The current situation:
Now in its 9th year, Prime Day sales could top $8 billion. But there’s a lot riding on Prime Day's success given the company's challenges this year. In January, Amazon started eliminating 18,000 jobs among its corporate workforce, instituted a hiring freeze and paused warehouse expansion. In February, the company reported its slowest year of growth ever and its first-quarter revenue projections were lower than expected. And last month the U.S. FTC sued Amazon, alleging that the company has tricked people into buying Prime memberships that were purposefully hard to cancel.
What consumers are saying:
According to this week’s Consumer Pulse, 82% of respondents say they have an Amazon Prime membership. Our Consumer Pulse report looks at consumers’ relationship with Amazon Prime as well as their expected spending during the two-day event:
- 34% say they are aware of the lawsuit.
- 19% believe they were tricked into joining Prime.
- 74% are likely or very likely to shop Prime Day deals.
The Outlook:
While there is potential for good economic news this week – the Labor Department is expected to report that overall inflation fell to about 3% in June, the lowest level in two years – Prime Day deals come at a time when Americans are still focused on the toll that rising prices has taken. Prime Day comes at a good time for Amazon and could offset some of the negative headwinds that the company has faced so far this year.
Do you want to take the Pulse of your customers? Our Insights team will partner with you to design a study that will help you better understand your customers and their problems, and how your brand can win at retail.
To get additional insight into what this means for brands and retailers, read the entire study.
