In This Story
Online shoppers in the U.S. are spending a lot of cash on electronics and back-to-school essentials this summer — possibly more than ever.
On July 16, Adobe estimates U.S. consumers unloaded $7.2 billion via e-commerce, setting a new daily record for online and mobile sales so far this year.
The day coincided with the first half of Amazon’s 48-hour “Prime Day” sales event. (Crucially, the figure factors in sales from a wide range of retailers, including Amazon.) $7.2 billion in sales represents a nearly 12% jump from the first half of Prime Day 2023, which ran from July 11-12.
Adobe’s report found that online sales were driven by electronics, including headphones and bluetooth speakers, as well as televisions, fitness trackers, computers, and e-readers. Other categories consumers doled out for included video games, small kitchen appliances, and perfume.
Back-to-school spending also saw a big boost, rising 210% when compared to daily levels in June, per Adobe. Products such as backpacks and lunchboxes contributed to that rise.
Adobe said it analyzed online transactions that cover over one trillion visits to U.S. retailers, 100 million stock keeping units (SKUs), and 18 product categories.
The software company also noted in its report that discounts are expected to remain high for Day 2 of the Prime Event. Shoppers can expect to find mark downs across items in electronics (23%), apparel (20%), televisions (17%), and home/furniture (16%).
“Steep discounting has been the story of e-commerce so far this year, as consumers look to get the most value out of their dollar,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights.
Adobe noted in its report that buy-now-pay-later usage spiked during the first day, as consumers embraced the flexible payment method in an effort to manage their budgets in the inflation economy. Even with the impact of inflation, consumer spending is robust this year, partly due to net-new demand, the firm added.
With the annual Prime Day event in full swing, Amazon’s coveted two-day bargain window has cemented itself as a major industry-wide e-commerce moment — so much so that it’s prompted other retail giants like Target and Walmart to launch their own discount extravaganzas. It’s even driven social media giant TikTok to try its hand at a similar event. But as one of the biggest companies in the world by market cap, Amazon is likely to be the biggest winner with its spin on the vintage Christmas-in-July sales scheme.