The autumn promotion report is out, and some sellers have increased their revenue fivefold!

From October 10 to 11, Amazon Prime membership promotion was held in multiple sites including the United States and the United Kingdom. Yesterday was the first day of the promotion. Some sellers said frankly that after experiencing the dismal performance last year, their favorable impression and expectations for this year's autumn membership promotion were zero.

However, judging from the current sales feedback, there are many sellers who are happy to receive a surge in orders. The orders of a few sellers have doubled, even exceeding the July Prime Day promotion; some sellers have seen an increase of about 2 times in orders, with average performance; while many sellers said that they were just running along and did not feel the joy of the promotion.

For sellers with poor orders, they can also observe the performance on the second day of the promotion. A survey shows that among American consumers who participated in the July Member Day promotion, nearly 80% will also shop in this autumn promotion, and 27% plan to spend more than $241 in the promotion. After the first day of warm-up, will the autumn promotion usher in a reversal on the second day like the PD promotion?

The autumn promotion has begun, and some sellers have increased their sales by 5 times

Last year, Amazon's autumn promotion was mediocre, so most sellers were conservative this year and did not have high hopes. However, from actual feedback, some sellers were happy while others were sad, and Amazon's system failed to surprise and crashed again; in addition to the number of orders, the huge discounts offered by peers during this promotion also shocked sellers.

1. Big promotion report

The sellers who received a huge order were overjoyed:

"That's great. I think tripling it is no problem. I'm going to try to quintuple it!"

"It's a big hit. The best-selling items have increased fivefold, and the items to clear out the inventory are not selling at all. Forget it. Go to the company and continue to increase the discount."

"It's exciting to have several orders a minute, but the bad news is there's not much stock left."

"Located in Europe, the first day's performance was good, I think today will be even better."

"This year's autumn promotion is great. I woke up early and checked my performance. I'm so happy."

These sellers said that the traffic of this promotion was good, and some people said that the orders of the promotion were more than those in July, which was a great fortune. "Based on the current trend of the promotion, it is estimated that it will be three times as much, and it even feels more intense than the summer promotion." A seller said. A seller posted that he received 200 orders in half an hour, and the number of orders in one day has exceeded 2,000 recently.

There are also sellers who did not participate in the event, but due to the large platform traffic, they also got a small surge in orders. However, from the overall situation, sellers with a surge in orders are rare, and most sellers have average or slightly increased orders, which cannot be compared with the hot promotion in July:

" An hour later, I had pressed F5 until it was worn out, and finally I got a deal. "

“So far, the daily order volume has only doubled.”

"It's so different from July, not even half of it."

“I didn’t notice any change in the number of orders during the first promotion.”

Amazon attached great importance to this promotion. Although the sellers were reserved, they also paid considerable attention to it. Therefore, faced with an increase of only about two times, the sellers participating in the promotion could hardly hide their disappointment. To them, this promotion was obviously another upset.

What is even more frustrating is that the orders did not explode, but the ads did. Many sellers said that the ACoS soared all the way, once reaching 120 % or even higher. Although the ads were popular, the advertising sales were much less than usual, which shows that the large membership coupons still have a more obvious effect on the click-through rate and conversion rate of the ads.

The promotion logo was also complained about. Some sellers found out after the event started that the flash sale logo was exactly the same as the Prime logo, and the US site had a one-day flash sale of $500 and a two-day flash sale of $1,000. Some sellers who had applied for the flash sale were speechless and had no choice but to cancel it immediately.

2. The Amazon page is down

Looking at the orders in the background, it is difficult for sellers to say that this promotion has a large amount of traffic, but the website was crowded soon after the promotion started on the US site, which makes it difficult to comment.

The first to crash was the Amazon coupon settings page, which said that "the page encountered a sudden abnormally large amount of traffic." This made sellers who were eager to adjust promotions or coupons very anxious, and everyone complained:

-"It's been an hour since Fall Prime Day started. I wanted to turn off the coupon I set up before. The product has member-exclusive discounts, so if I don't turn off the coupon, it will be in vain. However, the coupon page can't be opened. I'm speechless."
- "The coupon ratio here is large, and I have been unable to cancel it. I have made many transactions at super low prices."

- "I closed the coupon at 1 o'clock, but it's still not closed at 4:30."

-"Some are turned off, but some are still showing up on the front page. I really admire Amazon for being such a fool."

In this regard, some sellers suggested that you can try to raise the price first, make the member-exclusive discount price lower than the minimum price, let the exclusive discount expire, and then close the coupon.

The coupon page is not the only problem. There are also anomalies in the flash sales. Sellers asked: "Is the server crashed? Why are some products not showing up in the flash sales, while the same variant products are showing up?"

These emergencies also serve as a reminder to sellers that during big sales, the backend coupons, flash sales, member discounts and other pages can easily be squeezed and crashed. It is best to make relevant promotion settings in advance to avoid temporary adjustments that may lead to discount duplication or even 0 yuan purchases.

3. Huge discounts

In this promotion, whether or not orders will explode depends on individual needs. However, many sellers participating in the promotion have shown sufficient sincerity, and discounts are already in place. Whether or not orders will explode depends on whether they can win the favor of buyers.

Therefore, after the big sale started, sellers were shocked when they saw the discounts offered by their peers. A product with a strike-through price of $64.99 was discounted by 69% to only $19, and sellers commented that it was "a desperate rush"; there were also products with a 40% discount, which made sellers gasp: "I'm already very painful with a 30% discount, are they going to crush their peers or are they preparing to pack up and clear out their stock?" " With these prices and discounts, can they compare with Double 11?"

The sellers lamented that after seeing the prices of their competitors, they finally decided to be runners-up. After all, the peak season has just begun, and if they are so competitive now, they may have to do charity work throughout the peak season.

This scene is no less impressive than the Member Day in July. When the European promotion started, sellers found a large number of "philanthropists". All the results were 20% discounts. The search interface was full of red. It was crazy. One of the products, which was originally priced at $229, not only provided a 48% member-only discount, but also a $99 coupon, which means it could be bought for as little as $20. The overall discount was over 90%, which once became a legend in the industry.

Will the number of orders increase on the second day of a big sale? These 5 types of products are prone to explosive sales

In fact, from the National Day holiday to the start of this big sale, some sellers have experienced a period of declining sales. This "holding orders" situation has made sellers secretly hold some hope for this autumn sale.

Sellers said, "After opening the deal for 7 days, sales are still worse than when the deal is not open on weekdays." "The number of orders during the holidays is 10%-20% less than usual, and it's the same after the holidays." In serious cases, sales are cut in half compared to usual times. Not only has the number of orders dropped significantly, but the conversion rate has also dropped. Sellers all speculate that it is because the Member Day promotion is coming.

One seller analyzed: "In the past few days, the ads have had more than 1,000 single links and more than 100% AOCs every day, but I dare not stop. The brand analyzed the keywords and found that the add-to-cart rate has increased, but the keyword position has not dropped, which means that no one has converted. I hope to have a big promotion with a big order." Another seller is in a similar situation: "There are only clicks but no conversions. I have a product that has no orders in the past two days, but the ad position and natural position are normal, and the traffic is also normal, but no one buys."

Seeing CPC rising sharply and orders dropping drastically, the only option was to take drastic measures and use different advertising methods to stabilize orders and rankings. This strategy continued during the big promotion. Sellers believed that it was not necessary to increase the number of orders by several times, as long as the ranking could be stabilized. During this period, advertising must be fully utilized, otherwise after the big promotion, if the ranking dropped, it would be difficult to recover.

However, judging from the current promotion progress, most sellers have not been able to get a big order. Some sellers are pinning their hopes on the second promotion day, because many consumers are not aware of the promotion at first, and there may be a surprise in the second day of the promotion. This was the case with the PD promotion in July this year, especially on the US site. In the end, the sellers' orders generally increased by 5 times or more, far exceeding expectations.

Another piece of data can also give sellers some confidence. Before the start of this big promotion, the shopping platform Slickdeals conducted a survey and the results predicted that the sales of the event were relatively optimistic.

79% of Americans who shopped on Prime Day said they planned to shop on Amazon Prime Day , while another 18% said they would be willing to participate if they saw a good flash sale . Only 3% said they did not plan to participate in the promotion. In addition, Amazon's autumn promotion only started last year, and 6% of respondents did not know about the October promotion.

Which categories are prone to explosive sales? The survey shows that the top five categories of goods that consumers plan to buy are clothing, shoes and other apparel ( 70%), holiday gifts (65%), electronic products (63%), furniture, household products and home decoration (46%), and household necessities such as toilet paper (43%). In addition, gift cards and children's or baby products are also in high demand.

In terms of spending amount, 29% of people expect to spend US$91 to US$180 during this year's Prime Day , 18% expect to spend US$181 to US$240, and 27% expect to spend more than US$241 .

In terms of gift giving, 69% of respondents plan to buy holiday gifts during this promotion, and 24% will consider buying gifts when they find a promotion they like. Only 6% think it is too early to start shopping for holiday gifts in October.

Amazon's second Prime Day once again boosted the retail industry, with a Criteo survey showing that up to 80% of consumers in the United States and Europe will look for deals on October 10 and 11. Although Amazon is trying to create a new exclusive moment before Black Friday, other retailers are quickly eyeing this new shopping festival, turning Amazon's private dinner into a collective feast.

Walmart 's " Deals Holiday Kickoff " event starts at 7 p.m. EST on October 9 and lasts until October 12. This promotion is not exclusive to Walmart Plus members, all shoppers can enjoy the discount , and there are significant discounts on electronics , clothing and other gift items .

Best Buy is holding a 48-hour flash sale on October 10-11. They plan to offer hundreds of deals on TVs, laptops, headphones, and smartwatches. Electric transportation vehicles, such as scooters and electric bikes, will also be part of the promotion .

Etsy also announced a flash sale event during the same period , offering consumers greater discounts and helping sellers grab holiday season traffic in advance. The promotion will last from October 9 to October 11. During the event, consumers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany can get a $10 discount on every order of $40 or more placed through Etsy .

Consumers will naturally not give up shopping around. The survey of 4,862 shoppers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany found that 58% of respondents will compare Amazon's offers with other retailers to find the best price .

Price isn’t the only concern, though. Many consumers said they buy from other retailers because they can find better quality alternatives ( 33%) or simply a better selection of brands (21%), while others do so for faster delivery options (32%).

Nicole Kivel, General Manager for Northern Europe at Criteo, commented: “ Prime Day is no longer an exclusive, once-a-year event. As inflationary pressures increase, consumers are seeking higher quality and more meaningful savings, and they are increasingly finding this outside of Amazon. ”

Are autumn sales not enough? Consumers are waiting for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday

In addition to the limited popularity of the event, another important reason for the lackluster performance of the autumn sales is that people are used to concentrating their shopping on Black Friday. As Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are approaching , 57 % of those who participated in the Slickdeals survey felt that Cyber ​​Week might have better discounts than Prime Day , so they still postponed their purchases.

Indeed, Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are considered the best of all promotional days, and even retailers that don’t normally offer discounts, such as some beauty brands and even Apple, offer discounts that are not available at other times of the year. Some sellers have a similar mentality, believing that the autumn promotion is about participation, and that sales should not be too optimistic. They should still focus on pursuing profits, while maintaining their rankings and concentrating on preparing for the Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday event.

According to Adobe Analytics, last year on Black Friday, US consumers spent $9.12 billion on online shopping, which was higher than the transaction data of the past two years. It set a new record against the backdrop of continued inflation, which was surprising. This year, major e-commerce platforms have also announced the promotion time and operation rhythm of Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

Amazon

The activity time for some sites on Black Friday is: November 17th to November 27th for the US and Canadian sites , November 17th to November 27th for 9 European sites including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and November 24th to December 1st for the Japanese site.

For the first time, Amazon extended the Black Friday Online Shopping Promotion to more than 10 days, intending to run through the entire Black Friday Online Shopping Period and capture a large amount of shopping demand. It is not difficult to understand how much importance the platform attaches to this. Although the early stage of Black Friday last year was a cold one, the sales volume rose rapidly in the later stage, and the sellers finally returned with full loads.

In addition to product selection and stocking, promotion activity submission and other tasks, sellers must also pay attention to completing the warehousing before the FBA warehousing deadline of each site. The Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday warehousing deadline for the US site is October 26, the Canadian site is November 2, the European site is October 27, and the Japanese site is November 20. As sellers concentrate on stocking before the big promotion, the warehouse receives and puts the goods on the shelves slower, and the goods that are entered after the deadline can still be stored, but they may not be able to participate in the flash sales and other activities in time.

However, Black Friday may also be hit by a strike this year. The GMB union said on Tuesday that more than 1,000 workers at Amazon's UK warehouses will go on strike for four days next month, including the usually busy Black Friday shopping day.

TikTok Shop

The Black Friday online promotion is also TikTok Shop’s largest platform event of the year. On October 27, the platform’s Black Friday promotion will be officially launched , covering the UK, US, and Saudi markets.

(Peak season)

Sellers need to complete the listing of Black Friday core products and start testing them before the first week of October, especially festival-related products. They must keep up with the pace to seize the first wave of traffic opportunities. Core products must be listed and stocked before the fourth week of October. From November 1 to 7, Black Friday preheating officially begins. Close attention should be paid to product sales and replenishment, and some products will continue to be listed. The fourth week of November marks the peak of Black Friday sales, and merchants with content capabilities can continue to produce high-quality content to impact sales peaks.

Wish

Compared with Amazon and other platforms, Wish's promotion period is also very long. The platform directly carries out nearly 40 days of promotion around Black Friday. The "Everyday is Black Friday" event lasts from October 29 to December 11, throughout the peak season. Among them, the product submissions for Everyday is Black Friday (6 weeks) and Everyday is Black Friday (Part 1) for 14 days will both end on October 20.

Wish recommends sellers to focus on these categories:

Gift /family-themed products , such as children's (or infant) toys (games, puzzles, stuffed dolls, etc.) and items that the whole family can play together; hobby products , such as automotive and motorcycle related, sports and health, art, DIY products, etc.; home products , such as products to improve home life, lamps, home gardening products, kitchen supplies, Thanksgiving /Christmas decoration products; fashion apparel and electronic products are also indispensable and popular.

According to eMarketer, holiday retail sales grew 4.8% in 2022 and are expected to grow another 4.5% this year, with Cyber ​​Week, including Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, being a major driving force.

Most Americans will not miss the Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday sales. For example, the majority of Gen Z consumers (78%) said they do not plan to reduce discretionary spending despite the uncertain economic outlook. With an estimated spending power of $360 billion, Gen Z will be the primary consumer this holiday season.

In addition to marketing to target customers, sellers should also pay attention to mobile optimization. In 2021, mobile commerce exceeded PC commerce for the first time, accounting for 49.7% of the conversion rate; last year, the conversion rate of mobile commerce reached 53.4%, 8% higher than desktop computers, occupying the sales high ground. Sellers need to optimize the display of product pictures, detail pages, etc. by combining mobile display to welcome consumers in the main ordering channels.