When Amazon moved Prime Day to October, it instantly became the biggest Pre-Black Friday indicator of what consumers would buy during the holidays. Using ListenFirst’s social media analytics platform, here are the top 5 takeaways based on the social media response to Prime Day and what it can tell marketers about the shift in audience priorities.
#1. Amazon Was Far Less Aggressive In Promoting Prime Day On Social This Year
Around Prime Day last year, Amazon.com shared 31 new posts on social media between July 15-16, 2019 while they generated 48,039 new fans on social media. In comparison during this year’s Prime Day event, they only shared 14 new posts and generated 16,379 new fans on social media between October 13-14, 2020. However, between October 13-14, 2020, there were 388,769 Tweets mentioning Prime Day, an increase of 2% from the volume of Tweets that mentioned Prime Day during July 15-16, 2019.
Amazon has become so much more central to consumers’ shopping habits during the pandemic, that they don’t need to be as aggressive in promoting Prime Day to generate the same level of conversation about the event on social media.
#2. Amazon Products Were The Biggest Winners On Prime Day
Amazon announced that third party vendors sold more than $3.5 billion dollars worth of product on Prime Day, but the individual products that were most talked about on Prime Day were all Amazon’s own. For example, there were 10,691 Tweets mentioning both the Kindle and Prime Day between October 13-14, 2020, an increase of 221% from the number of Tweets mentioning the Kindle and Prime Day between July 15-16, 2019. The Kindle Paperwhite was being sold at an all time low of $80 during Prime Day this year.
Meanwhile, there were 9,993 Tweets mentioning both Prime Day and Echo this year, a 168% increase from the volume of such Tweets during Prime Day last year. The Echo Dot was being sold at $20 lower than it’s normal price.
With people being stuck at home, it’s no surprise that a book reading device and smart speaker were the Amazon devices generating the most interest on social media.
#3. Apple Is The Non-Amazon Company That Mattered Most Around Prime Day
Between October 13-14,2020, there were 8,062 Tweets mentioning both Prime Day and Apple, with 2,784 Tweets mentioning both Prime Day and AirPods. The AirPods Pro was being offered for an all time low of $199. During the same time period, there were 1,450 Tweets mentioning both Bose and Prime Day, as the Bose QC35 II wireless noise-cancelling headphones were 33% off. With family members stuck sharing the same home work space, noise canceling headphones will continue to be an in-demand item this holiday season.
#4. TV Sales Are Becoming Even More Popular During the Pandemic
Deals on televisions are always one of the main attractions around holiday shopping and with people spending more time at home, that’s even more true. There were 6,004 Tweets mentioning a TV around Prime Day between October 13-14, 2020 which was an increase of 29% from the volume of Tweets mentioning a TV around Prime Day last year. Expect a high level of interest around TVs this year on Black Friday.
#5. Value Adding Gift Cards Could Be A Hot Item This Holiday Season
There were 1,198 Tweets mentioning the phrase “Gift Card” and Prime Day between October 13-14, 2020, an increase of 18% compared to the number of Tweets sharing those two phrases last year during Prime Day. When you bought a $40 Gift Card on Prime Day, Amazon gave you a $10 promotional credit. With consumers’ budgets extra tight this year, gift cards that give money back could be a trend that takes off with the audience during the holiday shopping season.
Conclusion
While the first socially distanced holiday season is obviously a net loss for humanity, it also means that there’s going to be more focus on online shopping than ever before. Understanding the social media conversation around holiday shopping will give retailer marketers a critical leg up in creating a winning end of year strategy.
Want more retail related social media insights about the holiday season? Request a ListenFirst Demo today!
