Saving Money / Shopping

Americans Plan To Spend $521 on Amazon Prime Day 2024: Here’s What They’re Buying

June 28, 2024

4 min Read

Written by Gabrielle Olya

Edited by Molly Sullivan

Kaspars Grinvalds / Shutterstock.com

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Amazon recently announced the official dates for Prime Day 2024, with the annual deal event taking place July 16 and 17. During that time, many other retailers host competing sales to make the most of consumers’ shopping appetites.

Although it’s still a couple of weeks away, many Americans are already planning their spending for these sales. A survey of over 1,000 Americans conducted by RetailMeNot found that 81% of consumers plan to shop on Amazon Prime Day and are expecting to spend a total of $521 on average — $300 on Amazon and $221 at other retailers. Those figures represent a $150 and $100 increase from last year, respectively.

The survey also found what American consumers plan to buy during the shopping extravaganza. Here’s what they will be adding to their carts.

Top Amazon Prime Day Spending Categories

Americans are taking advantage of the savings to shop across a number of categories. According to the survey, the top purchases they will be making include clothing, shoes and apparel (46%); laptops, computers and tablets (34%); headphones (30%), kitchen appliances and bakeware (30%); and home decor (28%).

The survey also found that Americans will be making a mix of preplanned and impulse purchases — 43% plan to purchase items they’ve been saving up for and 27% said they are likely to purchase items not originally on their lists but that are on sale during Prime Day.

Best Things To Buy on Amazon Prime Day

While you can score deals across all of the aforementioned categories, the biggest discounts will be on Amazon-brand products and small appliances. According to RetailMeNot, shoppers can expect to see major savings on Echo devices (speakers and screens), Ring doorbells, Amazon Fire tablets, pressure cookers, iRobot and Shark vacuums, and wireless headphones.

Tips for Saving on Amazon Prime Day

If you plan to shop on Amazon Prime Day, it’s wise to be a savvy shopper to ensure you are getting the best deal. For starters, don’t forget to compare prices at other retailers.

“You can easily do this by installing Cently, the free browser extension from CouponFollow.com,” said Trae Bodge, smart shopping expert at TrueTrae.com. “As you browse on Amazon, Cently will pop up and let you know if there is a better price at another retailer, or if there is a better price on that item from another Amazon seller.”

The RetailMeNot survey found that just 29% of consumers will price compare with other retailers before making a purchase on Prime Day.

Another tip is to utilize price-tracking browser extensions to ensure you really are getting a low price.

“Set up alerts on the site CamelCamelCamel,” said Julie Ramhold, consumer analyst at DealNews.com. “Just create an account and set up the parameters of your alert, including things like whether you want deals from only Amazon or if third parties are OK, as well as the condition of the item (whether it’s new or used). You’ll set a threshold for the items you’re tracking, too, so you won’t be inundated with a million emails if something drops in price by a few cents over a few days.”

Finally, try to stick to a shopping list so you don’t start buying random items just because they are on sale. Add items to your shopping cart or Amazon list ahead of Prime Day, and only buy items that are heavily discounted.

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