• by Ray Schultz , July 2, 2019

With Amazon Prime Day coming soon, brands are gearing up to offer deals and grab a piece of the action — with good reason. 

Ecommerce emails with Prime Day in the subject line had a 47% higher open rate in third-quarter 2018 than themes such as Oktoberfest, National Dog Day, National Coffee Day and Black Friday in July, according to a blog by Ivy Shtereva, VP, marketing at Yes Marketing. 

And Prime Day emails drew a 43% higher open rate than the average for all emails sent in Q3 2018, Shtereva adds.

In addition, retailers, who were possibly driven by Prime Day, put more products on sale in July — 20% of their catalogs — than in November or December in 2017 and 2018, judging by stats reported in B2C Benchmark 

The months with the biggest discounts off list price last year were December (14%) and July (15%), Episerver reports.

According to Shtereva, apparel brands enjoyed an average open rate of 15.6%, significantly higher than the average of 13.9%, and electronics brands achieved 15.5%.

One factor to keep in mind is that Prime Day doesn’t last forever, Shtereva writes.

“The same logic applies when thousands line up for limited Black Friday deals,” she continues. "Stressing scarcity in subject lines and email body is an effective motivator for on-the-fence shoppers to complete a transaction and avoid missing out on major savings, so be clear in your messaging that your offers won’t be around long."

Simplicity works. The subject line, “Unique Prime Day deals - Amazon Exclusives” pulled a 29.7% open rate, more than double the Q3 average, Shtereva reports.

And subject lines should emphasize urgency.

“As Prime Day neared its close, a heart health tech company selling through Amazon piqued customer interest and earned a 22.1% open rate, 58.9% higher than average, with the subject line, ‘Amazon Prime Day Sale Ends Tonight!’”, Shtereva notes.

Last year, Amazon Prime Day generated over $4 billion in sales, according to Internet Retailer, she adds.