Amazon’s Prime Day is known for giving members the best deals on a variety of products, but it could also be the company’s entrance into reaching more consumers through mobile devices.
Historically, the marketplace has lacked continuous app or mobile web traffic throughout the year. At least the kind that’s required to make a difference for shoppers on the go.
Purchases on the site typically are done on a desktop, with the exception of holiday shopping.
Data released Thursday from InfoScout, which provides real-time consumer and shopper insights, shows Amazon continues to gain a higher share of consumers willing to search and make purchases on its marketplace on mobile devices.
Mobile surpassed browser-based purchases last year. This year, some 67% of Prime Day shoppers shopped on their mobile phone, with the remainder shopping via desktop.
InfoScout identified shoppers in its omnichannel purchase panel who made an Amazon purchase during the first 24 hours of Prime Day 2018. It surveyed 1,200 shoppers in real-time to get an early look into how people shop on Amazon and their perceptions of the deals offered.
Consumer electronics, per InfoScout, was the top selling category at 49%, but marketers trying to gain the attention of those searching for Prime Day deals had less than half the chance of attracting consumers with intent to make a purchase.
In fact, 54% said they bought the brand they intended to buy. Only 33% did not have a brand in mind, and 13% were persuaded to buy a different brand instead.
Early data from InfoScout showed 84% of Prime Day shoppers planned to shop on Prime Day, up from 78% in 2017. Some 89% of shoppers were aware it was Prime Day before they shopped on Amazon, the remainder were not. About 54% admitted the sale drove them to the marketplace to shop. Some 83% said it influenced their decision to shop that day on Amazon.
Some 65% of shoppers admitting they made plans to shop on Amazon during the Prime Day sale at least one day in advance, and 29% planned ahead at least one week in advance.
Amazon mainly sticks to advertising about Prime Day on its site, app and through email marketing. Some 51% of shoppers said they heard about Prime Day from Amazon's website, 43% from email marketing, 40% from Amazon’s mobile app, 42% from social media, and 31% knew about Prime Day from shopping during the sale in previous years. Only 1% of shoppers said they used Alexa to place an order.