The Biggest Takeaways from Prime Day Affiliate Sales in 2022

We’ve seen the Prime Day halo effect in full swing in the affiliate channel for many years, and 2022 was no exception. An ecommerce event that acts as a rising tide to lift all boats for retailers across diverse categories, Amazon Prime Day (July 12-13) set the mood for consumers, and as usual, affiliate got in on the action.

However, CJ network data paints a picture that’s a bit more complex, showcasing a story of global growth and a key strategy that drove retail sales success for Prime Day adjacent brand promotions in 2022: start early.

The Early Promotional Bird Catches the Worm

Affiliate performance during this year’s Prime Day sales period clearly shows that the affiliate strategy to act early to engage shoppers and convert them before Prime Day even began was key. CJ global network data shows that retail orders grew 26% YOY and sales revenue 67% YOY on July 11, one day prior to the start of Amazon’s two-day event.

This growth was driven by strong sales of apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty products, computers, and small appliances. Overall, this year’s performance, when compared to the same relevant days in 2021, shows that when brands and publishers partner together, they can drive sales that might otherwise have gone to Amazon.

Underscoring the benefit of the promote-early scheme in the US market, where Prime Day has arguably more history as a retail event, retail sales revenue increased 77% YOY and orders 50% YOY on July 11, whereas the average retail sales revenue and order growth on Prime Day 2022 in the US was 3% YOY. This performance reflects that once the Prime Day event kicked off, many shoppers shifted focus to scouring Amazon’s limited-time offerings.

Amazon reported that key categories were consumer electronics (a perennial winner), home (a consistent theme during these pandemic years), and household essentials. According to Publicis Commerce, the latter category is not typically a winning one, indicating that inflation is not scaring consumers away from spending, but is making them look for the right deals in categories that are not as exciting, but essential.

CJ Global Growth in Orders

For benchmarking growth, below are YOY same-store growth values for the highest volume retail categories in the CJ network on July 11, and an average of the Prime Day two-day sales.

Prime Day’s Global Story

The general share of overall Amazon sales in Germany has been steadily increasing, and Prime Day followed suit—in the global market, interest in shopping affiliate sites on Prime Day was very evident in Germany. CJ data shows that the biggest difference between German sales and those in the US market was that the “halo effect” on actual Prime Days was greater—sales increased most on the actual days of the Prime Day event (60%) versus the day before (48%).

Countries around the globe repeated a similar pattern. The Prime Day halo effect was strong in Italy, Sweden, France, and other European countries. UK sales revenue increased 11% YOY on July 11, and 10% YOY on Prime Day driven by a 14% average increase in AOV. France saw a strong affiliate order increase of 9% YOY on the first day of Prime Day, while Italy increased orders by 250% YOY driven by strong apparel sales. Sales in Sweden increased 600% YOY on Prime Day driven by sales in beauty, youth apparel, and home goods. India saw increases in products that didn’t require shipping, such as newspaper subscriptions.

Prime Day Publisher Performance

This year, Amazon worked with influencers to reinvigorate the event, and we saw influencer publishers reap the traffic benefits, growing clicks 80% YOY and orders 113% YOY on the day before Prime Day—the largest growth experienced among the different publisher types. Content commerce-focused publishers that publish product reviews and recommendations also had a very successful Prime Day, increasing orders 53% YOY on July 11 and 32% over the course of the Prime Day event.

Loyalty publishers saw their greatest growth on July 11 with a 39% YOY increase in orders, an 88% increase in sales revenue, and a 50% increase in clicks. Incentive and loyalty publishers had the longest sustained growth across the Prime Day sales period, registering growth in both the two days prior and two days after Prime Day.

Affiliate performance over Prime Day 2022 shows that publishers can reach a sizeable audience in the days before Amazon launches its onsite deals and can drive significant sales volume to brands across many categories. This year, publishers in Europe benefited from the “halo” effect of Prime Day to increase sales, and next year (or later this year if Amazon hosts a second Prime Day in Q4) they can test releasing offers before Prime Day to pre-emptively capture shopper engagement and purchasing.

Prime Day Data (and More!) is at Your Fingertips in Insights

On average, peak shopping events, including the ‘halo’ days before and after, account for roughly 60% of a brand’s revenue—it’s critical to evaluate where to focus your efforts to achieve success. We’ve got you covered!

Interested in viewing your program’s performance over Prime Day? Check out our on-demand dashboard that provides effortless insights into how your program’s performance compared to previous Prime Day shopping events.

Even more, leverage this data as you prepare for the Q4 shopping season to drill into publishers, promotional models, customer conversion regions, and more to uncover optimal opportunities. With automated shopping date alignment, it’s easier than ever to gain fundamental, actionable insights.

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Prime Day is a disruptive retail event and the affiliate channel contributes to this event in a big way due to publishers’ promotional effort and reach. We hope your Prime Day adjacent promotions were a smashing success!