Amazon’s latest Prime Day sale event broke records with over 18,000 orders per minute — a 50 per cent jump from 2024. Nearly 70 per cent of new memberships came from Tier-III cities.
The ecommerce giant delivered thousands of items within four hours in major metros, with same-day delivery doubling year-on-year and two-day delivery to smaller cities rising 80 per cent.
“Prime members purchased more items than any previous Prime Day shopping event, while we created new records on speed with the highest number of same day deliveries,” said Akshay Sahi, head of Amazon Prime, Delivery and Returns Experiences, India and Emerging Markets.
Prime members shopped from thousands of new products launched by over 400 Indian and global brands including Intel, Samsung, OnePlus, Bajaj, HP, BoAt, Puma, and Adidas. Purchases included smartphones, TVs, appliances, fashion, groceries, and home essentials.
Compared to last year’s Prime Day, smartphones experienced significant double-digit growth as Indians upgraded to flagship devices.
AI-enabled laptops, premium tablets, and health-focused wearables emerged as popular choices among customers, while the premium audio segments achieved strong double-digit growth in Tier-II cities.
The home, kitchen, and outdoor category delivered its biggest Prime Day ever with 1.2 times growth, supported by over 80 marquee brand launches.
“We also had a blockbuster Prime Day launch with our water purifiers, and it was a massive success,” said Arindam Paul, founding member and chief business officer at Atomberg.
Two-wheeler sales grew 1.9 times across more than 500 cities, highlighting the expanding reach of online vehicle purchases beyond major metros.
According to Eric Vas, president (Urbanite Business) at Bajaj Auto, the company’s latest offering, Chetak 3001, received an overwhelming response, becoming the best-selling electric scooter during Prime Day.
Beauty categories experienced exceptional growth, with skincare and color cosmetics seeing 2X increases.
Professional beauty services witnessed up to 3X growth, while Korean beauty brands increased with up to 7X growth.
Health-focused products gained momentum with whey protein sales increasing over 80 per cent and coffee consumption growing 1.3X nationally, outpacing tea and growing 2X in Tier 2 cities.
Shashi Kumar, the chief executive of Akshayakalpa Organic, reported significant gains, noting the company saw a remarkable 50 per cent growth in sales during Prime Day.
Financing Fuels Premium Shift
This surge reflects a broader trend where Amazon’s financing options and exclusive content are enabling smaller Indian cities to drive premium consumption.
For instance, 1 out of 4 spends this Prime Day were on EMI (equated monthly installment), and 9 out of 10 EMI purchases were driven by No Cost EMI.
The Premium Smartphone segment (higher than Rs 30,000) witnessed over 60 per cent growth in value.
Nearly 70 per cent of this growth was contributed by Tier 2 and beyond cities.
Amazon Fresh recorded its highest order volumes with Tier 2+ cities leading 90 per cent growth, while daily essentials saw over 70 per cent of new customers coming from Tier 2 and 3 cities.
This demonstrates Prime Day's expanding geographic reach.
The tier-2/3 city boom extended beyond consumers to sellers, with small and medium businesses seeing record participation.
Notably, 68 per cent of these sellers were based in Tier 2 and 3 cities and beyond, while Amazon Business witnessed a 3X spike in new customer registrations during Prime Day with 7X growth in Prime sign-ups.
