Prime days and school days propel July ecommerce sales

It was hard not to buy something online in July, what with major retailers looking to capitalize on Amazon Prime Day momentum with their own cleverly-named discount events. Coupled with the July 4th holiday and early back-to-school enticements, ecommerce sales rose across all verticals and increased 9% for the month over last year, according to Signifyd’s pulse data. 

Retailers brought their A-game: Walmart offered a genius marketing lure that let us glimpse into the shopping carts of NFL player Patrick Mahomes, singer Becky G and Barbie. Who knew Mahomes has shopped at Walmart since he was a kid?

It was hard to look away.  

Ecommerce data came with surprises in July

In July overall, electronics led all verticals with a 20% increase year over year, followed by sporting goods (up 15%), health and beauty (up 10%), apparel, accessories and footwear (up 6%) and home goods (up 4%), Signifyd data shows.  

“Amazon had plenty of competition for Prime Day this year with both Target Circle Week and Walmart Plus Week happening simultaneously, giving consumers several options for the sales they shop,” Koen Looijmans, executive vice president of Retail PX at Productsup, told Retail Dive by email. “Something that stands out, however, is that both Target and Walmart held longer sales (seven and four days) compared to Amazon’s sought-after two-day shopping extravaganza. Perhaps, as an attempt to capture customers who missed Amazon’s short window.”  

Spending less for more (what a concept!)

Sporting goods sales soared to 15% in July, year over year, boosted by a 47% sales increase in outdoor camping items, according to Signifyd data. Discounts apparently played their part, with the number of transactions up 32% from last year while the average order value (AOV) was down 12%. 

Sales in the apparel vertical also showed a year-over-year increase in transactions (4%)  and a lower AOV (-2%). Home goods also saw a year-over-year transaction increase (3%), but no movement in the AOV (0%), Signifyd reports.

But other verticals didn’t fare so well. 

Ecommerce shopping statistics yield a mixed bag

Sales of health and beauty items rebounded significantly in July from its recent lackluster performance to rise 10% year over year, but consumers still paid more for those face creams – transactions rose 5% while the AOV rose 12%, year over year, Signifyd data shows.  

This ongoing trend of spending less money on more items, or looking for cheaper alternatives or smaller quantities, continues to be indicative of the savvy shopper navigating the ongoing inflationary and uncertain economy. 

Growth of online shopping beyond Amazon

“In an event typically dominated by electronics, we instead saw many shoppers stocking up on everyday essentials like pet food or pantry staples,” Numerator analyst Amanda Schoenbauer said of Prime days in a statement to Digital Commerce 360. “It seems many used the event to save on their standard purchases or held off on buying larger-ticket items until the sale came around.”  

Amazon’s July shopping event also no doubt fueled the shopping enthusiasm that spilled over to retailers not named Amazon, resulting the strong mid-summer sales.