The history of Prime Day: A look back at Amazon's annual deal event

When and where: 15 July, 2015 in 9 countries

Amazon turned 20 and on the eve of its birthday, the company introduced Prime Day, a global shopping event. Our only goal? Offer a volume of deals greater than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members.

Our first Prime Day was July 15, 2015 and lasted 24 hours, spanning nine countries including the U.S., the UK, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, and Austria.

Prime Day 2015 highlights

• Customers bought more items than on Black Friday 2014, our biggest Black Friday ever at the time.
• More than 34.4 million items were ordered across Prime-eligible countries, with 398 items ordered per second.
• Customers ordered hundreds of thousands of Amazon devices—making it the largest device sales day ever, worldwide.
• 24,000 Instant Pot 7-in-1 programmable pressure cookers were sold.
• Amazon sellers using 'Fulfillment by Amazon' (FBA) enjoyed the biggest day ever with record-breaking unit sales growing nearly 300% worldwide.

When and where: 12 July, 2016 in 10 countries

The second Prime Day event surpassed Prime Day 2015 by more than 60% worldwide, and more than 50% in the U.S.

Prime Day 2016 highlights

• Prime members saved more than double on deals over Prime Day 2015.
• More than two million toys and more than one million pairs of shoes were purchased by customers.
• It was the biggest day ever for Amazon devices globally and a record Prime Day for each Amazon device category including Fire TV, Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers, and Alexa-enabled devices.
• 215,000 Instant Pot 7-in-1 multi-functional pressure cookers were sold.
• Prime members purchased an average of one Alexa-exclusive deal per second during Prime Day, using their voice.
• Small businesses and sellers on Amazon offering deals to Prime members saw orders nearly triple, year-over-year, on Prime Day.

When and where: 11-12 July, 2017 (30 hours) in 13 countries

For the first time, Prime Day expanded beyond a 24-hour event in order to give Prime members even more opportunities to save.

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Prime Day 2017 highlights

• Echo Dot was the most popular Prime member purchase.
• Tens of millions of Prime members made a purchase on Prime Day 2017, more than 50% higher than the prior year.
• We added Mexico and China to the growing number of countries enjoying Prime Day.
• More than 3.5 million toys were purchased by customers worldwide.
• Tens of millions of customers used the Amazon Shopping App on Prime Day, with customer orders on the app more than doubled compared to 2016.

When and where: 17-18 July, 2018 (36 hours) in 17 countries

Prime Day 2018 was even bigger and better than the year before, extending to 36 hours of amazing deals.

Prime Day 2018 highlights

• Members worldwide purchased more than 100 million products during Prime Day.
• Best-sellers worldwide were the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo Dot—making this, with 12-hour early access to device deals, the biggest event ever for Amazon devices.
• Small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon far exceeded $1.5 billion in sales this Prime Day.
• Customers purchased more than five million items in each of the following categories: Toys, Beauty, PCs and Computer Accessories, Apparel, and Kitchen Products.
• Prime members purchased more than 300,000 Instant Pot 6 Qt 7-in-1 multi use pressure cookers.

When and where: 15-16 July, 2019 in 19 countries

For the first time ever, Prime Day ran for a full 48 hours. Prime Day 2019 was the largest shopping event at the time in Amazon history with more than one million deals exclusively for Prime members. Over the two days of Prime Day, sales surpassed the previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

Prime Day 2019 highlights

• Members worldwide purchased more than 175 million items, from devices to groceries and more, throughout Prime Day.
• Prime Day was the biggest event ever for Amazon devices—top-selling deals worldwide were Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, and Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote.
• Millions of people around the world streamed Prime Day events including the Prime Day Concert presented by Amazon Music and headlined by 10-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist Taylor Swift.

When and where: 13-14 October, 2020 in 19 countries (Prime Day in India was held in August)

In 2020, the pandemic shifted Prime Day from its usual date in July. Despite the necessary adaptation, Amazon delivered big sales for small businesses and big savings for Prime members yet again.

In 2020, Amazon invested $18 billion to help small and medium-sized businesses succeed in its store and designed this Prime Day to support small businesses even more—including funding a promotion that helped drive over $900 million in sales for small businesses in the two weeks leading up to Prime Day.

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This Prime Day again delivered the two biggest days ever for third-party sellers, nearly all of whom are small and medium-sized businesses. Sellers saw record-breaking sales, surpassing $3.5 billion in total across 19 countries. Prime members around the world saved over $1.4 billion during the event and got a jump start on their holiday shopping.

Prime Day 2020 UK highlights

• The Echo Dot was the most popular item purchased on Prime Day globally and in the UK.
• Best-selling products in the UK included the Shark Upright Vacuum Cleaner, Celebrations Chocolate Bulk Box, Halloween Party Bag Fillers, and the Oral-B Smart 6 6000N CrossAction Electric Toothbrush, among others.

Prime Day 2020 global highlights

• Independent third-party sellers—most of whom are small and medium-sized businesses—surpassed $3.5 billion in sales on Prime Day—a nearly 60% increase over Prime Day 2019, growing even more than Amazon's retail business.
• Top-selling categories for third-party sellers include Bedding, Wireless Accessories, Nutrition & Wellness, Arts, Crafts & Sewing, and Health Care.
• Tens of millions of customers supported small businesses in the two-week lead-up to Prime Day, generating more than $900 million in sales for small and medium-sized businesses included in the Spend $10, Get $10 promotion.

When and where: 21-22 June, 2021 in 20 countries

The two-day event delivered Prime members over 2 million deals across every category, along with the best in entertainment benefits and never-before-seen exclusives across Prime Video, Amazon Music, and Prime Gaming.

Prime Day 2021 was the biggest two-day period ever for Amazon’s third-party sellers at the time. Prime members shopped more in 2021 than any previous Prime Day and scored deep discounts across home, fashion, beauty, and electronics. Members purchased more than 250 million items worldwide and saved more than any Prime Day before.

Prime Day 2021 UK highlights

• The Fire TV Stick 4K Ultra HD with Alexa Voice Remote was the most popular item purchased during Prime Day in the UK
• Some of the top categories Prime members shopped and saved on Prime Day in the UK included Hardware, Skin Care, Devices, Spirits, and Make-up.

Prime Day 2021 global highlights

• The two weeks leading up to Prime Day 2021 were a boon for small business sellers thanks to the Amazon-funded Spend £10, Get £10 promotion. Customers spent over $1.9 billion on more than 70 million small business products during the promotional period, more than a 100% year-over-year increase on sales compared to the Prime Day October 2020 promotion.
• Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote was the most popular item purchased during Prime Day with customers purchasing more Fire TV 4K streaming media players on Prime Day this year than any previous Prime Day.
• Best-selling categories worldwide for Prime Day 2021 included Tools, Beauty, Nutrition, Baby Care, Electronics including Amazon devices, Apparel, and Household products.
• Top-selling products worldwide for Prime Day 2021 included iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum, Keurig K-Slim Coffee Maker, Apple Cider Vinegar Gummy Vitamins by Goli Nutrition, and Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips.
• Prime members worldwide saved while gearing up for back to school, purchasing more than 600,000 backpacks, 1 million laptops, 1 million headphones, 240,000 notebooks, 40,000 calculators, and 220,000 Crayola products.
• Tens of millions of customers viewed Prime Day product demonstrations and try-on hauls, heard directly from creators, and more during Amazon Live livestreams throughout Prime Day.
• Amazon Music promotions drove more sign-ups for Amazon Music Unlimited globally than on any other Prime Day.
• The 2021 Prime Day show was a three-part immersive musical event featuring Billie Eilish, H.E.R. and Kid Cudi. Artists performed in their own episodes as a part of a series available on Prime Video.

When and where: 12-13 July, 2022 in more than 20 countries

Prime members purchased more than 300 million items worldwide, making the 2022 event the biggest Prime Day in Amazon’s history. And, more shopping meant more savings—Prime members saved over $1.7 billion, more than any previous Prime Day event.

2022 was also the biggest Prime Day event for Amazon's independent sellers, most of whom are small and medium-sized businesses, whose sales growth in Amazon’s store outpaced Amazon's retail business.

Prime Day 2022 highlights

UK Prime Day Trends

• Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote| HD streaming device was the most popular item purchased this Prime Day in the UK.
• The best-selling categories, excluding Amazon devices, in the U.K. this Prime Day were Hardware, Skin Care, Makeup, and Spirits

Worldwide Prime Day trends

Shopping

• Prime members worldwide purchased more than 100,000 items per minute during this year's Prime Day event.
• Some of the best-selling categories worldwide this Prime Day were Amazon Devices, Consumer Electronics, and Home.
• Prime members worldwide did the most shopping from 5 p.m. —6 p.m. BST on Tuesday, 12th July during the entire Prime Day event.
• Select Fire TV, Echo, and Blink devices were some of the best-selling items on Amazon worldwide.

Small businesses

• Customers supported small businesses in the three-week lead-up to Prime Day, generating more than $3 billion in sales for small businesses included in the Support Small Businesses to Win Big sweepstakes.
• Customers purchased more than 100 million small business items in the three weeks leading up to Prime Day.

Amazon Live

• Amazon Live Prime Day streams had more than 100 million views.
• Thousands of creators streamed throughout Prime Day 2022.

Photo by Amazon Prime

When and where: 11-12 July, 2023 in more than 20 countries

Prime Day 2023 was on 11th to 12th July. “The first day of Prime Day was the largest sales day in Amazon’s history, and Prime members saved more this year than any other Prime Day event,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon Stores.

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In 2023, Amazon offered more deals than any past Prime Day event, with Home, Fashion, and Beauty among the top-selling deal categories, and Fire TV Stick, Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer, and COSRX Advanced Snail Skin Repair Serum among the top-selling deals.

When and where: 16-17 July, 2024 in more than 20 countries

During Prime Day 2024, Prime members shopped millions of deals across more than 35 categories, and purchased more items than any previous Prime Day shopping event. Independent sellers – most of which are small and medium-sized businesses – sold more than 200 million items during the Prime Day event.

The opportunity to save big meant a record-breaking number of customers signed up for Prime in the three weeks leading up to Prime Day, with millions of new members worldwide.

"Prime Day 2024 was a huge success thanks to the millions of Prime members globally who turned to Amazon for fantastic deals, and our much-appreciated employees, delivery partners, and sellers around the world who helped bring the event to life for customers," said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores. "We love helping Prime members save money, and Prime Day is the ultimate celebration of the savings, selection, and convenience that Prime membership provides customers looking for shopping, entertainment, food delivery, and more."

Some of the UK bestsellers included:

• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
• Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara
• Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer
• COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence 100ml
• COLOR WOW Dream Coat Supernatural Spray - Anti-Frizz
• Oatly Barista Oat Drink
• Honeywell TurboForce Power Fan
• Finish Ultimate Plus Infinity Shine Dishwasher Tablets
• Shark Handheld Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
• Jack Daniel's Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey
• COSRX Advanced Snail 92 All in one Cream