Survey: Despite out-of-stocks, consumers increase Prime Day spend

Amazon Prime Day shopping and spending was healthy this year, even as shortages and out-of-stocks posed a problem for nearly one-third of participants.

According to a survey of over 1,100 consumers who participated in Amazon Prime Day 2021 from Blue Yonder, 32% of respondents said they experienced out-of-stock products. The product categories most frequently impacted by out-of-stock products were Amazon device accessories such as Kindle, Alexa, and Fire Stick (37%), beauty products (22%), automotive/powersports (20%), and health/personal care (20%).

However, more than three-quarters (78%) of respondents spent the same or more on Amazon Prime Day this year compared to last year, with 46% saying they spent more. In other good news for Amazon, 76% of respondents did not purchase any items with plans to return them (such as buying multiple sizes, styles, etc.). 

When they do return Amazon purchases, 51% of respondents prefer to return Amazon items through UPS; 25% prefer Kohl’s, 11% prefer Amazon Hub Lockers; and 9% prefer Amazon physical retail locations. 

Slightly over one-third (35%) of respondents participated in Walmart’s “Deals for Days” promotion (35%). Smaller percentages also participated in competing sales promotions from Target (26%), Best Buy (15%), and Ebay (8%) About three-quarters 73% of all respondents went to Amazon to look for deals first.  

The survey also reveals consumers are increasingly using Prime Day for back-to-school shopping needs. Almost four in 10 (38%) respondents said they made back-to-school purchases on Prime Day 2021, compared to 23% of respondents to a 2018 Prime Day survey who did so. Prime Day 2018 was a 36-hour event spanning July 16-17, in the middle of traditional back-to-school shopping season.