Amazon Prime Day reveals U.S. consumer behavior as shoppers manage their budgets carefully
Adobe Analytics says that from June 23 to June 26, U.S. online shoppers spent more than $26.4 billion on Amazon.com’s yearly sales event Prime Day, seeking deals on electronics, appliances, toys, and everyday items.
The huge amount of money spent is 9.3% more than the same time last year. Retail experts say the increase is because of high inflation and shoppers’ desire to buy more luxury, long-lasting items.
Adobe said that shoppers bought more expensive items like electronics, toys, appliances, and personal care items during the four-day Prime event because of the deep discounts. This means that stores may have to keep offering deep discounts to get their items off the shelves for the holiday season.
Tax refunds and discounts “could have provided a sizable tailwind to a lot of these discretionary categories,” Arun Sundaram, an analyst at CFRA Research, said. In the fall and winter, most people won’t care about getting tax returns.
The amount of tax refunds rose 11.1% to $3,462 in 2026, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. This gave shoppers extra money to make purchases they had been putting off, Sundaram said.
Shoppers also bought clothes and toys for kids before school started, as well as personal hygiene products and things for the home. This trend shows that Prime Day shoppers were trying to stock up on things “that they were going to buy anyway,” according to Sonia Lapinsky, managing director of retail at consulting firm Alix Partners. “It really points to that tired consumer.” “They’re not necessarily spending more; they’re just trying to distribute what they have among better deals and discounts,” she explained.
Adobe says that the deals on Prime Day were about the same as the deals last year. Discounts on gadgets were 24% on average, down from 23% last year. Discounts on clothing were also 24%, down from 23%, and discounts on toys were 20%, down from 19% last year.
A different study by the data company Numerator looked at more than 178,000 Prime Day orders and found that the average order size was $47.66, down from $53.34. This, according to some experts, is a sign that consumer power is weakening.
