Amazon rakes in $14.2B for Prime Day sale, up 11% from a year ago

U.S. shoppers spent $14.2 billion online during Amazon.com Inc.’s 48-hour Prime Day sale, up 11% from a year ago and in line with estimates, according to Adobe Inc.

Consumers took advantage of discounts to update their electronics, apparel and small home appliances, according to Adobe, which tracks online spending across all U.S. retailers during Amazon’s annual summer sale.

“It’s clear now that the Prime Day event has been a catalyst across these major categories, with discounts deep enough for consumers to hit the buy button and upgrade items in their homes,” Adobe analyst Vivek Pandya said.

Adobe measures total online spending during the Prime Day period because rival retailers offer their own deals, prompting shoppers to comparison shop multiple sites. Amazon said its marquee sale set another record for the number of items sold but didn’t provide specific sales data.

The average household spent about $152 on Amazon on Prime Day, down slightly from last year, according to Numerator, a market research firm that tracked spending from 35,588 households. Top-selling products included protein shakes, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick streaming device and Glad brand trash bags, according to Numerator.

EMarketer Inc. expected U.S. shoppers to spend $8.2 billion on Amazon during the event, up 5.5% from last year. Amazon captures about 60% of all online spending on Prime Day, compared with 40% on a typical day, making it difficult to grow much further, according to EMarketer, an industry research firm.

Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers, who pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other benefits. The event helps Amazon lock in shoppers before the holidays and deepen its relationship with existing customers by offering them exclusive deals on Amazon gadgets and other products. About 180 million Amazon shoppers in the U.S. had Prime memberships as of March, up 8% from a year earlier, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.