Amazon has a reason to smile this week. Last week’s Prime Day 2023 was the company’s most successful members-only shopping event to date. In fact, the first day – July 11 – was the company’s largest sales day ever. Amazon Prime members bought more than 375 million items globally, saving members more than $2.5 billion on millions of Prime Day deals. In addition to the savings, Prime members got exclusive access to the lowest prices on Amazon for brands including Bose, Hey Dude and Theragun.
“The first day of Prime Day was the largest sales day in Amazon’s history, and Prime members saved more this year than any other Prime Day event,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon Stores, in a July 13, 2023 blog post.
“Prime is an incredible value, and we’re proud to offer additional value for members through exclusive deals events like Prime Day. Thank you to our Prime members for continuing to shop in our store, and to our employees and independent sellers around the world who delivered for customers this Prime Day,” Herrington added.
The company released this behind-the-scenes video to celebrate Prime Day 2023 with some of Amazon employees who helped make it possible:
Company CEO Andy Jassy shared his own thank you message on Twitter.
Home, fashion and beauty were among the top-selling categories, and the Fire TV stick, LANEIGE lip glowy balm, Apple Airpods, and Bissell Little Green portable deep clear were among some of the top-selling deals. Prime Day was available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the US and the UK. Amazon Prime members in India will have their own Prime Day later this summer.
Amazon has more than 200 million paid Prime members in 25 countries. In the US, an Amazon Prime membership is available for $139 a year or $14.99 a month, after a free 30-day trial. Student pricing is $69 a year or $7.49 a month, and recipients of qualifying government assistance programs can get Prime for $6.99 a month.
Streaming deals
In addition to deals, Prime members were also given members-only access to streaming entertainment discounts during Prime Day:
- Members received discounts on movie rentals and special pricing on subscription streaming channels. Some were priced at $0.99 a month for up to two months, and new subscribers could get 50% off AMC+ and Paramount+.
- Amazon also offered an Amazon Music Unlimited and MGM+ bundle for $0.99 a month for three months.
Amazon isn’t the only company that benefitted from the two-day shopping event. Third-party sellers who use the Amazon marketplace also benefitted. Three small business brands – Caraway, True Classic and TUSHY – increased average daily sales in their Amazon store by more than 18 times the first day, compared to the days leading up to the big event.
Insider Take
While an Amazon Prime membership is spendy, it provides a lot of value to its members, including faster shipping, Prime Video, cloud photo storage, exclusive Prime Day and holiday shopping deals and other perks. Prime Day is a great way for prospective members to try it out to see if it is worth the investment. Members get great deals and fast shipping, while Amazon gets reliable recurring revenue. Prime Day and similar members-only events and perks make Amazon “sticky,” making it a “must have” subscription for many households.
