But usage of the payment option remained quite limited compared with the share of buyers who use BNPL at any point during the year

Amazon misses sales expectations as shoppers trade down to cheaper products: The retailer is trying to win over price-conscious customers with more sales events and a soon-to-be-launched budget marketplace.

Walmart+ Week member participation rose thanks to popularity with wealthy shoppers: While Amazon’s Prime Day sale attracted twice as many participants, its lead is narrowing.

“Amazon is in such a unique position to give us an idea of broader consumer sentiment because of their scale and reach,” our analyst Sarah Marzano said on an episode of the “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast. This year, nearly three-quarters (72.7%) of all US households will be Prime members, according to our July 2024 forecast. “If we examine the behaviors that emerge from Prime Day, we get a good sense of how consumers are feeling.”

Are millennials pulling away from Amazon? While they were the one demographic group whose Prime Day spending dropped year over year, they continued to spend on other retailers’ sites.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss this years Prime Day. Was Amazon's ad platform breaking on the day a big deal, how other retailers event day behavior is changing, and how the shopping holiday is impacting the back-to-school season. Listen to the conversation with our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sarah Marzano and Zak Stambor.

Amazon’s ad portal crashes during Prime Day: Though sales are unlikely to be impacted, the outage highlighted tensions between Amazon and sellers.

Amazon’s pricing and returns policies draw complaints from sellers: Merchants flag lost revenues, higher fees, and inadequate seller support as reasons for their discontent.

TikTok Shop joins Amazon in holding a July sale: The marketplace hopes exclusive discounts on brands like L’Oréal and live-shopping events will boost GMV.

Amazon and Walmart follow a similar playbook: The retailers use exclusive access to events like Prime Day and Walmart+ Early Access to showcase the value of their membership programs.

Andy Jassy maps out a plan to boost Amazon’s bottom line: The CEO sees opportunities to further streamline Amazon’s fulfillment operations and boost advertising revenues.

The cost of advertising on Amazon spiked in 2023: Our industry KPIs show that while CPCs are rising, healthy consumer demand is stabilizing return on ad spend.

Shoppers made a record number of Amazon purchases this holiday season: Strong consumer spending coupled with momentum in its ad business helped propel Amazon’s earnings well past expectations.

On today's special podcast episode, we continue our monthly show where we discuss the biggest trends of the moment and the newest research, sprinkle in some analysis, and bundle it up into a quiz. Every month, three of our analysts representing their respective coverage area teams compete against each other. (We also encourage you to play along at home.) We keep a running score and will crown a winning team at the end of the year. Today, we cover how Amazon's second Prime Day got on, how Americans feel about AI rules, and all the ways Netflix is trying to make money. Tune in to the discussion with this month's contestants: our analysts Sky Canaves, Daniel Konstantinovic, and Yory Wurmser.

On today's podcast episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss how Amazon's second Prime Day performed and whether it's really a holiday sale. Then for "Red-Hot Retail," our analysts give us some spicy predictions about the 2023 holiday season. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman and analyst Zak Stambor.

Prime Big Deal Days exceeded Amazon’s expectations: While shoppers focused on cheaper essentials, the retailer showcased its supply chain capabilities.

Amazon’s cost-cutting initiatives are beginning to pay off: The company’s North America business returned to profitability in Q2, buoyed by advertising and improvements in fulfillment.

From improving in-store inclusivity to taking advantage of Bed Bath & Beyond’s closure, here are three examples of how back-to-school’s biggest players are delivering value through discounts and enhanced shopping experiences.

Walmart is reaping the benefits of Walmart+: And it has clear opportunities to unlock even greater growth.

Prime Day advertising had a higher ROI than last year: Amazon worked out kinks from 2022’s event that will help it secure relationships with sellers.