With Amazon Prime Day right around the corner, businesses (and shoppers) are busy prepping for the retail giant's crazy deals. Here's how brands can make the most of it.
Amazon Prime Day: A National Holiday for Retailers
Amazon is set to become the largest retailer in the US in 2024, and Prime Day (July 11-12, 2023) should be a major annual focus for brands. And with a projected 300 million Prime users by the end of the year, the retailer's yearly event will only get bigger.
This year's event has already seen some new changes, such as adding "Invite-only" deals, where buyers need to request access before they can participate. There's a lot of buzz and excitement around Prime Day ($100 4K TV, anyone?), and it can be a marvelous revenue driver for businesses, offering a pre-holiday boost.
But, while Prime Day is a great time for businesses to grab the spotlight and drive sales, there are some potential pitfalls to avoid. To ensure your business shines bright on Prime Day, here are four things your brand should look out for when planning your offers:
1. No Backup Plan
In an ideal world, everything will run smoothly on Prime Day. All of your promos, ads, codes, and tracking analytics will go off without a hitch.
But even Amazon's technology isn't impervious to glitches along the way. That's why it's crucial to have a backup plan in place and, if needed, quickly switch to it to prevent any losses. To get ahead of issues, have your team "walk the store" throughout Prime Day to spot any weak links.
For example, back in 2022, a Black Friday technical outage resulted in inaccurate sales and advertising spending data. This resulted in some businesses overspending in certain areas and underperforming in others. Consider creating bulk sheets, so your team can quickly adjust promotions and pricing if needed or have a separate budget set aside for unexpected needs.
2. Not Having Enough Inventory
Nothing is more disappointing (or damaging to Prime Day sales) than seeing a desired product only to find out it's not in stock. Ensure your inventory and supply chain can keep up with the influx of orders with Prime Day. The earlier, the better, too.
If possible, start stocking up on inventory for Prime Day well in advance. Some retailers start increasing their stock for flagship items in March, leveraging Amazon Fulfillment Centers and other third-party logistics services. With the sheer number of shoppers expected on the day, you don't want to miss out on potential sales.
3. Not Promoting Products Strategically
For any ad campaign, timing is everything.
And this is especially true for frantic shopping days like Prime Day. We've heard many stories about incredible deals and campaigns falling flat due to poor time schedule planning, wasting precious dollars.
To ensure your promotions and campaigns reach the right audience at the right time (without breaking the bank), carefully plan your campaigns with automated rules and ads targeting shoppers likely to be interested in your products.
4. Not Offering Insane Deals
This one sounds obvious, but it's worth repeating: Prime Day deals should be amazing. Not just OK, not just average - really great deals no one can resist. Make sure your Prime Day offers are attractive enough to draw in those bargain-savvy shoppers who know how to get the most bang for their buck. No matter what you come up with, just make sure it's really worth it for customers -- otherwise, there's no point in even trying. It's a stressful endeavor for sure, but with Prime Day, you have the potential to increase your sales by 300%. That's worth the extra effort.
This article originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For the most up-to-date news and tips to improve your media strategy, subscribe for free here.