Comprehensive Breakdown of Prime Day 2023

Prime Day 2023: Overall results, deal vs no deal analysis, & breakdowns by hour!

july 19, 2023

Prime Day 2023 was a considerable improvement over 2022. Given the economic headwinds, we expected a softer Prime Day this year – especially for brands that chose to not run promos. However, it ended up being among the strongest Prime Days we’ve experienced. Ad sales increased by nearly 3x over average, ACoS was favorable, and even brands with no deals had solid results.  

Rather watch than read? Check our 2-minute video recap of Prime Day below:

deal analysis

Deals are among the strongest levers on major event days. Historically, brands that choose to run promos have considerably better metrics than those that choose to not run deals. While this remains true for Prime Day 2023, brands that didn’t run deals had better than typical results.

Our aggregate average compared to the 30 days before:

  ✔️  Impressions: 161% increase

  ❌  Cost Per Click: 33% increase

  ✔️  Conversion Rate: 20% increase

  ✔️  Average Order Value: 17% increase

  ✔️  Ad Sales: 193% increase

  ✔️  ROAS: 6% increase

Brands with deals: 100% had a sales increase, with a 238% (3.4x) increase in sales over average. 82% had significant CVR favorability, helping to offset the increase in CPC. About 50% had ACoS favorability, netting to 11% overall favorable change vs average.

Brands without deals: 91% had a sales increase, averaging a 67% overall increase over average. Only 6% had ACoS favorability,  largely due to lower conversion rates up against competitor deals, though overall average % change was relatively low @ 11% (e.g. 30% to 33%).

hourly results

We used Amazon Marketing Stream data to compare intraday, hourly results to typical days on Amazon. Check our newsletter tomorrow for graphics and more insights, but here’s a high-level breakdown:  CPC started significantly higher, but brands ran out of budget more quickly, leading to a continuously decreasing CPC throughout the day (as is typical). Conversion rates peaked early in the AM but remained stronger into the night – likely due to the urgency to complete purchases before deals end. ROAS followed a traditional curve, albeit slightly flatter.

Amazon dsp results

Brands running Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads had improved results over brands running only Sponsored Ads. Overall, DSP results were stellar. Brands sold more units, more units per order, and higher priced units. Purchase rates were up 160% (2.6x), ad sales increased by 255% (3.6x). Perhaps most impressively, ROAS improved by 168% (2.7x).

Looking to level up your advertising ahead of the next big shopping event?