Next week, on June 25th, Amazon will announce the date for July’s upcoming Prime Day. The fifth annual event, Prime Day will offer sales for Prime members leading up to, and on, the decided date. As 2018’s Prime Day was the largest shopping event in Amazon’s history—eclipsing both Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales on that channel—the opportunity for brands to escalate their revenue next month is significant. Estimates place 2018 Prime Day sales at $4.19B globally, a nearly 74% increase over 2017. Prime Day revenues have increased every year since the shopping day’s inception. With this scale in mind, we offer context, tips, and insights to support brand strategy for Prime Day 2019.
LEADING UP TO PRIME DAY: WHAT TO DO
Last year, over 100 million products were sold on Prime Day, and sales from small and medium-sized businesses surpassed $1.5B. This success, despite outages, shows that companies of all sizes can maximize sales and should prepare accordingly. First (and as soon as possible) brands need to develop a Prime Day season strategy. We recommend a holistic strategy that extends past the one-day event. The ideal approach consists of a lead-up strategy, “day of” strategy, and lead-out strategy. This method capitalizes on the consumer interest that builds in the weeks prior and expands upon the one-day deal.
Additionally, focus on promoting your brand’s entire catalog, or as much as you can fund. Promoted ASINs often have a halo effect, spurring interest in even non-promoted products. Keep in mind that there are limitations depending on how brands sell on Amazon: Vendors can leverage Prime Day Promotions or Lightning Deals (contingent upon Vendor Management Approval), while Sellers can utilize Price Discounts, Coupons, and Lightning Deals pending Amazon's approval.
An additional tip to keep in mind: for the first few years, Prime Day lasted 24 hours while last year the event was 36 hours. 2019 could potentially be the same as—or longer than—2018; prepare accordingly!
BE RETAIL READY
To make the most of Prime Day, we strongly recommended that brands meet “retail ready” qualifications. Ensure the following regarding ASINs:
- Copy is optimized with titles, bullet points, and comprehensive product descriptions
- Sufficient inventory is available (enough to last not only through Prime Day but also through the following weeks). As a note for Sellers, Amazon recommends sending inventory to FBA by June 27th, 2019
- High Res imagery implemented
- That each item has at least 15 reviews, with a minimum of 3.5-star ratings
- A+ / enhanced branded content
SPREAD THE WORD
Regarding advertising on Amazon itself, set aside a strong budget for Prime Day as CPCs will rise due to increased competition. Make the most of Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands by bidding on Brand and Non-brand keywords. Adjust bid strategies to increase bids leading up to and on Prime Day, to ensure visibility on the day itself. Furthermore, leverage the power of your entire audience. Tell this exciting story via social media content, Google ads, and e-mail blasts.
READY TO ROLL
On the day itself, take a last, hyper detail-oriented “walk” of the store, checking all pages to ensure that they look their best. We also recommend shopping for yourself! Experience how other brands are capitalizing on the day and running their campaigns. Finally, monitor sales throughout Prime Day so that you are in touch with what is and isn’t working. Keep in mind, Prime Day is not necessarily a gift shopping day. Instead, consumers are looking to purchase for themselves. Apply this key, differentiating perspective to all marketing touchpoints. In all other ways, however, Prime Day should be viewed as a dress rehearsal for Q4. Use this moment in July as an opportunity to test the keywords, ad types, copy, budgeting, bids, and creative that are in rotation.
From increased brand awareness, to an extended sales uptick, to new customers and to—critically—revenue, the benefits of participating in Prime Day are numerous. Connect with us to further strengthen your brand’s overall Amazon strategy and ignite business on this critical channel.
Comments