Expect Pet Products and Electronics to See Biggest Lift During Prime Day 2022
Electronics continue to be in high demand for consumers on Prime Day. In 2022, we expect household smart devices (including Amazon products) and other home-adjacent electronic gadgets and appliances to lead the day. As we’ve seen in year’s past, Amazon’s Prime Day is a major driver of consumer interest in electronics. Indeed, Amazon sales of computer and consumer electronics are expected to increase by 12.2% in 2022, making up 24.4% of total US Amazon retail ecommerce sales by the end of the year. After analyzing 2021 Prime Day data to spot emerging trends for 2022, we pinpointed marketplace shopping data to help brands understand how events like Prime Day impact consumer behavior. Our data-driven insights indicate there to be a focus on household electronic items, as well as appliances. Among these are Amazon products like the Echo Dot, Fire TV, and Kindle — another trend we expect to follow into Prime Day 2022, especially given new incentives like Amazon’s “Prime Stampcard.” Prime Day 2022 will be July 12th and 13th this year, and is already expected to bring in a record $7.76 billion in sales. Since 2021marked the first Prime Day held in a typical mid-summer timeline since the inception of COVID, this analysis breaks down overall categories, search terms, and products that saw an increase on Prime Day in 2021 to inform 2022 trends.
Why Brands Should Take Note
Based on Pattern’s proprietary data, all brands can learn from the amount of overall sales volume that happens on Prime Day and the most popular categories. For instance, if you offer a higher priced or premium product on Amazon, then consumers who have waited to buy will likely take advantage of the Prime Day price drop. Therefore, inventory, logistics, and fulfillment need to align with the promotional pricing strategy. If you are a brand that is in the top selling categories or offer goods that complement the most sought after products, tailoring your advertising and marketing campaigns with purchase messaging, conquesting, and retargeting could win you incremental sales, too.
Electronics Expected to Lead Prime Day
Based on our reporting, electronics, in general, leading the pack comes as little surprise, given most electronics are more expensive items that potential buyers are likely to ruminate on before making a purchase (e.g. cell phones, laptops, fitness trackers, etc.). After all, Prime Day discounts have and will continue to present the perfect opportunity for the conscientious consumer to move from consideration to purchase. However, the focus on household electronics, smart devices, and lifestyle gadgets (fitness trackers, pet cameras, smart TVs, etc.), is a telling focal point of consumers eager to ease aspects of home — and work-from-home — life with technology, even as the global pandemic restrictions have lifted in many areas. For example, here are a few household electronics and appliances that saw increases in consumer demand on Prime Day in 2021:
- Smart Plugs – 246% increase
- Smart Home – 166% increase
- Roomba – 146% increase
- Pet Cameras & Monitors – 59% increase
- Coffee Makers – 62% increase
Prime Day 2021 Top Product Categories
In 2021, consumers used Prime Day to level-up their pet-parent game — or rather, their pet watching game. While it may seem like pet products took the lead over electronics, it was actually pet cameras and monitors (more home technology) that accounted for the increase. Following pet products, electronics, video games, and exercise equipment (led by fitness monitors, yet another electronic device) all saw increases in demand on Prime Day. Only beauty and vitamins and supplements saw decreases in demand during Prime Day.
Change in Demand for Top Search Terms
Could Prime Day be the perfect time to find any long-lost relatives through a DNA test? Last year, the search term “23 and me” had a nearly 250 percent increase on Prime Day — the most of all the search terms we analyzed. Given the high price point of 23andMe tests (between $100-$350), this tracks with the underlying theme of electronics: if it’s expensive, use Prime Day discounts to buy it. Immediately following 23andMe were Smart Plugs and Smart Home, followed by household electronics like Roombas and Air Fryers. As we saw with pet cameras, if an appliance or technology can make home life easier, consumers are likely to seek it out on Prime Day. In addition, we specifically wanted to see how Amazon devices would fare on Prime Day, and were not disappointed. Fire TV, Echo Dot, Kindle, and Alexa-friendly devices all saw an increase in demand among the terms we analyzed.
As we mentioned above, it’s highly likely for the demand of Amazon household electronics to continue on Prime Day 2022. In fact, Amazon has even introduced a new Prime Day incentive for consumers to enter their technology ecosystem in the form of a Prime Stampcard. This year, consumers can earn a $10 credit for their Prime Day order by completing four different activities between June 16 and July 13:
- Making a Prime-eligible purchase
- Streaming a show on Prime Video
- Listening to a song with Prime Music
- Borrowing an eBook on Prime Reading
In short, Prime Day continues to be an opportunity for Amazon to promote its own technology ecosystem, and consumers are taking advantage of it.
Insights by Category
Baby Products
Larger, more expensive baby items such as swings (35%), activity centers (25%), gyms and playmats (24%), walkers (23%), and bouncers (22%) all landed near the top of the baby products category for Prime Day 2021, indicating the importance of Prime Day to make investment purchases vs. day-to-day ones. In that same vein, smaller, more inexpensive baby products such as skin care, oils, and books all saw decreases in demand on Prime Day.
Electronics
Among electronics, OLED TVs led out the category with demand increasing by 132%, yet again following the theme of expensive electronic and household devices drawing consumers to make Prime Day purchases. Vacuums, security cameras, and laptop computers were next among the top electronic products we analyzed for consumers. Overall, very few electronic products had a decline in demand on Prime Day. Indeed, these typically were electronic accessories, again suggesting Prime Day’s main draw is good deals on expensive items.
Tools
Power and woodworking tools both saw bumps in demand on Prime Day 2021, at 18% and 41% increases, respectively. However, hand tools saw a 10% decrease, again indicating that consumers are more likely to purchase bulky, expensive items and appliances on Prime Day rather than everyday household ones.
Vitamins & Supplements
One of the few categories to have an overall decrease, demand for vitamins & supplements decreased by 17% on Prime Day 2021. We suspect that seasonality is the main driver for the decrease, as the new year is typically when consumers find the best deals for health-related products (and are also seeking them out).
Beauty
Beauty also saw an overall decrease on Prime Day last year, as beauty tools and accessories (-6 %), grooming (-10%), age-related beauty products (-64%) all dropped in demand. This data again suggests that we can expect consumers to spend less on day-to-day items and more on big ticket ones on Prime Day.
Exercise Equipment
Consumer demand for exercise gadgets — fitness trackers and monitors in particular — increased during Prime Day last year. Interestingly, men’s fitness apparel saw a marked increase (20%) while women’s fitness apparel saw a decrease (-3%). If we assume that men are more likely to make the investment of purchasing fitness equipment, this could explain the difference in demand between men’s and women’s apparel.
Video Games
For video games, consoles led out on Prime Day last year, with PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox all driving demand up by 30% or more. Similarly, expensive video game accessories like gaming mice, chairs, and controllers were also likely to attract consumer interest. Interestingly, sports and teen video games saw decreases in interest on Prime Day.
Office Products
Given that remote and hybrid work is here to stay, it should come as little surprise that last year’s Prime Day demonstrated increased consumer demand for office products. Home office furniture led out with an 18% increase in demand, followed by office lighting with an increase of 13%. After all, it’s never too late to improve your Zoom setup.
Pet Products
Demand for pet monitors and cameras increased by 59% during last year’s Prime Day while demand for pet food and nutrition decreased by 4%. Again, consumers are likely to prioritize one-off, expensive purchases on Prime Day rather than daily or recurring ones, and the pet category is no exception.
Kitchen & Bath
As with the other categories we’ve analyzed, more expensive electronics and appliances led out for kitchen and bath products. Stick vacuums and electric brooms had a massive 112% increase, closely followed by fitted sheets with demand increasing by 85%. Other appliances like steam mops and coffee makers also saw jumps in demand on Prime Day. Everyday items like towels, cleaners, and grocery all saw decreases in demand.
Final Takeaways
Our data shows that electronic devices were a major draw to Prime Day in 2021, something we think is unlikely to change this year. Household electronics, lifestyle gadgets, and Amazon products will lead out among electronics — especially as Amazon increasingly incentivizes their Amazon ecosystem of digital products for Prime Day deals. Although the days of the pandemic are mostly over, consumers have embraced the benefits of technology in their homes, exercise routines, and home office setups. From installing a camera, to keeping an eye on the cat, to finally buying a PlayStation 5, consumers look to Amazon Prime Day to purchase big-ticket items they’ve been holding out on the rest of the year. For any brand looking to get into the game during Prime Day 2022, it is important to control your pricing strategy and promotional cadence so that you can leverage the increase in traffic and search volume on Amazon, as well as execute effective advertising and marketing campaigns to retarget the most sought after products and categories. – Pattern keeps an eye on industry trends and consumer insights to help companies accelerate their ecommerce presence. Stay in the know by subscribing to our biweekly Insights newsletter on the right, or contact Pattern today.