4 Consumer Insights About Prime Days That Reveal How Amazon Created the Most Successful Sales Event

About this analysis: we first published it on the Pivony blog in August 2022. It covers more than 50,000 public tweets and Reddit posts shared in the week before and after Amazon Prime Days in 2021 and 2022. Pivony has no partnership with Amazon, and this is an independent reading of public posts.

Why Prime Day is worth studying

Prime Day is a model for any retailer that wants to build its own sales event. The first one, on 15 July 2015, marked Amazon's 20th anniversary; it lasted 24 hours and outsold Black Friday 2014, with 398 items ordered per second and 34.4 million items in total. In 2022 the event ran for two days (12–13 July), and Amazon reported roughly 300 million items sold worldwide, its biggest Prime Day so far, despite rising inflation.

Amazon built the event, but customers shaped it: what they share before and during Prime Day explains a lot of its success. Here are four patterns we found in the conversation.

Insight 1: affiliate marketing spreads the word

Amazon's affiliate network had more than 900,000 members: publishers ("Top 10 products to buy on Prime Day"), influencers and ordinary people sharing links with friends. "Affiliate", "deal" and "commission" were among the most used words in tweets with Amazon links. One user wrote that they were sharing their Prime Day affiliate links on Instagram and Facebook, hoping to earn a little extra.

This content creates awareness and anticipation long before the event. Not everyone liked it, though; some users joked that Prime Day had become "push your affiliate links day".

Insight 2: rewards turn a 48-hour event into a habit

Cash-back rewards strongly influence how people shop online, and many users openly discussed which credit cards would maximise their rewards. Around Prime Day, the $200 bonus and cash-back returns were the main reasons people mentioned for applying for Amazon's rewards card.

A card keeps customers buying all year, not only on Prime Day. Two worries came up again and again: whether their credit history was good enough to be approved, and whether the card would arrive in time for the deals.

Insight 3: curiosity about what will be on sale

Many posts were people asking each other whether a product would be discounted. Apple Watch, air fryers and robot vacuums were among the most mentioned. Whether the rumours were organic or not, they made people curious and sent them to check the deals.

Insight 4: wish lists and baby registries

Prime Day prices on baby products were popular for baby registries, both for parents-to-be and for friends buying gifts. Wish lists worked the same way for cleaning products, books and cosmetics: people added items and waited for a discount, and some shared their lists. Amazon made those lists part of the campaign with Lightning Deals and notifications. One user's tip: scroll through your wish list during Prime Day, because discounted items show up there.

What retailers can take from this

1. Give people a reason to talk before the event. Affiliates and creators build anticipation you can't buy with ads alone.
2. Tie the event to a longer relationship. Rewards and cards keep the customer after the sale ends.
3. Let curiosity work for you. Hints about which products will be discounted drive visits.
4. Make lists part of the sale. Wish lists and registries turn intentions into orders when the price drops.

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