Attracting almost 9 out of 10 UK shoppers and recently becoming the third most valuable company in the world, Amazon has completely revolutionised the e-commerce landscape. [1] Advertising on the platform is proving to be a valuable and effective platform for brands to boost visibility and drive revenue, particularly in light of the company’s continued expansion into new markets.
Approximately 15 million people pay for Prime membership in the UK alone, a service that entitles its users to free next day delivery as well as access to Amazon’s music and video streaming services. Prime members are valuable to Amazon, a loyal customer base that convert more regularly than non-members and spend an average of 2.33 times more.[2]
Source – Statista
In 2015 Amazon held its first Prime Day, a made-up shopping holiday in mid-July where Prime members get access to exclusive deals and discounts which started to mark the website’s 20th anniversary. In 2018 sales on Prime Day overtook those on Cyber Monday and Black Friday, consolidating Amazon’s position as an e-commerce superpower. In fact, Prime Day has become so significant in driving sales revenue competitor e-commerce platforms including Ebay are now also introducing their own exclusive deals and special offers to mark the event.[3]
Prime Day presents an exciting opportunity for brands and consumers alike, with early 2019 reports suggesting that Prime members have saved over $1 billion, while small-medium businesses have driven more than $2 billion in revenue. In addition, it is clear that businesses that advertise on the platform have outperformed those that do not, with advertisers seeing growth rates increase by 50% year-on-year.[4]
Prime Day 2019 lasted 48 hours, extending from 36 hours in 2018. Although Amazon have yet to reveal the total revenue driven by the event, early reports estimate that over 175 million items were purchased in 2019, up from 100 million in 2018. In addition, an hour-by-hour sales breakdown shows that sales have not been diluted by the longer time frame.[5]
Source – Statista
For Prime Day 2019, advertisers were advised to prepare larger budgets for July and increase CPC bids by 50% for the duration of the two days. At ROAST, we saw that a 25% average increase on CPC bids drove an effective balance between efficiency and performance, and for our UK clients this led to almost 300% more clicks and 500% more revenue compared to a pre-Prime Day.
Prime Day this year had deals available in 18 countries, offering brands the potential to reach over 100 million Prime members globally.[6] At ROAST we noticed in mainland Europe, all markets we advertise in saw search interest spike over Prime Day, with countries that had special promotions dramatically outperforming those that did not. Amazon is already a key player in many countries worldwide and its marketing platform is now proving to be a valuable and efficient tool for brands looking to branch out into new markets.
Amazon’s Prime Day continues to break records, attracting more valuable customers each year and providing brands with an unmissable opportunity to drive record-breaking sales. As their advertising platform continues to develop an Amazon Marketing strategy is quickly becoming a must-have for e-commerce brands.
Find out more about ROAST’s Amazon Marketing offering
Sources
[1] https://www.retail-week.com/technology/data-amazon-prime-membership-hits-15-million-in-uk/7031309.article?authent=1
[2] https://www.investopedia.com/how-amazon-usd5-billion-in-prime-day-sales-could-fire-up-slowing-growth-4692878
[3] https://fortune.com/2019/07/13/amazon-prime-day-2019-numbers-sales/
[4] https://www.channeladvisor.com/blog/industry-trends/amazon-prime-day-2019-record-growth-for-amazon-strong-growth-for-e-commerce/
[5] https://www.channeladvisor.com/blog/industry-trends/amazon-prime-day-2019-record-growth-for-amazon-strong-growth-for-e-commerce/
[6] https://www.channeladvisor.com/blog/industry-trends/amazon-prime-day-2019-record-growth-for-amazon-strong-growth-for-e-commerce/
