Study: Prime Day 2017 on pace to be biggest yet

Amazon is giving new meaning to the phrase "Christmas in July."



The online giant's third annual Prime Day event may not surpass Black Friday sales, but it is poised to be the largest Prime Day to date, according to a survey Market Track LLC, a provider of subscription-based advertising, brand and pricing intelligence solutions. Fifty-eight percent of consumers plan to shop Prime Day sales, up from 34% last year. The growth comes, in part, because of Amazon's increased participation in its Prime program and momentum from the publicity surrounding previous Prime Day discounts.



One reason that Prime Day may not exceed Black Friday sales volume could be that prices for key shopping categories were consistently lower for holiday shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday than on Prime Day. Across the categories and listings reviewed in the study, 74% were priced lower on Black Friday than Prime Day, and 72% were priced lower on Cyber Monday. The only category that was priced lower, on average, on Prime Day was television sets.



The study noted that the success of the first Prime Day event in 2016 has caused other merchants to increase their advertising around summer deals to remain competitive with Amazon.



"But putting in place a strategy to draw consumer attention away from Amazon during the event will require visibility into not only the online space but also in-store pricing and discounts,” said Ryne Misso, director of marketing at Market Track. “Adding another layer of complexity is the acquisition of Whole Foods. It will be interesting to see if the acquisition and, more broadly, grocery categories play a role in Prime Day this year.”



Amazon continues to grow its influence in the e-commerce space. The study showed 89% of consumers regularly shop on Amazon, with 43% of consumers stating they shop on the site at least once a week. Whether shopping for Prime Day deals or just getting their weekly fix, 81% of survey respondents mentioned they check Amazon’s reviews and ratings before making that final purchase.