Prime Day 2018 is in the books.
While no documented sales figures exist, analysts estimate that shoppers spent $4.2 billion over the 36-hour shopping extravaganza. With over 100 million products purchased, Amazon officials declared it the biggest sales event in their history.
But what was lost amid the early chaos over technical glitches that inhibited the online buying process is the fact that Amazon’s highly successful Prime premium loyalty program won the “day.”
But even more important than the record breaking sales was the fact that Prime Day 2018 saw more Prime membership signups than ever before.
Expanding Amazon’s Ecosystem of Loyal Customers
Amazon does a fantastic job of expanding its ecosystem of loyal customers.
An interesting outcome from Prime Day is that Amazon officials declared it was the largest event for their own consumer electronics products such as Fire TV and Echo devices.
TVs, smart home products, and home security systems were among the best-selling products in the U.S. The best-selling products worldwide were the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo Dot.
While Amazon doesn’t release Prime Day sales figures, estimates from Feedvisor, which sells pricing software used by Amazon merchants, showed that spending increased 89 percent from a year earlier during the first 12 hours of the event.
The fact that Amazon grew its Prime membership significantly on Prime Day is a great accomplishment alone. The fact that many of those members bought Amazon products is even more impressive as the brand family of loyal customers continues to grow.
Prime members will be able to use those devise to engage with the Prime ecosystem on an even deeper level. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it.
Always Seen As A Member Acquisition Tool
When Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015, it was viewed by company officials as a key acquisition tool for the Prime loyalty program.
Although Prime Day itself has been all about the great deals that members can get, this year Amazon’s Prime loyalty program was the real hero.
Prime members have always been Amazon’s most loyal customers. They show it throughout the year and, certainly, on Prime Day.
A paid loyalty program, like Prime, simply gets a retailer’s best customers to engage more often and spend more when they do.
Amazon has always been about being innovative, providing great customer service, and catering to its loyal customers.
Prime members offer Amazon better customer data, along with increased engagement and loyalty levels.
Prime Day is like Christmas in July for Prime members.
Why Prime Members Are More Valuable to Amazon
Prime members have proven to be more valuable to Amazon.
Consider these statistics: The average Prime members spends $2,500 per year at Amazon, which is nearly five times more than a non-Prime member. Also, 91 percent of first-year members renew for a second year.
The fact that Amazon officials listen to and understand their customers leads to desired benefits that Prime members are willing to pay for annually.
From free two-day shipping to video and music, Prime provides an enviable value proposition that goes a long way toward member retention.
Instead of requiring members to spend money over time to receive benefits somewhere down the road, a premium loyalty program allows members to pay a recurring fee for benefits they can use right away.
As a result, Prime creates an “instant culture” in which members can engage with the program 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A premium loyalty program like Prime embodies instant gratification, which is more important now than ever before for retailers.
What’s more, Prime members have deeper customer engagement, higher order frequency, and higher AOV.
Why Every Prime Day Will be the Most Successful Prime Day
Quite simply, the Prime program offers a unique and attractive value to its members, something they’re willing to pay for. The value customers find in Prime is apparent and Amazon does all it can to acquire and retain members.
It all comes down to a very basic formula.
Amazon is laser focused on its customers and regularly adds to an already lengthy list of benefits. The enticing program benefits play a significant role in generating and retaining members.
With every new acquisition comes the opportunity to add value to that category. With that value comes more Prime memberships from existing customers of that category. Once they’re in the Prime ecosystem, those customers tend to stick around.
As long as Amazon continues this loyalty strategy, Prime Day 2019 should be even bigger – Not just in terms of sales, but in terms of ultra-valuable new Prime memberships.
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.