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Online shoppers in the United States are projected to spend a record $23.8 billion during Amazon.com’s upcoming Prime Day event, a more than 28% increase from the prior year, according to figures released early Monday by digital publishing and services provider Adobe Inc. Amazon’s Prime Day event runs July 8 to July 11.
Consumers shopping on mobile devices are projected to drive $12.5 billion, or 52.5%, of online sales during the period. Mobile commerce continues to be a growth driver for U.S. e-commerce merchants, especially as more impulse shopping takes place on mobile devices, Adobe says.
Adobe analyzes online transactions for more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites, 100 million SKUs, and 18 product categories.
Consumers’ use of buy now, pay later loans to finance purchases is expected to total between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion of overall online spend during the Prime Day event, up 7.6% from the prior year. Overall, purchases financed using BNPL loans will present an 8% share of online spending during the event, Adobe says.
Discounting is expected to play a large role in online sales during the Amazon sales event with U.S. retailers offering projected discounts of 10% to 24%. Discounts are also expected to incentivize shoppers to purchase higher-ticket items. In electronics, for example, discounts are expected to help the most expensive items account for a 52% share of sales within the category, while the most expensive items are expected to account for 32% of sales in sporting goods and 29% of appliance sales.
One emerging trend noted by Adobe is that consumers are increasingly embracing Generative AI as a shopping assistant. The trend was first spotted during the 2024 holiday shopping season and is expected to continue gaining momentum during the Prime Day event, Adobe says. During the Prime Day event, Adobe projects traffic from generative AI sources will increase by 3,200% compared to a year ago.
A recent survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers by Adobe revealed that the shopping tasks consumers use Generative AI for include conducting research (55% of respondents), receiving product recommendations (47%), seeking deals (43%), getting present ideas (35%), finding unique products (35%) and creating shopping lists (33%). Respondents could list more than one task.
Among respondents that have used AI for shopping, 92% say it enhanced their experience, while 87% say they are more likely to use AI for larger or more complex purchases.
