Workers retrieve boxes at an Amazon fulfillment center on Prime Day in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., on Monday, June 21, 2021.
Rachel Jessen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Amazon shoppers bought more than 375 million worldwide during this year’s Prime Day, up from 300 million items sold last year, the company announced Thursday.
The 48-hour sales event kicked off Tuesday and ran through Wednesday. Amazon, which didn’t disclose total sales from the event, said the first 24 hours of Prime Day marked the “single largest sales day in company history.”
Home goods, fashion, and beauty were among the top categories during the discount bonanza, while shoppers scooped up Fire TV sticks, Apple AirPods, and Laneige lip balm, the company said.
Amazon started Prime Day in 2015 to lure new Prime subscribers and deepen existing members’ loyalty to the program, as well as drum up sales during the slower summer months. The company typically uses the event to promote and discount Amazon-branded devices like its Echo smart speakers and Fire tablets.
Like years past, Prime Day lifted sales for other retailers across the web. On Tuesday, the first day of the event, online spending in the U.S. rose roughly 6% to $6.4 billion, making it the single-biggest e-commerce day so far this year, according to Adobe Analytics.
Rival retailers including Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s hosted competing discount events alongside Prime Day.
Preliminary shopping data from the event indicates that consumer spending may be stronger than feared in the face of economic uncertainty and still-high inflation. Shoppers spent more per order, with an average order size of $54.05, up from $52.26 during last year’s event, according to Numerator data as of Thursday morning.
Roughly 52% of the more than 1 million households surveyed by Numerator said they purchased items during Prime Day they’d been holding off on buying until they were on sale.
WATCH: Consumer feeling stretched and looking for deals during Amazon Prime Day
