Consumer Satisfaction Declines, Yet Prime Day Performance Exceeds Expectations! US E-commerce GMV Reaches $26.4 Billion During the Event

According to Ebrun, on June 30th, the 2026 Amazon Prime Day promotion has concluded. Despite a noticeable decline in consumer satisfaction with discounts, overall US sales figures have surpassed market expectations. According to the latest data from Adobe Insights, US consumers spent a total of $26.4 billion online during the four-day promotion period from June 23rd to 26th, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%. This final result not only slightly exceeded Adobe's previous forecast of $26.3 billion but also surpassed the earlier market consensus expectation of $26.03 billion.

Behind the impressive sales data, profound changes are occurring in US consumer spending behavior.

Industry research firm Emarketer's analysis points out that an increasing number of consumers now consider 'value perception' as the core criterion for their shopping decisions. They have become more sensitive to promotional activities, more demanding regarding the extent of discounts, and it has become commonplace to extensively compare prices across different retailers. This contradictory mindset, which simultaneously pursues quality upgrades and cost-consciousness, was evident throughout this promotion.

This Prime Day simultaneously satisfied two seemingly contradictory needs: consumption upgrades and the pursuit of discounts.

On one hand, sufficiently attractive promotions prompted some consumers to decisively upgrade to higher-priced items. Adobe data shows that sales of high-priced items during the promotion increased by 19% compared to the average daily level this year.

Among them, electronics sales surged by 51% compared to usual times, driven by upgrade demand and significant discounts; the toy category also saw a 37% increase in sales.

On the other hand, consumers did not abandon their habit of stocking up on daily necessities, and their purchasing behavior still revealed pragmatism.

According to Numerator data, a significant 69% of all items sold during this event had a unit price of $20 or less. Healthy foods and fast-moving consumer goods became regulars in shopping carts, with many consumers hoping to use the promotion to replenish daily consumables at a lower cost.

However, the steady growth in total sales cannot mask the fact that consumer satisfaction with discounts is declining.

Data shows that the overall discount depth for this year's Prime Day was essentially flat compared to last year, and even slightly deeper in some categories.

Specifically, the average discount for electronics was 24%, higher than last year's 23%; toys had an average discount of 20%, up from 19%; furniture averaged a 16% discount, higher than last year's 15%; while the average discount for apparel remained unchanged at 24%.

Yet, despite discount depth remaining the same or even increasing, consumers' psychological perception has shifted.

A Numerator survey shows that only 59% of Prime Day consumers were "very satisfied" with the discounts offered by Amazon, a decline of nearly ten percentage points from last year's 68%. This indicates that even if merchants' discount margins have not shrunk, consumers' expectation thresholds for deals are rapidly rising, and simple price reductions are increasingly less likely to make them feel "surprised."

Notably, Prime Day has long evolved into a nationwide retail shopping event rather than a promotional holiday exclusive to Amazon.

Numerator data shows that over half of consumers compare prices across different retailers, and nearly half also participate in competing retailers' promotions launched during the same period.

Among them, 49% of consumers shopped or planned to shop during Walmart's "Walmart Deals" promotion, and 32% participated in Target's "Target Circle Week" event. This trend indicates that the platform boundaries of e-commerce promotion events are increasingly blurring, with consumer loyalty to a single platform giving way to the pursuit of the lowest price across the entire online landscape.

Furthermore, the importance of "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) payment methods continued to rise during this promotion.

Adobe data shows that during Prime Day, US consumers' spending via BNPL reached $2.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%, higher than the previous forecast of $2.04 billion, accounting for 6.6% of all online orders. The popularity of this payment tool has, to some extent, alleviated consumers' short-term budget pressures and supported the growth in sales of high-priced items.

Faced with the reality that consumers are becoming increasingly difficult to impress, Emarketer analysts point out that strategies relying solely on price reductions are hitting a wall in terms of effectiveness.

Consequently, more and more retailers are beginning to explore more creative value strategies.

Some retailers are launching offline experiential promotional activities to attract foot traffic, others are focusing on promoting their private-label or exclusive products to create differentiation, and some merchants are reshaping consumers' perception of discount depth through carefully designed product bundles.

Under the tide of consumer rationalization, how to reconstruct the "value perception" without continuously compressing profit margins has become a core challenge that major retailers must directly address.

Ebrun will continue tracking and reporting on this development. To learn more information related to this article, please scan the QR code to follow the author on WeChat.