Lucrative discounts during Amazon Prime’s Big Deals Day tempted Australian consumers to bag an early Christmas bargain, leading to online sales growing 9% year-on-year, according to new data released by Salesforce today.
The data, based on the shopping activity of 1.5 billion consumers globally across non-Amazon brands and retailers, showed that Australian retailers took advantage of the Prime Day halo effect and came to the table with big promotions, offering discount rates that were 19% higher on average than last year’s October Event.
Australian shoppers responded to the deals, leading to a surge in online sales this year locally, which is in stark contrast to the global average (0% YoY). Traffic growth (+5% YoY) and order growth (+2% You) also improved on last year’s event.
This latest Australian data continues the momentum of shoppers from the Prime Day sales event in July, which saw local consumers go against global trends to record double-digit sales growth.
Christmas has came early for shoppers in Australia.
Caila Schwartz, Director of Strategy and Consumer Insights, Salesforce
Now in its third year, the Prime Big Deal Days are Amazon’s feature deal event in October exclusively for Prime members, with a focus on deals ahead of the annual holiday season. According to global trends in the latest data, European and Canadian shoppers accounted for positive rises in both traffic and orders, while the US saw a small decrease in each. Electronics, General Apparel, and Health & Beauty were the top-performing verticals for sales growth globally, with General Apparel having the highest average discount globally in its category (27%)
The behavior of shoppers during this pre-holiday period suggests that retailers are trying to get ahead of a shorter Holiday season, as predicted in the recent Salesforce Holiday Forecast for 2024. With 47% of shoppers stating they were planning to buy the same amount as last year, and a further 40% buying less, retailers are having to use data to create effective discount strategies that motivate shoppers and secure their share of spend.
“Christmas came early for shoppers in Australia this year. Interest in Prime Day continues to build and retailers have gone much bigger with discounts this year as they look to take advantage of the halo effect and secure sales early and limit the impact of a shorter shopping season,” said Caila Schwartz, Director of Strategy and Consumer Insights at Salesforce.
“This (holiday shopping) season will be competitive, intense, and no doubt focused on pricing and discounting strategies. It’s never been more important to leverage technology like AI and rely on your customer data for guidance and insight into marketing campaigns – especially the holiday promotional calendar – that keep your loyal customers buying more and buying from you,” added Schwartz.
More information:
- Catch up on the latest consumer insights from the 2024 Holiday Forecast
- Review the quarterly Salesforce Shopping Index
- Read more insights from Caila Schwartz on the purchase intentions of shoppers this holiday season
