Get Ready for Amazon Prime Day 2018

Amazon Prime Day is near, and the internet better get ready! This year, July 16th, marks Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Day. Prime Day is an Amazon site-wide event for Prime members only, which has expanded worldwide to countries like India, China, Mexico and to numerous countries in Europe. Amazon, the internet’s prime shopping destination, will have the best cyber-deals around on this special day.

Prime Day 2017 lasted 30 hours, and the numbers were Amazon’s biggest yet, exceeding the sales from Black Friday and Cyber Monday the previous year. This year’s sales numbers are expected to be even bigger, as it is reported that Prime Day will have at least a week lead-in and virtually become “Prime Month.”

“This year, we anticipate deals will start as early as 2 weeks before Prime Day and last as long as a week after Prime Day. Essentially, it will be almost a full month of deals on Amazon.”

– Leo Carrillo, Lead Marketplace Channel Analyst at CPC Strategy

Don’t Let Shoppers Have All the Prime Day Fun

The web is full of experts coaching Amazon shoppers on ways to get the best deals on Prime Day, but Prime Day doesn’t have to be a boon just for Amazon customers. True, on Prime Day, shoppers can expect some of the biggest deals and savings on Amazon and online, but Sellers can also prime themselves to benefit — as they should.

Each Amazon Prime Day has outperformed the last. Take a look at some of the figures from Prime Day 2017 according to Amazon:

They saw more than 60% year-over-year growth in 2017.
Tens of millions of Prime members made a purchase on Prime Day 2017, more than 50% higher than the prior year.

Amazon Prime Day benefits Sellers in many ways. Sellers reported increased traffic, sales and brand awareness resulting from Prime Day activities. So how can a Seller best prepare to leverage Prime Day enthusiasm and convert that to traffic and sales?

Below let’s go over what Sellers need to know in order to be primed for Amazon Prime Day and answer a few questions:

How does a Seller qualify to be showcased on Prime Day?

Do Sellers have to have a Lightning Deal in order to be visible on Prime Day?

What deals matter the most to customers?

How do Sellers without Lightning Deals take advantage of Prime Day traffic?

How does a Seller qualify to be showcased on Prime Day?

There are different promotions for Sellers to take advantage of on Prime Day, but the most popular by far are Lightning Deals and Sponsored Product Campaigns (pay per click). 

What is a Lightning Deal? Amazon defines a Lightning Deal as a time-bound, promotional offer where an item is featured for a limited number of hours, usually 4 to 12 hours (as determined by Amazon), on the Amazon Deals page. Featuring an item as a Lightning Deal may help increase sales and reduce inventory. Currently, only Professional Sellers are eligible to run Lightning Deals.  

The Prime Day deal submission deadline is May 18, 2018. And, since Amazon chooses the participants of this exclusive program, not all who want to can participate. Furthermore, product requirements and fees associated with Prime Day Lightning deals further limit the number of Amazon sellers using Lightning Deals.

Because Lightning Deal fees vary by marketplace and timing, Amazon sellers should weigh whether Lightning Deals are the best business strategy. Don’t worry, as mentioned before, Prime Day Lightning Deals aren’t the only way to leverage Amazon Prime Day. 

Do I have to have a Lightning Deal in order to be visible as a Seller on Prime Day?

 Luckily, you can benefit from Prime Day even without running lightning deals. Since Amazon drives millions of customers to their site for Prime Day, even organic traffic in most categories should see a spike this day. Therefore, Amazon sellers of all types should plan accordingly, especially if selling a popular product. For example, if a Seller’s competitor (with a Lightning Deal) sells out of a product, Amazon customers may migrate to the next available product, regardless of its Lightning Deal status — jackpot!

Sellers can also take advantage of Sponsored Products campaigns to boost visibility. On Prime Day, Sellers using ads should consider increasing ad budgets to accommodate the heavy volume of visitors and avoid depleting the ad budget during the critical campaign. Furthermore, Sellers may want to be more competitive and increase bids to improve the odds of the ads appearing higher in search results. Most important, Sellers should be prepared by getting product descriptions and ad copy ready beforehand.

What deals matter the most to Amazon customers?

Traditionally, per Amazon, notable sales have been with these types of items on Prime Day 2017 and 2016:

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Toys

More than 3.5 million toys were purchased by customers worldwide on Prime Day 2017

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Smart Plugs

More than 50,000 TP-Link Smart Plugs purchased by Prime members on Prime Day 2017 (US)

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Light Bulbs

More than 200,000 light bulbs were purchased by customers on Prime Day 2017 (US)

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Instant Pots

More than 215,000 Instant Pot 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cookers on Prime Day 2016 (US)

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TVs

More than 90,000 televisions were purchased worldwide on Prime Day 2016

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Amazon Launchpad Startup Items

More than 100,000 items from Amazon Launchpad startups, such as Skybell Wi-Fi Video Doorbells, were ordered on Prime Day 2017 (US)

How does a Seller not doing a Lightning Deal take advantage of the Prime Day traffic?

As mentioned above, Sellers without Lightning Deals can also still take advantage of the up-spike in traffic. First, be sure that products are in great shape and are Prime eligible. Great product descriptions and photos go along way to attract Amazon Prime Day visitors.  

For additional help, Amazon Services provides tools like the Prime Day Checklist and the Communications Toolkit. (The FBA Prime Day Communications Toolkit helps FBA sellers craft Prime Day messaging via email and social media in order to attract customers to Amazon stores.)

Be Primed! 

Amazon Prime Day 2018 is bound to be one for the books and exceed the success of the previous year. So, be part of history by preparing and taking advantage of the many benefits Amazon Prime Day offers. If leveraged correctly, Prime Day 2018 will bring greater sales and brand recognition, as well as new long-term customers. With preparation and the right plan of action, Amazon Prime Day 2018 can be a Seller’s biggest marketplace sales day yet.