U.S. online shoppers spent a record $12.7 billion during Amazon’s two-day Prime Day discount event this week, according to Adobe data released Thursday, amid a rush to secure discounted items like electronics, appliances, clothing and toys.
However, more customers opted to use “buy-now-pay-later” options for those purchases, as stubborn inflation continues to dampen consumers’ enthusiasm for spending on items that aren’t basic necessities. Amazon’s
AMZN,
+2.60%
Prime Day ran on Tuesday and Wednesday this year.
Read more: Amazon saw its best sales performance ever on first day of Prime Day
Still, the record results hit as Amazon faces greater online competition from other large retailers. Big discount events from Walmart Inc., Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. also run through this week.
The $12.7 billion sales figure marked a 6.1% gain from last year, Adobe said. Shoppers spent $6.3 billion on Wednesday and $6.4 billion on Tuesday. Discounts for things like electronics ran as steep as 14%, while those for clothes and toys topped out at 12% each. Demand for those goods has faded over the past year, as customers reprioritized their spending around basics.
For both days, 6.5% of customers’ orders used a “buy-now-pay-later” option, accounting for $927 million in revenue — a 20% jump from last year, as customers sought more leeway for items like furniture and electronics, Adobe said.
“For months, consumers have felt the effects of persistent inflation and an uncertain economic environment, and it has pushed shoppers to embrace more flexible ways to manage their spending around the Prime Day event,” Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said in a statement.
“The revenue growth attributed to buy-now-pay-later is a preview of what we can expect in the months ahead, especially as we near the holiday shopping season,” he continued.
On Wednesday, sales of appliances were up 52% compared to average daily sales in June, Adobe said. Sales of housekeeping supplies were up 27% compared to that period, while stationery and office supplies climbed 76%, as customers tried to get a jump on back-to-school shopping.
Keep reading: Why my Amazon Prime Day budget is $0
Customer-traffic analytics firm Placer.ai last month said that recent trends at retail locations could be a sign that customers “are tiring of their shopping discipline and gearing up to hit the stores” in July, amid the summer-season discounting.
Amazon’s results overall were set for a rebound this year, after its investment in Rivian Automotive Inc.
RIVN,
-0.62%
drove a loss last year and e-commerce demand stumbled. But with student-loan payments resuming soon, Jefferies analysts last month said that Amazon, Walmart
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-0.43%
and Target
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+0.04%
were the most vulnerable to any impact the payments might have on consumer spending.
Shares of Amazon were up 2.1% on Thursday. Walmart was down 0.4%. Shares of Target were up 0.4%.
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