According to a new study, Amazon's Prime Day also benefits stationary retail. This year Prime Day [October 13th and 14th] resulted in offline visits, according to Placer.ai. The activity shows how the general excitement surrounding a retail event can benefit online and offline sales.
During the two-day event, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, and Best Buy saw significant improvements in visits compared to the six-week average prior to Prime Day. Best Buy saw the most impressive increase in visits during Prime Day, up 21.7% year over year. The goal was also a significant increase in visits, an increase of 7% over the previous year. These retailers coincided with the event by launching special offers to move business forward and compete with Amazon.
While offline retailers saw an increase in visits compared to the last six weeks, visits were down compared to other Prime Day events. One reason for this is that Prime Day was July 15-16, 2019 and retailers had more time to prepare for offline sales. Additionally, the summer period of 2019 was a strong time for retail sales. This year the target visits decreased by 15.9%; Walmart visits accounted for 19.1% and Best Buy visits were down 11.6% compared to Prime Day in 2019. Given the pandemic and the change in Prime Day dates, it was especially difficult to compare the two years in terms of visits, according to Placer.ai.
Offline retailers had an improvement in visits during Prime Day, with Amazon the clear winner. The e-commerce giant saw a surge in warehouse visits, which is an indicator of online demand, compared to both Prime Day 2019 and similar days in 2019. Placer.ai notes that this is a key indicator the company's activities and ability to meet the increased demand.
While Amazon was clearly the leader on Prime Day – no surprise since the event is owned by the company – the increase in offline visits shows how tight brick and mortar and online shopping really is, and how physical retail is benefiting from increased online shopping can.
"Is Amazon Still the King of Prime Day?" Placer.ai closes. "Sure. Offline retailers have shown, however, that physical retail can still benefit when online pushes add to the urgency and excitement."
The Placer.ai study also highlights the increasing interdependence between online and stationary retail.
A study by the International Council of Shopping Centers shows that physical stores can increase online sales. The ICSC found that a brick and mortar store in an area can increase traffic to the retailer's website by 37%.
