Wayfair, Amazon generated big lifts from their October sales events

The finding: Retailers’ October sales events drove consumers to loosen their purse strings.

• Wayfair’s sales rose 45.7% during the week ended October 12 (which included its Way Day event) compared with the prior four-week average. Amazon’s sales jumped 26.1% during the same period, followed by Target (5.6%), Best Buy (4.4%), and Kohl’s (2.4%), per Earnest Analytics.
• Surprisingly, Walmart’s sales fell 1.9%, despite hosting its Walmart Holiday Deals event from October 8-13.

A highly valuable constituency: While Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event is only three years old, it—and other retailers’ October events—already cemented its place on many consumers’ calendars.

• 95% of consumers who shopped during Prime Big Deal Days knew the event was happening before they shopped on Amazon, and 46% said the sale was their primary reason for shopping, per a Numerator survey.
• Those shoppers are extremely valuable to their respective retailers. For example, the average Amazon Prime Big Deal Days shopper, who needs Prime membership to access the sale, spent $3,769 in the trailing 12 months ended September 30, 2024, per Earnest. That’s nearly three times the $1,275 spent by non-Prime Big Deals Day shoppers.
• It’s a similar story at other retailers. For example, Walmart Holiday Deal Days shoppers spent $3,377 in the trailing 12 months ended September 30, 2024—more than four times non-sales shoppers.

Our take: It’s safe to say that October sales are here to stay.

The events help retailers kick off the crucial Q4, even if only a fraction of shoppers use the sales to purchase holiday gifts.

Go further: Read our US Holiday Shopping 2024 report.