Amazon Prime Day 2017 Predictions
It’s that time of year again: Amazon Prime Day is coming up soon. Expectations for Prime Day 2017 are high for both shoppers and Amazon sellers. The online shopping frenzy is set to extend up to 30 hours this year in the US, although the extended sale hours have not yet been confirmed for the UK. We don’t know the exact date of Prime Day 2017, but based on past Prime Days, expert predictions are pointing towards July 11th.
Last year, Prime Day sales soared more than 60% from the previous year. Featured deals included primarily electronics and tech products, which we’ll see much more of this year. Amazon vendors have already received invitations to purchase placements for Lightning Deals during Prime Day 2017.
Prime Day 2016 Sales by the Numbers
On Prime Day last year, online shoppers purchased a total of…
-90,000 TVs
-14,000 Lenovo laptops
-200,000 headphone sets
-23,000+ iRobot vacuums
-2 million toys
-1 million pairs of shoes
The Fire Stick was the best-selling Prime Day item last year, and our best guess is that another Amazon Device will take that place again this year.
Prime Day Tips for Sellers
As Amazon grows in power, Prime Day competition has become more intense for sellers across the globe. The marketplace competition is higher than ever on a daily basis. Prime Day for online sellers is like Black Friday for retail employees – an incredibly daunting task.
This year, competition from Amazon itself will play a major role in the sales marketplace sellers make on Prime Day. The best featured deals will likely include primarily Amazon’s own products such as the brand new Amazon Echo, Kindle tablets, Fire TV and more of their innovative voice-controlled devices. This poses an exceptional challenge for every marketplace seller, and especially for electronics sellers.
It’s simply not possible to beat Amazon itself as a third party seller. Still, there are many ways to stand out from your fellow marketplace sellers. With the right marketing strategy, branding, and preparation, Amazon sellers can prepare for success on the biggest online shopping day of the year.
Get Your Branding in Place. Brand registered sellers can utilize Enhanced Brand Content, and Amazon Vendors have the A+ content tool. Taking advantage of these Amazon-sponsored content tools is a great way to make your product pages stand out. Amazon Media Group has unveiled a vast range of marketing tools for sellers, such as sponsored products, product display ads, headline search ads and more. They’ve even provided more in-depth marketing tools for advanced digital marketers, including analytics and options for device display, which lets even more potential buyers see your product first.
Practice Damage Control
Prevent any issues before they occur on Prime Day – there’s never a worse time to have problems with your inventory, customer service, or listing details. Review your listings for accuracy starting right now. Make sure you’ll be properly staffed so you can handle an influx of customer inquiries. And most importantly, stock up on inventory. You may end up selling much more than expected, and the last thing you’ll want is to run out of inventory and end up losing out on major sales.
Resolve Any Account Issues Beforehand
If you’re currently having any problems with your seller account at all, resolve them immediately. It’s best to enter the frenzy on Prime Day with flawless metrics, no messages left unanswered, and no return requests lingering on your dashboard. Prime Day can be your best success or your worst nightmare – it all depends on how you plan. Taking action now is the best way to prepare, and it helps every seller kick off Prime Day 2017 with a clean slate.