Study: Amazon passes $10 billion in Prime Day sales

Amazon experienced 45% year-over-year growth in revenue for its sixth annual Prime Day sales extravaganza.

Early analysis from Digital Commerce 360 shows that in the 19 countries (including the U.S., U.K., and Canada) where Amazon held Prime Day Oct. 13-14, the e-tail giant generated $10.4 billion in sales. This represents a 45.2% increase from the estimated $7.16 billion global sales performance during the 2019 edition of Prime Day. 

As reported by Amazon, third-party Amazon Marketplace sellers sold a record of more than $3.5 billion worth of goods during Prime Day. Sales of marketplace sellers’ products grew nearly 60%, faster year-over-year than sales of Amazon’s own products.

Although Digital Commerce 360 analysis indicates Amazon’s third-party sales as a share of total Prime Day sales have declined in the last few Prime Day events (partially because Amazon heavily promotes its own products), projections for 2020 suggest third-party sales grew to approximately 35% of Amazon’s Prime Day sales, up from 32% in 2019. Digital Commerce says one reason for this growth may be that in the last few years, Amazon has recruited more recognizable brands to its marketplace.

Digital Commerce 360 also analyzed how non-Amazon e-commerce sites performed during Black Friday, including the use of some Salesforce data. The analysis indicates that 51% of the top 100 online retailers offered widespread sales on Tuesday, Oct. 13, beyond normal promotions that are run year-round.

On Tuesday, Oct. 13, non-Amazon sites in the U.S. saw a 51% increase in online traffic compared with the first day of the 48-hour event in 2019, according to data from Salesforce. Traffic was also up 17% compared with the Tuesday before Prime Day 2020. Additionally, conversion rates on non-Amazon sites were up 16% compared with Prime Day 2019 and up 13% compared with the Tuesday before Prime Day, according to Salesforce.

Online sales for non-Amazon sites grew by 69% globally and 76% in the U.S. Oct. 13, compared with the first day of Prime Day 2019, according to Salesforce.