By Ritchie Po
Amazon’s Prime Day 2017 drew record business, both globally and in Canada.
The company (NASDAQ: AMZN) boasted a mighty 60% increase in sales from the 2016 event. Geared towards customers who subscribe to the Amazon Prime service, the one-day only retail event was extended from 24 hours to 30 hours, allowing customers more time to take advantage of deeply discounted merchandise. Shoppers were permitted to purchase certain items far below their suggested retail price for limited windows of time during the 30-hour event. Sales were comparable to holiday-season sales activity, which is highly unusual in the traditionally quieter summer retail cycle.
The biggest seller on Prime Day in Canada is Instant Pot’s Duo 80 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker. The Ottawa-based company saw sales for its signature product outpace all other products purchased by Canadian consumers. Other best-selling items included the Xbox One S 500GB Console, and two major Amazon products: the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader, and the Amazon Basics Rechargeable Batteries.
Prime Day also increased the number of customers who signed up for the Amazon Prime membership, thereby allowing clients to take advantage of the sales. According to Amazon, more new customers signed up for the service, which costs $79.99 annually, on Prime Day than at any point in the company’s history.
Amazon has increasingly expanded their Canadian customer services. With distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver, the company offers both one-day and same day service delivery guarantees in both cities. One-day delivery is also provided in Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton.
Numerous merchants sang the praises of Prime Day, giving the following testimonials:
“Both Monday and Tuesday (Prime Day) were record days in sales for our business. It’s great to have the additional sales boost during these traditionally slower summer months,” said Tyler and Courtney LeCompte, owners of party decor retailer Confetti Momma.
“Overall for the Prime Day event (all 30 hours) we saw about 20 times more overall sales,” said Ben Arneberg, owner of high-end kitchen product retailer Willow & Everett.
“So far, this year’s Prime Day sales increased 350% from last year’s. Getting the opportunity to offer lightning deals as a Handmade at Amazon artisan has been a boon to my business,” said Marcia Ricchiuti, designer and owner of Kahili Creations jewellers.
“Prime Day has really allowed us to connect with a tech-driven and innovation-seeking audience. Our sales have seen an incredible lift on Prime Day,” said Anson Liang, founder of wireless bluetooth headphone brand Rowkin.
“Light Accents had a fantastic Prime Day. It was our best sales day in over two years,” said Lawrence Bibi, founder and owner of Light Accents.
Undoubtedly, Amazon Prime Day has shaped up to become one of the premiere retail events on the calendar, joining the similarly-themed Singles Day which is held every November 11 in China, and far surpassing both Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
