Sector reaction to Amazon’s launch of Prime Day has been very mixed and there has been a deluge of PR agencies pitching supplier clients’ viewpoints hoping to secure some coverage on the back of this rather simple yet undoubtedly headline-grabbing initiative. Most readers on the client side wish they had the reach of Amazon to be able to mount something similar themselves but will, without doubt, look to leap on the bandwagon when, rather than if, Amazon turns Prime day into an annual sales bonanza.
For Amazon, this is a very shrewd way to recruit more Prime subscribers as it will be viewed as a major added-value benefit of the Prime package which had come in for a fair amount of criticism in the national press for purportedly not making it crystal clear what consumers were committing themselves to. All will now surely be forgiven and forgotten in the stampede to snare bargains. It comes at a great time of year when most retailers are marking down summer stock to make way for Autumn deliveries and when a lot of consumers are on holiday or in holiday mode, at least, looking for a brief diversion from the day to day. If Prime Day becomes an annual fiesta then it won’t take UK retailers long to plan it into their schedules and start working on their own unbeatable offers to launch in parallel.
But then if Amazon can do it then why shouldn’t a consortium of UK retailers develop their own bonanza clearance day to add a little more balance to the trading year and a whole lot more excitement for customers. Flash sales work simply because of their short term, “buy it now or never at this amazing price” offers. Everyone loves a bargain after all. Perhaps a project, one member has suggested, for the DCA to consider taking up for its members.
You can read some of our readers’ viewpoints here on the Direct Commerce Magazine site, by logging in and searching for ‘Amazon Prime Day’.
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