• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, July 8, 2021

Email marketers that are fighting to hang on to their budgets should take a look at statistics in Q2 Amazon Benchmarks, a study released Thursday by Perpetua. They can see what they’re up against.  

Brands increased their attributed spend for Amazon sponsored product ads by 95% in Q2 YoY. But this led to only a 30% increase in attributed sales.  

Still, the study views that as positive. “While Q2 2021 sales have not increased nearly as much as advertiser spend, you can see ad spend hoping to drive sales back to what they were,” the study states.  

Clicks rose by 15%, and impressions increased by 16%. But conversions leaped by 51%, thanks largely to the return of Amazon Prime Days to Q2, versus its Q4 scheduling in 2020. 

What’s more, Prime Day’s Q2 slot “drove growth in sales, spend, conversions and average order value across all Amazon ad units, including the Amazon DSP,” the study adds.  

However, this was accompanied by a 29% hike in CPA YOY and 15% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). 

Meanwhile, sponsored brands saw a 108% leap in attributed spend, and a 46% rise in attributed sales. And this helped draw an 87% hike in click-throughs. 

“Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display saw an increase in Click Through Rate at a higher Cost Per Acquisition, meaning while they were more expensive to buy, they earned the attention of shoppers with highly engaging ads,” the study notes. 

But here’s the challenge: Is email getting the credit it deserves in attribution reports? These sales cannot have been driven solely by ads. 

Moreover, triggered and transactional emails are critical as follow-ups to digital conversions and sales. If you think they’re not important, buy something and track Amazon’s email performance. 

Overall, Amazon sponsored product sales hit a peak in June due to Prime Day, followed by a sharp downward plummet.   

The Sports & Outdoor category achieved a 33% sales spike QoQ, followed by jewelry (18%), food (14%), electronics (10%) and beauty (7%).  

But Toys and Kids saw a 21% decline. This could be “attributed to both a decrease from its spike over the holidays in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021, as well as shoppers shifting focus to outdoor activities versus purchasing toys to keep their kids occupied indoors during various lockdowns,” the study states. 

Electronics have the highest CPA -- at $11.27, compared to $10.48 for food and $4 for sports and Outdoor.  

In general, Prime Day drove a $30.51 boost in average order value YoY. 

The study is based on performance data for campaigns under Perpetua’s management.