Amazon Prime Day 2021 was the biggest two-day period ever for Amazon’s third party sellers – Amazon says nearly all of these sellers are small and medium sized businesses and they grew more than Amazon’s retail business.
Prime members purchased more than 250 million items worldwide.
Amazon Devices and Alexa
Members took advantage of incredible savings on Amazon Devices throughout Prime Day.
- Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote was the most popular item purchased during Prime Day with customers purchasing more Fire TV 4K streaming media players on Prime Day this year than any previous Prime Day.
- Customers purchased a record-setting number of Fire TVs, from brands including Toshiba and Insignia, during Prime Day and the two weeks leading up to this year’s event.
- Customers purchased hundreds of thousands of Amazon Fire tablets and Fire Kids tablets this Prime Day, including the all-new Fire HD 10 tablet, Fire HD 8 tablet, and Fire HD 8 Kids tablet.
- In the days leading up to Prime Day, Alexa helped make shopping easier for tens of millions of customers, including by proactively finding deals on items in customers’ carts and enabling them to get important reminders.
Prime Day Trends
- Best-selling categories worldwide for Prime Day 2021 included tools, beauty, nutrition, baby care, electronics including Amazon Devices, apparel, and household products.
- Top-selling products worldwide for Prime Day 2021 included iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum, Keurig K-Slim Coffee Maker, Apple Cider Vinegar Gummy Vitamins by Goli Nutrition, and Crest 3D White Professional Effects Whitestrips.
- Prime members worldwide saved while gearing up for back to school purchasing more than 600,000 backpacks, 1 million laptops, 1 million headphones, 240,000 notebooks, 40,000 calculators, and 220,000 Crayola products.
- Tens of millions of customers viewed Prime Day product demonstrations and try-on hauls, heard directly from creators, and more during Amazon Live livestreams throughout Prime Day.
Peacock is coming to Amazon Fire TV tomorrow – The streaming service from NBC Universal also recently was added to select Samsung Smart TVs.
Marriott kicks off new campaign proclaiming “the transformative power of travel” – Marriott Bonvoy – Marriott International’s award-winning travel program and marketplace – is making a fearless declaration: travel is an antidote to biases and narrow minds. In its new global “Power of Travel” campaign, Marriott Bonvoy is calling on the world to embrace the transformative power of travel as a vital pathway to growth, healing, and unity.
Since its founding over 90 years ago, Marriott has embodied the belief that travel is essential to fostering humanity. In today’s environment, this sentiment is more relevant than ever after this long period of stagnancy and reflected in the pent-up demand the industry is seeing. This summer alone, an overwhelming 77% of Americans plan to take a trip – ones that will inevitably be filled with purpose like never before. From burnt-out work-from-homers craving a new perspective outside of bedroom offices and the long-delayed honeymoons, to grandparents eager to meet grandchildren for the first time and the emotionally exhausted looking to reflect on the past year – all will seek refuge in the joy, reconnection, and appreciation of the world only travel brings.
The new tagline, “Where Can We Take You?”, evokes not only the physical destinations one reaches when they travel, but the personal and spiritual destinations travel lifts them to. The line and the campaign underscore the brand’s belief in travel’s ability to help one grow, heal, and find common ground.
The campaign will air during the NBA Finals, and also symbolically during the Olympics, the world’s biggest stage for global unity and connection. Additional efforts span globally over the next few months across streaming and key collective viewing moments on television, in-flight entertainment, digital, social, and out of home placements to spark community and connection.
Media Rating Council denies accreditation for Pinterest’s video ad measurements – The MRC denied accreditation for Pinterest’s self-provided video metrics, including video ad impressions, viewable video ad impressions and related viewability metrics as well as for video clicks in mobile in-application environments. The MRC told Digiday its audit determined that Pinterest’s method for counting video ad impressions and ad delivery did not meet industry standard minimum requirements. The MRC said it does not reveal audit details. [Digiday]
Disneyland Paris, which has been closed since late October, is once again open for business – The official reopening last week comes as France, the world’s most-visited country before the pandemic, discards many of its remaining Covid-19 restrictions and attempts to revive its tourism sector, which accounted for 7.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2018. Disneyland Paris — whose main park attracted more than 9.7 million visitors in 2019, more than the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower or the Palace of Versailles — could be a key part of that recovery. [NY Times]
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily Newspaper Prints Last Edition as Free-Press Era Ends – Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s defiant pro-democracy newspaper that drew the ire of China’s leaders, said it would print its final issue Thursday, ending an era of unfettered reporting critical of Beijing in the city’s mainstream print scene.
The 26-year-old newspaper, which is majority owned by jailed Beijing critic Jimmy Lai, has come under immense pressure from Hong Kong authorities, who in the past week froze company assets, seized journalists’ computers and charged two of its top executives under a national-security law that was imposed by Beijing last year to crush dissent in the city. [WSJ]
The New York Times introduces Gift Articles, a new way for subscribers to share articles – New York Times news subscribers can now share up to 10 gift articles with nonsubscribers each month on NYTimes.com and soon, on iOS and Android.
Gift articles are a great way for Times news subscribers to share the breadth of Times journalism and connect with friends and family who may not yet be subscribers. [NY Times]
Microsoft Introduces the Next Version of Windows Tomorrow –
WarnerMedia Names Suja Viswesan as Head of Data for Technology & Operations Group – WarnerMedia today announced its newest Technology & Operations hire, Suja Viswesan as Head of Data, completing the company’s executive leadership team for its technology group. Effective immediately, Viswesan will lead the data, product and analytics strategy across the company’s Technology & Operations organization. This includes architecting and building a robust, scalable, and highly distributed data infrastructure, as well as managing and optimizing core data infrastructure. Based in San Francisco, she reports to Richard Tom, Chief Technology Officer, WarnerMedia. [WarnerMedia]
Apple TV+ unveils trailer for new docuseries “Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson – Apple today released the official trailer for “Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson,” a new six-part docuseries that examines sound creation and the revolutionary technology that has shaped music as we know it. Hailing from Academy Award-winning producer Morgan Neville (“20 Feet from Stardom”) and hosted by Mark Ronson, an internationally renowned DJ and an Oscar, Golden Globe and seven-time Grammy Award-winning artist and producer, “Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson” will make its global debut on Friday, July 30, exclusively on Apple TV+.
