Amazon Prime Day 2021 - everything you need to know
With Amazon Prime Day having been confirmed as being June 20 and 21 this year, what are the crucial details you need to know about the event?
Thompson and Holt managing partner Stuart White answers the key questions.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Stuart White, Thompson and Holt: “Amazon Prime Day is an annual sale event that sees the website reduce prices on a host of products for customers that have a Prime membership. The first Prime Day happened in 2015 and lasted for 24 hours, but in 2019 was extended to two days to give customers more chance to pick up bargains.”
What happened with Amazon Prime Day in 2020?
Stuart White: “With the world struggling with the global pandemic, Amazon Prime Day was pushed back a number of times last year before eventually settling in October (although India’s was in August). There were fears about how successful the event would be, but Amazon later announced that third-party sellers - most of which are small and medium-sized businesses - surpassed $3.5 billion in sales on Prime Day - a nearly 60 percent year-over-year increase, growing even more than Amazon’s retail business.”
What will 2021’s Prime Day involve?
Stuart White: “Reports suggest more than two million deals and huge reductions on a significant amount of products. Amazon has revealed it will be spending more than $100 million on promotional activities to encourage shoppers to buy from small businesses. There will be an initiative that gives Prime subscribers £10 credit to spend during the Prime Day event when they spend £10 on items from small UK businesses between 7 and 20 June. Alongside that, the company’s chosen charity, AmazonSmile, will also be donating five per cent of customers’s first Prime Day purchase to their chosen charity – 10 times the normal donation. Finally, Amazon has also confirmed that there will be more than two million deals worldwide to shop, making it the biggest Prime Day event yet.”
Are there deals to be had before Prime Day starts?
Stuart White: “Yes. Amazon has already started early with a selection of deals that are already live across its services and own-brand products. They include the following in the UK, listed on the Independent newspaper’s website:
* Prime Video – Prime members can enjoy 50 per cent off TV shows and movies to rent or buy through Amazon’s streaming service.
* Amazon devices – From 7 to 22 June, Prime members can shop its bestselling devices, including, Echo, Fire TV and Ring for half price.
* Amazon Music – If you’re a Prime member with a keen interest in music, you can access the four months of free listening with unlimited access to more than 70 million ad-free songs and millions of podcasts.
* Audible – Until 22 June, Prime subscribers can enjoy three months of Audible membership for 99p, which includes access to new releases, bestsellers and Audible Original audiobooks and podcasts.
* Kindle – Between now and 22 June, Prime members can take advantage of three months of Kindle Unlimited for no extra charge. From 15 to 30 June, more than 300 books available on Kindle will be on sale for 99p.
* Prime Gaming – Until 21 June, Prime members can claim Battlefield 4 standard edition (valued at £17.99), for free on gaming.amazon.co.uk.
* Amazon home, electronic and sports – There’s 20 per cent off selected styles from Amazon brands, ranging from furniture products to personal care items across brands including Alkove, Rivet, Movian, Amazon Basics, Umi and Eono.
* Amazon Launchpad and Amazon Handmade – You can now save up to 30 per cent when shopping with small businesses on Amazon Launchpad and Amazon Handmade, spanning electronics, beauty products, homeware and gifts.
Can my Amazon business benefit from Prime Day 2021?
Stuart White: “Yes - but you need to be prepared. Audit and optimise your listings, making sure they’re all up-to-date and ready for potential new customers. Make sure you are aware of the FBA inventory cut-off times for your country to have products in fulfilment centres. Offer customers multiple ways to save by using “sale price” listings and lightening sales around the key dates. And consider increasing your marketing output - within your means - before Prime Day to make the most of the increased traffic the site will host.”
Worried about an Amazon suspension?
If you have found yourself suspended while selling on Amazon, contact Thompson and Holt for a free LiveChat to get your Seller business back online as quickly as possible.
Thompson and Holt are also offering a free month’s trial of their Monitor and Protect service to help sellers prevent a suspension of ASINs or an their account during the COVID pandemic, more information on how to protect your Amazon seller account from a suspension can be found here