Amazon Prime Day sales reveal global shopping trends

Monday, July 17, 2017 - 09:42 by Graham Miller

Last week Amazon ran its promotional Prime Day event during which flash sales on thousands of items were available to customers from around the world. And with a 60 per cent boost in purchases compared with the same day in 2016, it is clear that its efforts are having an impact.

Business Insider reports that the most in-demand product of the day was the own-brand Echo Dot device, a smart speaker which provides users with access to Amazon’s Alexa digital personal assistant service. The rest of the top seller list is a little more surprising, with consumers in certain countries favouring specific products more than their contemporaries elsewhere.

In the US, is was the Instant Pop DUO80 pressure cooker that took the top spot for non-Amazon items sold on Prime Day 2017, while here in the UK a TP-Link smart plug box set, including Wi-Fi enabled sockets, outsold all other deals available via safe shopping online.

The second most popular gadget amongst British subscribers to Prime was the PlayStation 4, which has recently been revamped in a new slimmer, more stylish guise by manufacturer Sony.

Over in Spain, the SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB flash drive was a major draw, with customers seeking to expand their portable storage portfolios with a cutting edge memory stick. The Lenovo Ideapad 310 was also a big seller in this country, with shoppers on the continent taking the opportunity to nab a cut price laptop.

In Japan, the top selling item on Amazon during Prime Day was whey protein pouches offered by manufacturer SAVAS, which may surprise those who would have expected this tech-obsessed country to put a gadget at the top of the pile.

Meanwhile in France and Belgium, it was subscriptions to Sony’s PlayStation Plus service which made the biggest splash, indicating that it is not just physical items that people like to buy via safe shopping online.