Amazon’s fourth annual Prime Day welded record-breaking sales for the company, but it also
In its study, the payments and financial technology company discovered an increase in purchasing activity among those who carry credit cards issued by CO-OP’s credit union clients.
Transactions from 2018’s Prime Day were up over 41 percent compared to transactions conducted on Prime Day in 2017. Additionally, total dollar amount spent increased by 61 percent, showing that cardholders not only purchased additional items, but also increased their budgets during the online bonanza.
“Credit union issuers are paying more attention to Amazon Prime members, as they spend an average of $1,400 every year on Amazon alone,” Deb Wieczorek, director and portfolio advisory for CO-OP, said in a statement. “This is a critically important segment to engage as credit unions look to enhance their visibility with digital consumers. If it isn’t already, getting their credit union’s card loaded into Amazon as the preferred payment method should be a high priority for most cards teams.”
Analysis conducted by CO-OP honed in on one full day of transactions within the 36-hour time frame Prime Day elicits. The analysis compared e-commerce transactions conducted on July 17, 2018 to those occurring on July 11, 2017.
CO-OP analysts attribute part of the year-over-year Prime Day increase to credit union growth that process with Amazon. CO-OP also found that the amount of Amazon transactions increased about 23 percent on the first full day of Prime Day compared with the day preceding it.
The most sought out items included books, computers, specialty retail stores, and subscription purchases -- including sign-ups for Prime membership.
Retail analysts forecast that Prime Day would also increase e-commerce sales, which is corroborated by CO-OP’s findings: online purchases within CO-OP’s portfolio that didn’t transpire on Amazon still climbed 24 percent compared to the day preceding 2018’s Prime Day.
“Digging into the Prime Day data allows us to see how events like this impacts our businesses, and provides a key to understanding how to compete in a rapidly-transforming digital environment,” Todd Clark, president and CEO of CO-OP, said in a statement.
