Anne D’Hynenzio, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) – The first day of retail sales, which competed with Amazon’s Prime Day event, launched Tuesday, encouraged solid online spending compared to a year ago, according to two data sources.
Adobe Digital Insights, which tracks visits to ecommerce sites, reported that US consumers spent $7.9 billion on their online stores on Tuesday, up 9.9% from a comparable day last year.
Adobe said the retailer offered discounts ranging from 9% to 23%, comparable to the July 2024 sales event.
The data company said shoppers were particularly keen to utilize transactions relating to electronics, electronics and home improvement products. Online sales of electronics were 135% higher than the daily average last month, according to Adobe data.
Items returning to school were also popular. Expenses on school supplies such as backpacks, lunch boxes and stationery have tripled, and doubled for university dorm supplies such as mattresses, mini-fridges and microwaves, according to Adobe.
This year, Amazon doubled the Prime Day length to four days. Walmart also added two more days to its summer trading event, which began Tuesday.
Retail analysts are assessing sales this week for clues about President Donald Trump’s trade policy and whether unpredictable tariffs will affect prices and consumer behavior.
Adobe noted that the powerful trading has driven many shoppers to “trade up” to luxury items. Tracking the company across all categories showed that the share of the most expensive products increased by 20% compared to the average annual level.
According to the Consumer Data Company molecule, the average Prime Day order on Tuesday was $58.37. However, 42% of Prime Day households placed two or more orders, making the average household cost more than $106 as of Eastern Time.
The molecule tracks US retail prices through sales receipts, online account activities and other information from a panel of 200,000 shoppers.
According to RJ Hottovy, Head of Analytics Research at Placer.ai, US physics stores could see distribution traffic from online sales events this week in search of lowest prices compared to budget-oriented customers. Location data companies track people’s movements based on their mobile phone use.
“We still have price sensitive consumers who are actively monitoring anything related to price increases and tariffs,” says Hottovy.
Despite ongoing economic concerns, Adobe said it hopes online sales will drive a record $23.8 billion spending from July 8th to July 11th.
Adobe numbers are not adjusted to inflation. However, the company says new demand, not price increases, is primarily due to increased sales so far this year.
Seattle-based Amazon has not disclosed how much it will earn during Prime Day, but said it will share the results of its four-day event on Saturday
Original issue: July 9, 2025, 2:53pm EDT