Adobe: Prime Day will pass Cyber Monday sales record

The 2021 version of Amazon Prime Day is expected to top $10.9 billion in total sales.

According to data from the Adobe Digital Experience Index (DEI), total U.S. online spend for Prime Day (June 21-22) promises to surpass Cyber Monday 2020, when U.S. e-commerce hit $10.9 billion to become the biggest shopping day of all time in the U.S. This will also exceed the $10.4 billion in estimated U.S. sales during the October 2020 edition of Prime Day.

According to Adobe DEI, Among the signs of strong momentum coming into this year’s Prime Day are the two-year growth rates for online spending. Online spending slipped 11% to $73.5 billion in May from a year earlier, when lockdowns on many brick-and-mortar stores had driven a surge in e-commerce, but the two-year trend showed a healthy 58% gain.

More than half (58%) of respondents to an Adobe survey of 1,000 U.S. adults plan to shop online during Prime Day. In addition, one-third of respondents plan to spend some of their stimulus check payments on deals offered by retailers during Prime Day. Close to half (47%) of respondents expect other retailers to offer online deals because of the shopping event, and 46% say they save money by shopping on Prime Day.

Adobe DEI also offered a number of interesting data points from Prime Day 2020 that may give an indication of trends to watch for in 2021:

• Toys saw the biggest price cuts at 8%, while electronics were marked down by an average of 7%.
• Books were the hottest category with sales that more than doubled with an 112% gain, ahead of electronics at 77% and appliances at 52%. The slowest-growing categories were apparel at 11% and housekeeping supplies at 17%.
• Retailers that offered a buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) option saw a lift in conversion that was twice the size of retailers lacking the service.
• Measuring Prime Day 2020 sales growth by state, South Dakota had the biggest lift with a 230% boost in online spending, followed by Connecticut (210%). On the other side, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi saw the lowest lift in online spending at 154%, 153% and 149%, respectively.

The Adobe Digital Economy Index is based on analysis through Adobe Analytics that covers over one trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and over 100 million SKUs in 18 product categories. Companion survey findings are based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers (18 years or older) fielded between June 2 and June 6, 2021.