US Online Sales Increase 6% During Amazon Prime Day’s Opening 24 Hours

According to Adobe Inc., American shoppers spent $6.4 billion online during the initial 24 hours of Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day. This figure reflects a 6% increase compared to the previous year, but it did not meet expectations for more substantial growth as consumers actively searched for discounted deals.

Now being organized for the ninth time, the 48-hour event started on Tuesday and will last until Wednesday. The promotions are designed to help Amazon attract new paying customers and deepen its relationship with existing ones before the holiday season.

The research company Numerator said that the event started strongly. As of 8 a.m. New York time, the average order size was $56.64, up 7% from a year ago, Numerator said on Wednesday. Household goods and home accessories were the best-selling product groups. According to Adobe, about 6 percent of orders were made with buy now, pay later services, which is almost 20 percent more than in 2022.

Amazon shares rose 1.6 percent in New York at 9:56 a.m.

Adobe previously forecast US e-commerce sales to rise 9.5% during trading. According to Insider Intelligence, shoppers worldwide will spend an estimated $12.9 billion on Amazon during the event, up about 11% from last year.

Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers who pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other perks. According to the market research company Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, about 167 million Amazon customers in the United States had a Prime membership in March, the same as a year earlier.

This year, the company launched “invite-only” campaigns, which allow shoppers to register their interest in a deal and receive a unique link to purchase products that are still available. This aims to prevent shoppers from being disappointed when some of the best deals disappear in seconds.