Amazon grocery sales remain steady on Prime Day 2023

The dust has settled from the shopping frenzy of Amazon Prime Day 2023, and data analytics firm Numerator showed in a new report Monday that while the rate of grocery purchases remained flat at 14%, it was still the sixth highest category for shoppers.  

Health and beauty was the strongest category during the two-day July sales event, capturing 37% of all shoppers for a two percentage-point increase over last year. That’s the largest increase across all 11 categories, according to the report.  

Thirty-four percent of shoppers purchased at least one item from the home and garden category, which remained flat from the previous year. Electronics and apparel took third and fourth place at 26% and 19%, respectively, followed by household goods, which ticked up a percentage point from 2022 to 17%. 

The report noted that Amazon grew its market share during the Prime Day sale, capturing roughly two-fifths (42%) of consumer spending, making it the biggest Prime Day in the company’s history. That’s up 2 percentage points from 2022 and 6 percentage points from 2021, Numerator reported. 

More than a third of U.S. households made a purchase on Prime Day 2023, for an increase of nearly 2 percentage points. Orders per household increased to 3.1, up from 2.9 in 2022, and the average spend per household was $180.82, up from $176.71.  

Order sizes by dollars spent were down slightly this year, coming in at $58.41, compared to $60.73 in 2022, but that was offset by the number of units sold, which jumped to 1.9 from 1.6 a year ago.  

Shoppers placed more orders this year than in the past, with three-fourths of all households placing two or more orders. A quarter of shoppers placed more than five orders during the 48-hour sale.  

Roughly two-thirds spent more than $100, and one out of every 10 shoppers spent more than $500.  

This year’s Prime Day also saw a number of return customers who said they made purchases on Prime Day 2022, Numerator reported. Fifty-four percent of Prime Day shoppers are considered high-income, 38% are suburban, 72% are white, 35% Gen X and 23% use smart-home technology.