Survey: Consumers aim to balance sales, saving money during Prime Day
Limited-time deals, social media apps and online tools are having an influence on consumers' shopping during Amazon’s four-day Prime Day event.
Three-quarters (74%) of shoppers said flash sales or limited-time deals influenced their Prime Day purchases in 2024, and 40% felt rushed or pressured to make a purchase because of them, according to a new survey from CouponFollow. Roughly a third (32%) of shoppers made an impulse buy last year on Prime Day.
Instagram (17%) and TikTok (16%) are the top social platforms influencing Prime Day shopping plans. Gen Z is the most likely to say TikTok sways their buying behaviors (33%), which is more than twice the rate of any other generation.
[READ MORE: Survey: Product reviews to influence most Prime Day purchases]
“Limited-time deals and social media have a big influence on Prime Day purchases,” said Marc Mezzacca, founder and CEO of CouponFollow. “Many shoppers say they feel pressure to act fast, and platforms like TikTok especially sway younger generations.”
A large majority (89%) of those surveyed consider themselves smart shoppers, though Gen Z was the least likely to say so (85%), indicating a slight generational gap in confidence. Half (51%) of shoppers reported using savings tools on Prime Day last year, with price comparison tools (23%), wishlist tracking (17%), promo code websites (16%), and browser extensions (14%) being the most common.
Some consumers say they are even willing to spend some money to save more in the long run. More one-in-five (22%) respondents surveyed by CouponFollow would pay for a subscription service that guarantees the best prices on deal days.
Additional insights from the survey include the following:
- Nearly seven-in-10 (69%) of Americans participated in Prime Day last year, spending an average of $198.
- Only 10% of Americans returned a Prime Day purchase last year, suggesting high purchase satisfaction and product retention.
- Electronics and tech dominate shopper satisfaction, with 51% of respondents saying they were happiest with purchases in this category.
CouponFollow surveyed 1,000 Americans on June 23, 2025, to learn about their shopping habits during the previous Prime Day and their plans for the upcoming one. All responses were self-reported.
The full report can be found here.
