Prime Day will continue to be a hot sales season for many categories, but sellers are reluctant to offer big discounts

Amazon Prime Day is about to kick off, and some are happy while others are worried. Some sellers have been waiting for a surge in orders for a long time and have made various preparations early, but some sellers are as calm as usual and are taking a wait-and-see attitude. However, more sellers still have expectations and hope to make a comeback through Prime Day.

Prime Day sellers are less willing to offer big discounts

In ten days, Amazon Prime Day will officially begin. Although sellers have different expectations for Prime Day , for buyers, Prime Day is undoubtedly a good opportunity to "spend money" and buy.

However, a recent study by foreign media shows that when Amazon's sales are declining , if it wants to seek rapid sales growth, it means that some brands will cut their discounts and promotions. But the fact is that on the big promotion day, the willingness of relevant sellers to offer larger discounts has declined.

Due to a variety of reasons, including declining profit margins, supply chain issues and inflationary pressures, many brand sellers have expressed reluctance to offer big discounts on Prime Day. According to a study released by Bobsled Marketing last week , 22 % of 60 brands sampled said they would reduce their discounts compared to last year . These sellers mainly sell groceries, cosmetics, clothing, electronics and baby products.

Due to rising food and energy prices, the consumer inflation index in the US market rose by 8.6% in May , the highest level in more than 40 years, which reduced consumers' purchasing power. The situation in the European market is roughly the same. Under this circumstance, the discount of products has a lot of impact on buyers' spending. According to a survey by Salesforce, 50% of buyers said they chose to change brands because of price issues.

In another survey by Adobe Commerce , 24% of shoppers do not plan to participate in this month's Amazon Prime Day event due to inflation . About 20% of respondents chose to postpone their purchases , mainly because they prefer to focus their spending on necessities .   Additionally, about 61% of people are looking forward to shopping during the summer vacation , with more than 76% of consumers saying their spending will be the same as last year.

However, it is not only the sellers who are affected by the supply chain and inflation. Many brands have said that they are also facing great pressure in terms of costs . In order to reduce or offset costs, such companies sometimes choose to pass the costs on to buyers . Therefore, these brands are less willing to offer larger discounts . If they offer larger discounts on Prime Day , it means that they may face greater profit losses .

Not only overseas, some domestic sellers also have similar reactions. Some sellers said that they did not participate in Prime Day this year . In addition to the company's recent poor business, it is also partly because the categories they sell are difficult to promote now. If they participate, but their sales performance does not increase but declines, it will not be worth the loss. However, there are still many sellers who clench their fists and look forward to a surge in orders.

While some sellers are reluctant to offer big discounts, some experts believe that sellers with overstocked inventory are just the opposite and may be more willing to offer big discounts. Due to the slowdown in e-commerce sales this year, many brands and sellers are currently overstocked, and offering big discounts seems to be a good way to get rid of excess inventory .

Some sellers agreed with this, saying that this year they want to focus their promotions on products that will not be sold on Amazon in the future , thereby maximizing inventory clearance. The sellers also said that they hope to receive positive feedback such as a significant increase in sales while accepting lower profit margins . Some industry insiders even said that they hope this year's promotion will not be a "clearing inventory " version of the promotion .

When discussing the extent of discounts, although sellers have different ideas, the ultimate goal is to increase sales and increase profitability. This means that while sellers are paying attention to the extent of discounts, they are also more concerned about sales trends on the platform in order to obtain greater profits.

Prime Day will continue to be a hot sales event for many categories

In terms of sales trends that sellers are concerned about, the European and American markets are still the most concerned. According to the latest survey, in the past two years, the performance of smart device products in the US market has remained outstanding. The adoption rate of Internet devices has maintained steady growth, among which the sales of smart speakers have increased by nearly 40%, and home automation products have more than doubled.

Research has found that people who own smart speakers are 35% more likely to own home automation devices than the entire market . Such data shows that smart devices are becoming more popular in more households, and the consumer group continues to expand, which also makes the market still vibrant. On multiple platforms such as Amazon, AliExpress, and eBay, smart sweeping robots, air purifiers, smart sports water cups, sweeping robots and other smart products are very popular among overseas consumers.

In addition to smart devices , clothing, accessories and home products also saw growth against the trend. Online platforms provide buyers with more choices and price discounts, thus driving sales growth in related categories.

In addition, the sales of toy products have remained relatively stable. Data shows that in the first four months of 2022 , the US toy industry's dollar sales increased by 1 %. However, unit sales fell by 6% . The average selling price was around $11.17 , an increase of 7% . In terms of faster-growing categories, outdoor and sports toys ranked first , with sales reaching $1.3 billion. The growth rate of educational exploration and other toys was 26%, and plush toys also ranked high , with a growth rate of 22%.

These categories have also been included in the list of hot-selling categories on Prime Day this year by some forecasting agencies. In addition to the regular hot-selling categories, home fitness equipment products are also considered to be one of the hot-selling products this year. Although sellers have already shipped this year, these products can be used as reference products for sellers in the future.

In terms of products, some sellers said that they are selling niche categories this year. Although they are not very popular, the sales volume is still stable. Sometimes it is okay to sell niche and unpopular products in special periods. It can be seen that sellers can also choose appropriate categories according to the actual needs of the market, and make flexible adjustments when necessary while maintaining the main categories.

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