much will Amazon Prime Day 2019 generate in ecommerce sales?

Prime Day 2018 generated an estimated $4.19 billion in worldwide sales for Amazon, with $2.65 billion coming from the US and another $1.54 billion internationally. With this year’s event extended from 36 to 48 hours on July 15 and 16, global sales should surpass $5 billion—with the potential to exceed that number significantly should participation increase in line with shoppers’ expectations.

What are the key drivers of Amazon Prime membership?

Fast and free shipping continue to be top reasons for subscribing to Prime, but Prime Video and other free entertainment options are increasingly important drivers—particularly in markets outside the US.

Which products will be Amazon Prime Day’s best-sellers?

Prime Day’s top-sellers are expected to come from Amazon’s consumer electronics flagships Echo and Fire TV. Top-sellers outside of the Amazon product portfolio could be the Instant Pot multicooker and iRobot Roomba.

What should third-party marketplace sellers do to make the most of Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon sellers that want to drive a high volume of product sales on Prime Day should determine their most important product listings, refresh their descriptions, buy advertising before Prime Day to promote their ranking, and consider promotions like Lightning Deals.

Which other retailers are having promotions around Amazon Prime Day?

Retailers have gotten increasingly competitive with Amazon around Prime Day to take advantage of shoppers who are ready to buy during midsummer. Walmart, Target and eBay are all hosting competing promotions hoping not to concede more ground to Amazon while positioning their brands for success during back-to-school season.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report analyzes the results of Prime Day 2018 and takes a look ahead at what to expect for Prime Day 2019.

KEY STAT: We forecast that Prime membership will grow 8.6% to 121.2 million US users in 2019 and reach 135.8 million users by 2021.