Amazon Prime Day spending expected to rise 9% to $26.3 billion

Shoppers feeling the sting of higher gas prices are expected to snatch up deals on back-to-school clothes and household goods, pushing online spending to another record during Amazon’s 12th annual Prime Day sale that begins Tuesday.

U.S. consumers will spend $26.3 billion online at Amazon and other retailers during the four-day sale, up 9% from last year’s event in July, according to Adobe Inc., which tracks visits to retail sites. Discounts are expected to be in line with last year’s deals.

Competitors such as Walmart and Target are holding their own sales, helping to set in motion a deal-seeking frenzy. Consumers compare prices across various retailers during the event, which can boost sales on other sites. Almost 60% of Amazon Prime Day shoppers will also browse Walmart, while 35% will check out Target, according to a consumer survey conducted in April by the New York-based digital marketing agency Tinuiti.

Amazon launched Prime Day in 2015 to attract new subscribers, who pay $139 a year for shipping discounts, video streaming and other benefits. The event helps Amazon lock in shoppers before the holidays and deepen its relationship with existing customers by offering them exclusive deals on Amazon gadgets and other products.

About 201 million Amazon shoppers in the U.S. were Prime subscribers as of March, up about 3% from a year earlier, according to market research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Amazon will capture about 60% of all U.S. online spending during Prime Day, its highest market share since 2019, according to estimates from EMarketer Inc.