October Prime Day Falls Flat
There are few details of Amazon’s “Prime Early Access Sale” but Analysts say October Prime Day Was a Flop.
Analysts said Amazon’s 48-hour “Prime Early Access Sale,” which occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday, didn’t give the e-commerce company the same revenue boost, or attract as much social-media buzz, as prior Prime Days. This was Amazon’s second such shopping event this year. The previous one was in July.
Klover, a company that analyzes real-time commerce and financial data, found that households spent around 40% less during this week’s event compared with the July Prime Day.
“This Prime Day seemed to be mostly just another day on Amazon,” said Brian Mandelbaum, chief executive at Klover.
Average order prices also appeared to have dropped. Research firm Numerator, which tracks Prime sales event data, said the average order was $46.68, down from $60.29 during the summer event.
Sprout Social, an analytics company that tracks social-media mentions, reported that in the week after each event was announced, the Prime Early Access Sale was mentioned on Twitter 90% less than the summer event.
Retailers Kick Off Black Friday in October Again
Also note Retailers Kick Off Black Friday in October Again, This Time With Too Much Stuff
Black Friday may be more than six weeks away, but retailers are already rolling out the deals.
Target Corp. TGT said Monday that it was beginning its Black Friday sale, which will include half-priced electronics and toys. Walmart Inc. also said it was offering sales this week for holiday shoppers.
Some retailers have pushed their Black Fridays sales earlier in recent years in a bid to draw customers and compete with Amazon. Target announced this year’s Black Friday deals three weeks earlier than last year.
Target said that it would roll out both daily and weekly deals now through the week of Black Friday, which is on Nov. 25 this year. Some of the offers include steep markdowns on TVs and air fryers and 50% off Beats by Dre headphones.
Walmart said Monday that it was offering four days of discounts this week for early holiday shoppers. The company is selling discounted Apple Watches, electric bikes and other products.
Clearance Laptops
Laptop Magazine reports Dell Has Early Black Friday Deals that are Better than Amazon’s Prime Day.
For computers, it’s nothing but bah humbug. MarketWatch reports PC Market in ‘Steepest’ Fall Since Mid-1990s.
Global PC shipments logged yet another quarter of declines, while remaining above pre-pandemic levels, their worst — or among their worst — ever recorded, depending if you follow research firm International Data Group or rival Gartner Inc.
Early Monday, IDC said third-quarter PC shipments worldwide fell 15% year-over-year to 74.3 million worldwide, just a hair from the second-quarter decline of 15.3% that marked the sharpest quarterly drop off in shipments since IDC began collecting data back in the mid-1990s.
This quarter, Gartner data released after the close of markets Monday claims third-quarter PC shipments plummeted a whopping 19.5% to 68 million from a year ago, or a difference of 6.3 million shipments versus IDC.
That nearly 20% drop marks “the steepest market decline since Gartner began tracking the PC market in the mid 1990s and the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline,” the firm said in a statement.
Cutting Back on Prescriptions
The Wall Street Journal reports Walgreens Quarterly Sales Fall on Fewer Prescriptions, Covid-19 Vaccinations
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. posted a 5.3% drop in revenue in its recently completed quarter as it filled fewer prescriptions and administered fewer Covid-19 vaccinations.
The Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain saw a nearly 9% drop in U.S. pharmacy sales, after giving 2.9 million Covid-19 vaccinations and 3.4 million PCR tests in the period. This compares with 13.5 million vaccinations in the same period a year earlier.
The unit was also weighed down by declines in AllianceRX Walgreens, the company’s specialty and home-delivery pharmacy division.
It’s not just Covid, pharmacy home deliveries are down at Walgreens too. Are people taking half doses of medicine because they cannot afford the prices?
Black Friday in October, Who Cares?
Black Friday is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving.
To compete with Amazon, stores including Target, Apple, and Walmart are in aggressive competition to start sales earlier and earlier.
Hot CPI Data
Consumers are spending more on food and rent. As a result, they are cutting back everywhere else.
For discussion of the CPI including declines in energy, please see CPI Much Hotter Than Expected Led by a Surge in Price of Food and Shelter
For discussion of the food price inflation, please see The Cost of Food Jumps Another 0.8 Percent in September
The September retail sales report is out tomorrow. The Bloomberg Econoday consensus is for a 0.2 percent rise. I’ll take the under.
Regardless, its “real” inflation-adjusted sales, not nominal sales that drives the CPI, and the CPI rose 0.4 percent.
This post originated at MishTalk.Com.
Thanks for Tuning In!
Please Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.
Subscribers get an email alert of each post as they happen. Read the ones you like and you can unsubscribe at any time.
If you have subscribed and do not get email alerts, please check your spam folder.
Mish
We got a new self emptying Roomba, as we were going to get a new one anyway and $200 off was enough to bother now, so my prime order was $641. Plus a book later in the day.