Lessons Learned From the Prime Early Access Sale

Image trends across popular categories during Amazon’s summer Prime Day and fall Prime Early Access Sale provide helpful insight into what we can expect in the year ahead. 

A New Holiday Season Launch

While there was some debate about when the holiday shopping season would kick off, Amazon effectively ended it with the announcement of the Prime Early Access Sale on October 11 and 12. Expect to see holiday sales—and as a result, holiday imagery—spring up in October and continue through the end of the year. 

What this means for you: Holiday campaign planning is now a year-round event, with some brands starting planning as early as January. But with the season and its planning  now spanning months, it’s important to vary messaging and imagery throughout the period while also applying insights into the effectiveness of your visual content based on changing consumer preferences, new market entrants, or new visual merchandising trends. You also need the ability to identify owned images or new image designs to adapt to changing marketing conditions and consumer preferences. 

Economic Impact 

The early arrival of the holidays can also be attributed to economic shifts. More than one-third of consumers said they were planning to start buying earlier in the year to combat price hikes. With consumers worried about inflation and the possibility of a recession, price is still a major factor in purchase decisions. 

What this means for you: In addition to offering products at the right price point, you need to ensure your PDPs are demonstrating value. Imagery should highlight notable features of your product and show consumers what they can expect or how the product will integrate into their lives, leveraging models, scenery, and product features that are relevant to them. 

Overstocking and the Supply Chain

Last year’s supply chain and shipping woes are still fresh in the minds of many consumers. It had an adverse impact on retailers as well, with backups leading to current overstocking. Expect to see major sales and markdowns as retailers attempt to clear out inventory and prevent further inventory issues. Amazon’s gifting lists is a prime example of a way to get overstocked items out the door. 

What this means for you: Sponsored ads and PDPs are competing against products with significant discounts. To win, brands must be promoting their differentiators—immediately. Eye-catching hero images, carousels primed to close a sale, and advertising with relevant scenery and CTA placement are essential.

Peer Validation 

According to the survey from Vizit and the Path to Purchase Institute, over one-third of Amazon shoppers look for real-life images of the product being used during the purchasing journey. They want to see specific features of the product or close ups to get a better understanding of what they’d be purchasing. Seeing those features touted by verified purchasers, influencers, and peers can persuade them to buy. 

What this means for you: Images of your product in real situations could make or break a purchasing decision. Audit your imagery to see if you’re including these types of images in PDPs. You can also entice user reviews with photos and videos to add another level of peer validation for consumers. 

Changing Consumer Expectations

After several years of abnormal holidays and impacted shopping experiences, many consumers will be returning to brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season. Providing those shoppers with a superior experience—from excellent customer service to tidy shelves and up-to-the-minute deals—will have a significant impact on the bottom line. 

What this means for you: Brands need to stand out on the physical and digital shelf. In addition to analyzing hero and carousel images on PDPs, check your product packaging versus your competitors and pay attention to retailers to see how your brand is being advertised in flyers and circulars. 

Bringing Visual Intelligence Into Ecommerce Strategies

While the holiday shopping season is becoming longer and more demanding for ecommerce and commerce marketing teams, it is also rife with opportunities. How can you make the most of those possibilities? 

• Check your digital shelf images today to optimize PDPs for the holidays and take advantage of any quick wins available. 
• Audit sponsored listing and ads, keeping in mind visual insights from the summer’s Amazon Prime Day. Are there areas where you can make immediate changes increase the chance of conversions? 
• Use results from last year’s two Amazon Prime sales and the holiday season to shape your strategy going forward. 

Our digital-first world has enabled unparalleled connectivity, and the speed of innovation is increasing exponentially, creating a competitive landscape unlike anything we've ever seen. Brands and retailers must not only act fast, but also must make decisions based on valuable insights that reflect real-world scenarios.

Ecommerce teams are hungry for AI-powered insights that can predict which visual elements and designs are most likely to result in revenue-generating outcomes. This is what visual analytics delivers: the ability to test, optimize, and monitor visual assets in real-time using AI-powered predictive analytics.

With Vizit, ecommerce teams can measure, identify, create, test, and monitor the revenue impact of visual content for any retailer during all phases of the ecommerce shopping journey—reducing costs, increasing engagement, improving conversion rates, and driving more sales at the speed and precision of ecommerce.