In case you missed it, Amazon just announced that they are holding a second Prime Day sale this year and they’re calling Prime Early Access. The exclusive sales event will take place on 11-12th October with massive, Black Friday-level discounts only for Prime members.
The extra sales day is great news for shoppers, but it’s taken Amazon sellers by surprise. Although Target recently released details about October Deal Days, and Overstock announced an Overstock Day in October, nobody expected another Amazon sale day so soon after the traditional sales in July.
October Prime Day seems to be somewhat of an experiment from Amazon. The marketplace shifted Prime Day to October in 2020 because of COVID-19 and saw sales shoot up, which may well have influenced their decision this year. But in 2020, the October Prime Day replaced the usual July Prime Day while this one is in addition to it.
Some ecommerce leaders are not sure whether adding another Prime Day will increase sales overall during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday period, or if shoppers will just shift their spending patterns and make the same purchases at a later time.
Amazon’s extra Prime Day could also impact sales on other channels like Walmart or Target. So, if you have stores on more than one platform, you’ll have to think carefully about how to balance the deals you offer.
The October Prime Day offers an opportunity for ecommerce businesses to bring in more revenue and start the winter shopping season with a bang. Consumers will be getting into a shopping mindset ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday a few weeks later, so they’ll probably be quick to jump on special bargains.
From what we can tell, the upcoming October Prime Day will be broadly similar to the regular July Prime Day, so you’ll know what to expect, although around 15 countries will be included in October instead of the 20 who take part in Prime Day in July. They also predict that fewer sellers will run big discounts this time round, which means that anyone who does is more likely to stand out.
It might not be easy to pull your Amazon store together for a major sale at such short notice, but hopefully you’re already in a selling mindset. After all, the winter holiday sales season is just around the corner. So, if you’ve already begun prepping your store, you should be in a better position to make the most of Prime Day 2.
Here are just a few suggestions for last-minute ways to prepare for October Prime Day on October 11th and boost your profits towards the end of the year.
Amazon offers a lot of different types of paid ads, and sellers should use as many of them as possible. The more times someone sees your ad, the more likely they are to click through and buy. Plan campaigns for Amazon Sponsored Brand ads, Sponsored Product ads, and Sponsored Display ads, so that your deals will appear in multiple places across the screen. It’s also a good idea to use Amazon DSP to publicize your Amazon store off the platform as well as on it.
For more on how to plan your Amazon ad campaign, check out our Amazon PPC Guide.
Historical data means that campaigns for keywords you’ve used before perform better than totally new campaigns. So if you’ve run Amazon ads before, you should expand and adapt those campaigns instead of starting a new one, because you’ll get better results.
The October Prime Day makes it even more important to review your inventory and check that stock levels are high enough. Amazon considers inventory levels when it decides who to feature for Prime Day deals on the homepage and main results page, and it automatically pauses DSP ads if inventory levels dip below a certain level.
Some sellers were relying on sales over the next couple of weeks before they order their winter holiday stock. If you’re too short of cash right now to place more purchase orders, Payoneer can help. Payoneer’s Working Capital program lets Amazon sellers access funds quickly so they can prepare for busy shopping periods, with easy repayments from future sales.
Discounts are great, but you need to use them carefully. One excellent option is to offer gift cards and discount codes with purchases during October Prime Day. This way, you’ll encourage people to buy now, and to come back later to use their codes and cards in the main Black Friday Cyber Monday or pre-Christmas sales.
You should also do your research now to see which products people typically buy together, so that you can piggyback on a major Prime Day sale. For example, perhaps Amazon is going to run huge discounts on Kindles. You could cross-sell to these customers with customized Kindle covers.
Getting ready for October Prime Day might be hectic, but everything you do will help you be even more prepared for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the winter shopping season.
By increasing stock levels, improving your Amazon ads, and planning clever sales tactics, you can boost your income in October and beyond. Payoneer is here to help with working capital support, useful advice, and easy international payments so that your business keeps running smoothly.