Amazon UK Prime Big Deal Days 2026: Third-Party Sellers Grow at Twice the Rate of Amazon's First-Party Business

According to foreign media reports, Amazon UK held its Prime Big Deal Days sales event from October 4 to 10, 2026. Based on full-market monitoring data covering 1.6 million products during the event week, third-party seller sales grew 27.5% year-over-year, while first-party sales grew 13.9%. Third-party growth was twice that of first-party, with overall discount levels lower than those of first-party.

Total sales on Amazon UK during the event week reached ￡1.06 billion, up 22% from ￡864 million in the same period last year. In the four weeks before the event, overall platform sales were already 21% higher than the same period last year, and the event drove sales 38% above prior normal levels, roughly in line with last year's 37% lift. In past major sales events, the first-party business typically held a sales advantage. During the current event week, the first-party sales share fell to 36.7% from 39.4% last year.

The growth gap between channels widened mainly during the event week. In the four weeks before the event, first-party and third-party growth rates were 19.6% and 22.2%, respectively, and the first-party sales share only edged down from 32.1% to 31.6%. After entering the event week, first-party sales were 60% above normal weekly levels, lower than last year's 68%, while third-party sales were 27% above normal levels, higher than last year's 22%.

This gap was not caused by fluctuations in the performance of a few leading brands. Excluding five brands—Apple, Amazon private labels, Samsung, HP, and Lenovo—first-party business grew 18% during the period, while third-party business grew 28%. Using a sample of 795 brands that ranked in the platform's top 1,000 sellers in both years, first-party business grew 11% and third-party business grew 27%. Using a sample of 3,235 products that ranked in the top 10,000 in both years, first-party sales declined 8% year-over-year, while third-party sales grew 21%.

By category, third-party business outperformed first-party in 8 of the 10 monitored categories, with the largest gaps in DIY tools, toys and games, and beauty. Computers and accessories was the only major category with an overall sales decline of 20% during the period, mainly dragged down by tablets and laptops. In that category, first-party sales fell 37%, third-party sales rose 3%, and the first-party sales share dropped from 57% to 45%. Only in electronics imaging and sports and outdoors did first-party business grow faster than third-party.

Third-party growth did not come from deeper price discounts. Comparing transaction prices for the same products during the event week and the four weeks before the event, products mainly sold through first-party channels had an average discount of 6.3%, and 32% of event sales came from products discounted more than 10%. Products mainly sold through third-party channels had an average discount of 3.5%, and only 17% of event sales came from products discounted more than 10%. Sales volume during the event week for both channel types reached 1.5 times normal weekly levels.

The growth divergence stemmed from brands' channel choices. Brands whose third-party sales share exceeded 80% in last year's event saw sales grow 41% during the current period. Brands whose first-party sales share exceeded 80% in last year's event saw sales grow 15%. Brands using a mixed-channel layout grew only 5% during the period, the lowest growth rate among all groups. After excluding the top 10 brands in each category, third-party-led brands still grew 36%, higher than the 18% growth of first-party-led brands.

During the period, multiple brands achieved sales growth through channel adjustments. Korean skincare brand medicube saw event-week sales rise from ￡200,000 last year to ￡4.2 million, entering the top 10 across all of Amazon UK, with 95% of sales coming from third-party channels. Competing brands Biodance and Beauty of Joseon saw sales grow more than 6x and more than 3x, respectively, both mainly through third-party channels. Apparel brand CRZ Yoga and electric toothbrush brand Suri doubled sales, almost entirely through third-party channels. Braun's sales grew 56% during the period, with its first-party channel share falling from 76% to 55%. Oral-B's sales grew 30%, with its first-party channel share falling from 67% to 52%. Lenovo and Dell also lowered their first-party channel sales shares. Some brands also achieved growth by increasing their first-party share. Songmics raised its first-party share from 13% to 68%, and Vasagle raised its first-party share from 21% to 97%; both doubled sales during the period.

Some brands underperformed the broader market during the period. Designer toy brand Funko's sales fell 28% to ￡400,000, with volume down 36%. The toys and games category it operates in saw overall volume reach twice normal levels, while Funko's volume was only 15% above normal levels. Small appliance brand Russell Hobbs saw sales fall 10% to ￡2.2 million. The kitchen appliances category it operates in saw overall volume reach twice normal levels, while its volume was only one-third above normal levels. Personal care brand Baylis & Harding saw sales fall 37% to ￡270,000, with volume down 39%, while the beauty category it operates in grew 29% overall. Nutrition supplement brand Free Soul saw sales fall 18% to ￡450,000, with volume down 23%, while the vitamins and supplements category it operates in grew 14% overall. Three of the four brands are mainly first-party channel based, and their sales performance was affected by Amazon's procurement stocking and promotional resource allocation. Free Soul, which uses an all-third-party channel layout, saw its performance decline during the period, showing that a third-party channel layout does not necessarily guarantee sales performance during event periods.

Monitoring data for the period showed that sales volume for non-discounted products during the event week was 1.3 times normal levels, sales volume for products with discounts in the 10% to 25% range reached twice normal levels, and sales volume for products with discounts above 25% reached 2.6 times normal levels. The related channel structure and discount efficiency data can serve as a reference for brands preparing for subsequent Black Friday promotions. Brands can match channel layouts to category characteristics, balancing the procurement resource advantages of first-party with the autonomy over inventory, pricing, and promotional pacing of third-party. A mixed-channel layout without a clear plan may drag down a brand's overall growth performance.

This article was first published on the Ebrun official website.