Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 event set a new benchmark outside of the popular marketplace.
Amazon was humming during the July 8-11 Prime Day sale. The company reported record revenue, and according to Adobe Analytics, Prime Day is now an ecommerce industry-wide sales initiative akin to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Not Just Amazon
U.S. online retailers generated at least $24.1 billion in sales during this year’s Prime Day period, up 30% from 2024, again according to Adobe, which tracked more than 1 trillion visits to merchant websites and 100 million SKUs — all outside of Amazon.
Adobe also reported that, for the first time, revenue from mobile devices surpassed desktops during a Prime Day event.
Smartphone shoppers spent at least $12.8 billion, or 53.2% of the total.
That percentage suggests that mobile is the primary driver of ecommerce sales, with broad implications for how merchants design shopping experiences, promote products, and manage operations.
Hence the most important Prime Day takeaway may not be total revenue but rather the device.
Small Orders
For merchants, mobile dominance could mean relatively higher per-order costs and thus thinner margins unless sellers take steps to increase average order value.
“Adobe Analytics data shows that consumers have embraced mobile shopping for purchases that are more frequent and lower in price, said Adobe Digital Insights analyst Vivek Pandya, in a separate July 2024 report.
“Adobe’s data also shows that basket sizes on mobile are 32% smaller than on desktop, which presents both a challenge and opportunity for brands to refine mobile experiences and close the gap to drive revenue, said Pandya.”
Mobile AOV Gap
Fortunately, merchants can deploy several tactics to boost mobile order values.
Merchandising
Retailers have long depended on up-selling, cross-selling, and product bundling to increase AOV. Implementing those tactics on mobile merchandising requires deliberate user experience and offer design.
For example, apparel shops could offer “complete the look” product bundles near the mobile checkout button or even in the cart itself.
Similarly, stores could introduce progressive discounts and implement a progress bar or text notifications — “Spend $10 more and get 15% off” — to show mobile shoppers how close they are to the next deal or discount.
Retention
More frequent, smaller purchases could create additional opportunities for follow-up engagement and lifecycle marketing.
Repeat customers have always been crucial to ecommerce profitability. On mobile, sellers could send shoppers post-sale reminders and follow-ups via SMS or the newer RCS, driving incremental revenue.
Fulfillment
Lower AOVs from mobile transactions result in a higher fulfillment cost percentage.
It’s more efficient to ship multiple items together than separately, as smaller and more frequent purchases lead to more packaging, more labor, and higher per-order carrier costs.
Reduced packaging is not necessarily viable, as lightweight or thin materials may save on shipping costs but also increase the risk of damage, returns, and customer dissatisfaction.
A better approach is strategies that encourage larger shipments, such as the merchandising tactics above, perhaps combined with the sustainability benefits of shipping items together.
AOV Challenge
Adobe’s Prime Day reports from the past three years show a trend toward mobile commerce and lower AOVs.
Facing an AOV challenge, merchants should encourage shoppers toward larger, more profitable transactions through thoughtful design, messaging, and fulfillment.