It’s Amazon Prime Day—how many young consumers are shopping the sales? We asked them in real time and got the impressive answer…
Amazon’s biggest shopping event of the year is here, and Prime Day is making headlines again. The ecommerce giant seems to be pulling all the stops to make sure its Prime Day event is bigger than ever this summer—even hosting free concerts featuring Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, and H.E.R to attract young fans. But how many young people will be shopping Amazon’s deals for this retail holiday?
Before COVID hit, YPulse reported that over half of young consumers were Amazon Prime users, and while our research showed that that number dipped to 40% post-pandemic, it’s been climbing back up: YPulse’s most recent media consumption behavioral report found that 45% of 13-39-year-olds are subscribed to Amazon Prime. Millennials are still more likely to be Prime shoppers compared to Gen Z: 48% of 20-38-year-olds say they are subscribed to Amazon Prime compared to 35% of 13-19-year-olds.
So with Prime user numbers almost back up to pre-pandemic levels among these groups, and plenty of new reasons to shop as old routines and social schedules become new again, young shoppers may be primed (sorry) for Prime Day. To get a real-time sense of just how many actually participating in this year’s shopping event, so we used our on-demand PULSE survey platform to ask:
An impressive 62% of 16-34-year-olds tell us they plan on buying something from Amazon during Prime Day this year—or that they already have. That is a huge share of young shoppers who at the very least are paying attention to the event, and could make a purchase because of it. When we asked them what’s motivating them to buy, no one reason stood out, but it’s clear that many are looking to treat themselves to something new:
Thirty-three percent of 16-34-year-olds say they were motivated by wanting to treat themselves to something new but affordable, which makes sense given the tough year they just had to endure. Meanwhile, 30% of 16-34-year-olds say they’ve been waiting on a particular item on sale, while 29% say they’re motivated by better deals on their favorite brands compared to in-store or other retailers. Lightning deals and the thrill of buying something on sale are also motivators for many.
So what are they planning to treat themselves to? Of course, we asked that ask well:
Tech devices are the biggest draw of Prime Day, with 36% of 16-34-year-olds saying they plan to buy them. Household goods/cleaning items and clothing followed, with 22% and 21% of 16-34-year-olds saying they would purchase those products. Kitchenware (19%) and furniture and home decor (18%) followed, while 17% of 16-34-year-olds all say they plan on purchasing home entertainment, beauty / personal care products. But 17% also say they’re not sure what they’re going to buy but will get whatever they see that seems like a good deal. In essence, a healthy number of young Prime Day shoppers are planning on impulse buying for the event.
As Prime Day has grown, and gotten more attention from shoppers, more retailers have created their own sales around the date. In fact, according to Retail Dive, Prime Day is now “just another summer sale” given that retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and many others are all hosting their own sales this week. Walmart’s sales event “Deals for Days” just happens to coincide with Prime Day and features plenty of discounts on, you guessed it, tech and household items. In short, a full discount war for shoppers is being waged around the retail holiday—and it looks like many young consumers are happy to shop other sales as well:
Over a third of 16-34-year-olds told us that they plan to buy sales items from other retailers during Prime Day, compared to 25% who say they’ll only be shopping from Amazon, indicating that the event is indeed an opportunity for all brands. Overall, young consumers have a positive view of sales “holidays,” with 59% telling us they’re a fun way to shop for things they want and save money, compared to 41% who say they don’t care about them. Gen Z and Millennials are both discount-minded, and clearly they’re ready to take advantage of a sale, no matter who is offering it and when it happens.
