Amazon’s Prime Day Drove $6.4 Billion in Sales on Tuesday, Alone

Consumers across the U.S. spent a whopping $6.4 billion during the first of Amazon’s two-day Prime Day event on Tuesday, making it the biggest online shopping day of the year so far, according to data from cloud-based software firm Adobe Analytics. 

Amazon’s 9th annual Prime Day, known for its exclusive sales to Prime members, logged 5.96% more in sales from the first day last year, Adobe said.

The event drove online sales of appliances up by 37%, compared to average daily sales in June. Sales of toys for the day were 27% higher than average daily sales last month, according to Adobe, which tracks over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites. Apparel and electronics contributed to the rise in sales too, up 26% and 12% from last month's average, respectively.

“The record spending so far shows us that consumers are tapping into their inner bargain hunters, stocking up on specific categories such as electronics and apparel while the discounts remain steep,” said Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst at Adobe.

Consumers also appear to be embracing more flexible payment options like Buy Now Pay Later, which accounted for 6.4% of online orders on July 11, generating $461 million in revenue. 

That’s a massive 19.5% increase when compared to the first day of Prime Day last year on July 12, 2022, Adobe found. People used the delayed payment option mainly to purchase apparel, furniture, home and electronic items. 

The way consumers shopped also varied. Adobe’s data tool found that curbside pickup was used in 20% of online orders, up from 18% the year before. Mobile shopping drove 43.7% of online orders this year, a slight increase from the 42.7% of orders made via a smartphone the year prior. 

Adobe's Pandya said Prime Day has become one of the biggest e-commerce moments of the year as discounts offered by various retailers attract large swaths of consumers across the country.