Amazon Prime Day Spending Down 14% In Early Hours From 2024

Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day sales fell almost 14% in the first four hours of the event compared with the start of last year’s sale, according to Momentum Commerce, which manages 50 brands in a variety of product categories.

Prime Day stretches over four days this year, up from two in 2024, making year-over-year comparisons tricky. And shoppers could be holding off in the hopes that discounts will deepen as the sale proceeds. But the initial hours are still seen as a key indication of its performance. Momentum, which manages Amazon sales on behalf of brands like Crocs, Beats and Therabody massagers, generates about $7 billion in sales annually on Amazon, giving it a large sample to assess Prime Day.

In 2024, Prime Day sales spiked on the morning and evening of the first day and again on the evening of the second day. This year’s four-day event will spread sales over a longer period.

Amazon shares fell 1.8% at 10:59 a.m. in New York.

Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers, who pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other benefits. The event helps the company lock in shoppers before the holidays and deepen its relationship with existing customers by offering them exclusive deals on gadgets and other products. About 196 million people in the US had Prime memberships as of March, up 9% from a year earlier, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Before this year’s sale began, some sellers were planning to sit out the event in the wake of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump that have pushed up prices for many products imported from China and elsewhere. Merchants and analysts alike are watching the sale closely for clues to the strength of the US economy as well as consumer sentiment.

Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Momentum Commerce’s findings. In a previous statement, a company spokesperson said: “We’re working with our broad, varied range of valued selling partners in our store to support them in adapting to the developing environment while maintaining low prices and broad selection for customers.”

Adobe Inc. estimated online sales across all retailers will total $23.8 billion over the four-day event. EMarketer estimated $17.2 billion in US online spending during those days, with Amazon capturing 75% of it.

Apple Inc. stood out with some of the steepest discounts on electronics, including $89 for AirPods 4 wireless earbuds, less than what they cost last Black Friday, said Kristin McGrath, senior editor at the deal-hunting website The Krazy Coupon Lady. Amazon’s own products, such as Echo voice-activated speakers, were not heavily discounted, she said.

Everyday essentials like snack packs for lunch boxes is where the competition is steepest between retailers like Amazon, Walmart Inc. and Target Corp., McGrath said, highlighting consumer appetite for grocery discounts over electronics purchases.

“Stores are meeting customers with deals on essentials instead of on tech,” she said.