With Back to School and Holiday shopping on the horizon, we look to Amazon Prime Day for learnings to inform customer retention strategies.

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Amazon's Prime Day has wrapped, and initial reports are that sales grew more than 7% year-over-year. The retail behemoth's two-day annual retention event offers steep discounts and special deals to re-engage even the most loyal Amazon shopper, as well as entice new customers to sign up for their Prime subscription service.

Why is this important, you may ask yourself? Since its debut in 2015, Amazon Prime Day has become a tentpole event in the retail calendar and kicks off the Back to School (BTS) shopping season. What's more, Prime Day purchasing habits have historically correlated with how consumers intend to spend for the remainder of the summer and even into the holiday season.

According to a recent Adobe report, online sales increased 55% during Covid and eCommerce sales are expected to exceed $1 Trillion this year in the US alone. While the pandemic permanently caused an increase in online shopping, what consumers are buying looks different than years past.

This year, the majority of Prime Day shoppers stocked up on essential household items as opposed to indulgences like big-ticket electronics, indicating more and more customers are price-sensitive and holding onto their hard-earned money a little tighter. There are a number of factors at hand — whether it be inflation, supply chain issues, etc., — but trends show consumers are spending more conservatively.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the commerce calendar, BTS shopping is expected to hit an all-time high, with 37% of consumers indicating they intend to spend more than last year, according to a new report from Deloitte. On the flip side, that means 63% of consumers either plan to spend the same or less than in previous years, putting purchase frequency and brand loyalty at risk for a number of reasons.

The moral of the story is that consumers are more price-conscious than ever. It's going to be more challenging than previously to get that additional purchase or increased basket size from even your most loyal consumer — hence the need to ensure you are meaningfully engaging and nurturing all customers. If you aren't trying to re-engage your customer, I guarantee your competitors are!

If you're looking to improve customer engagement, retention, and business outcomes, reach out to Button today!