Amazon Prime Day Annual Promotion: U.S. Consumer Consumption Intentions and Logistics Challenges
According to a Bazaarvoice survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, about 20% of respondents plan to spend more than $300 during the upcoming Prime Day. While Amazon remains the primary choice for shopping, consumers are also considering purchasing at other retailers such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Macy’s. This shows that in addition to Amazon itself, the participation of other retailers also has an impact on consumers’ shopping decisions.
Many American consumers will make detailed plans before participating in promotions because the large number of offers and discounts offered on that day can easily lead to impulse purchases. A survey by Red Points showed that 60% of respondents believed that Amazon Prime Day would put pressure on them to buy quickly, which reflects the psychological state and shopping habits of consumers during the specific event.
Technical failures not only left traces in past promotions. When Prime Day first started in 2018, Amazon’s official website suffered a massive crash. Recently, on the first day of Prime Day on July 15, some buyers once again reported that they were unable to add products to their shopping carts due to website glitches. This is the second year in a row that Amazon has experienced technical glitches on Prime Day. After the opening of trading on the first day, Amazon’s stock price fell 0.5%.
In addition, Amazon logistics center workers around the world went on strike on Prime Day, including New York, Seattle, San Francisco in the United States, as well as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and other countries. In Germany, more than 2,000 workers participated in the strike, while the UK’s GMB union also launched action at the East Midlands logistics center and is expected to expand to other logistics bases in the coming days. Workers in Spain and Poland have also announced plans to strike, signaling challenges for logistics services during this important promotional period.
In addition, according to the Sensor Tower report, Amazon ranked first in the installed base of shopping applications in the second quarter of 2019, followed by Flipkart and Paytm. This achievement once again highlights Amazon’s ability to integrate global online shopping and become the preferred shopping platform for users despite facing technical and operational challenges.