Prime day: a record-breaking event - why didn’t it feel like it?

I’ve held off on sharing a view on July’s Prime Day, mostly because I’ve struggled to get a clear read on it. Partly that’s down to the change in format - four days instead of two, and on different dates than last year, but more than that, it just wasn’t obvious how to feel about it. Not only did it lack clarity but more tellingly, it lacked energy.

Amazon declared it the largest Prime event ever with overall spend up 30% in the US and 11% in the UK according to Adobe Analytics. The UK reportedly had its largest online spending day for 2025 so far on day 1 of this event, with over a billion spent across the 4 day event overall. That’s good, I think?

Some of our clients certainly saw the huge sales uplifts we’ve come to expect, but some didn’t. Some saw significant CPC uplifts YOY (particularly in beauty) and some actually saw reductions. Conversion rates varied considerably. None of this is that surprising. Even for tentpole events, there are typically winners and losers and overall, there were still certainly more winners across our client base, which of course is a good result.

Yet I have some persistent, nagging concerns. Having read around others reports and dug into the data across our client base, these are some of the reasons why:

1. Consumer confidence is still shaky: In the UK, the GfK Consumer Confidence Index rose slightly in June to –18, its highest point in nearly a year, but still deep in the red. Meanwhile, Deloitte’s Q2 2025 Consumer Tracker showed the first drop in confidence since 2022, citing growing anxiety over debt and job security. The S&P Global UK Sentiment Index showed similar sentiment: while people may feel marginally better about their jobs, that optimism isn’t translating into spend. The mindset behind spending is cautious. Defensive. That shapes how and why people buy, especially during high-profile events.
2. Essentials up, excitement down: According to Numerators Prime Day survey, 45% of purchases were across essential and grocery - leading to 53% of items bought being below $30 in the US. That’s a significant skew toward low-cost, practical items and makes sense given the first point. Prime Day didn’t feel exciting, it felt necessary. Certainly brands with higher price point products really struggled to generate volume without significant margin-eroding discounts.
3. Deal or No Deal: I bought two items during the Prime Day in a moment of heat-wave fuelled impulsivity - A paddling pool for my 11 month old and a parasol - neither of which have been used over the last week since the UK has reverted to type. Both items I bought didn't have a Prime discount. I wanted to buy something on deal, but the discounts still landed me in higher price point territory than non-deal items, which had healthier ratings and reviews. It felt disappointing and speaking to others in my network, reflected some of their own experiences too. Deal events should be exciting - this wasn’t.
4. The never-ending sale: There are rumours that this year's Black Friday deal event will extend to 16 days. When you include October Prime and last minute Christmas deals, it’s basically a 3 month sale period. Is that good? It doesn’t feel good, even as a consumer. The more these events drag on, the more indistinct they become. And with indistinct comes indifference.

So sales are broadly up, yes, but in my view, in a way that doesn’t necessarily feel positive or wholly sustainable. My sense is that more brands will start trialling alternatives - opting out of tentpole events to protect their margin and their budgets in these typically inflated periods, enabling them to reinvest into calendar moments that they have more control over. Brand Days, for instance, have been hugely successful for some of our clients - an opportunity to drive significant volumes outside of the clutter and in a way that genuinely allows the consumer to feel a sense of excitement and engagement with the brand itself.

Historically I’ve been nervous to recommend stepping away from these events. This Prime Day has quietened those nerves considerably.