Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Day, which is analogous to a Black Friday or Cyber Monday, will start on July 16th at 3 PM.
Prime Day 2017 was the biggest sales day in history for Amazon, but all retailers can take advantage of the event. In fact, 96% of consumer website demand on RetailMeNot.com was driven by retailers other than Amazon.
Riding Amazon’s coattails on Prime Day is a wise strategic choice for retailers. Research shows that more than 75% of Prime Day shoppers in the U.S. visited competitor websites to make sure they were getting the best deals.
Consumers’ online price comparisons throughout Prime Day play right into the waiting hands of various retailers ready to take advantage of the increased ecommerce presence everywhere.
So how exactly should retailers ready themselves to leverage the spike in online shopping that occurs on Prime Day?
Here are five things retailers can do to prepare for Prime Day.
1. Offer Targeted Offerings and Promotional Campaigns
For consumers, Prime Day is all about seeking great deals via their Prime memberships. Therefore, retailers should be focused on personalized and targeted offerings, and promotional campaigns.
Retailers should consider promoting products that their customers want and make the entire process accessible via mobile and seamless.
It is advised to start these campaigns before Prime Day. This way, retailers can hit the ground running and take advantage of the national halo effect it generates.
2. Don’t Get Left Behind – Plan Ahead!
Research reveals that retailers that benefit the most are the ones that launch their targeted offer campaigns 24 hours before Prime Day. On past Prime Days consumers have converted at rates 41% above normal.
Last year retailers that totally disregarded Amazon Prime Day and didn’t discount during the week incurred the lowest rise in sales, at an increase of 5%.
The impact Prime Day has on retailers is potentially staggering, so brands need to plan for it and invest in promotions.
3. Leverage Prime Day With Back-To-School In Mind
Consumers making purchases on Prime Day plan to spend an average of $167, with $70 going specifically toward back-to-school items.
School shopping lists remain a top driver of purchase decisions on Prime Day for the parents surveyed, the above research shows.
What’s more, the study says that 91% of consumers shopping on Prime Day will make a back-to-school-related purchase.
4. Take Advantage of Post-Prime Day
What many retailers have done and should consider doing is targeting customers in the few days after Prime Day.
This strategy allows retailers to reach out to customers who might have missed Prime Day, but may still be interested in taking advantage of attractive summer sales.
One way that retailers can also drive post-Prime Day traffic is by launching new products pre-Prime Day. These new products can help drive post-Prime Day traffic and increased sales.
5. Be Creative
Prime Day is, typically, Amazon’s biggest day of the year for signups to its premium loyalty program. The heavy online presence is there among consumers. It’s time for retailers to be creative and take advantage of the opportunities.
See why Prime day is really an acquisition event for Amazon.
Some retailers offer sales that last longer than the entire duration of Prime Day.
An example of creativity is when Macy’s hosted its annual “Black Friday in July” sale that offered 25% off all products and offered free shipping exclusively on Prime Day.
Last year Walmart launched a “Dare to Compare” campaign to match Amazon’s low prices. It offered memberships for its free two-day shipping program.
A Prime Day for Retailers
Competing against Amazon is never easy. But, this shouldn’t be just about competing against Amazon.
Instead, retailers should view it as their own huge summer promotional campaign. Prepare as if it were Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The reality is Prime Day is having the same kind of effect in the summer.
Given its massive success, Prime Day has now become a huge event for other retailers willing to seize the occasion.
If you consider these five tips to engage your customers around Prime Day, you will be in a winning position.
ebbo
ebbo helps brands achieve their customer loyalty goals with full-service, end-to-end solutions and also creates original educational content straight from the experts to help loyalty marketers stay on the cutting edge of customer engagement.