Consumers are moving beyond yoga pants. After a long year of pandemic lockdowns and the casual comfort of a homebody lifestyle, shoppers are giving their wardrobes a makeover. During this year’s Prime Day sales event, retailers around the world were well prepared for fashion shoppers’ enthusiasm for a fresh look.
That’s why we at DataWeave wanted to know how Prime Day 2021 discounts played a role in fashion marketing. We focused our analysis on how global retailers adapted their Prime Day pricing strategies to distinguish their offerings across seven fashion subcategories, including men’s and women’s shoes, and clothing & accessories.
Our Methodology
We tracked the pricing of products among 16 leading retailers in nine countries across five regions, including:
• The US (Amazon US, Nordstrom, Target, Walmart and Zappos)
• The UK (Amazon UK, Ebay, Etsy and OnBuy)
• Europe (Amazon France, Amazon Germany and Amazon Italy)
• The Middle East (Amazon Saudi Arabia and Amazon UAE)
• Asia (Amazon Japan and Amazon Singapore)
This year’s results showed some impressive discounts among retailers and across regions. Let’s see how retailers used pricing as a competitive strategy to win Prime Day sales in the fashion category, as well as international fashion brands that stood out for the generous discounts on their products.
Percentage of items with a price decrease
The US retailer with the overall highest percentage of fashion products with a price decrease for Prime Day was Amazon US (34.5%).
Fashion subcategories with the highest percentage of items with a price decrease per US retailer were:
• Amazon US: Watches (43.1%), men’s clothing & accessories (34.0%) and men’s shoes and women’s shoes (both 32.8%)
• Nordstrom: Men’s clothing & accessories (5.2%), women’s shoes (2.1%) and women’s clothing & accessories (1.5%)
• Target: Women’s shoes (28.3%), men’s shoes (13.0%) and women’s clothing & accessories (7.2%)
• Walmart: Watches (6.8%), women’s clothing & accessories (6.4%) and men’s shoes (4.2%)
• Zappos: Women’s shoes (28.2%), men’s clothing & accessories (13.6%) and men’s shoes (6.5%
By far, the UK retailer with the overall highest percentage of items with a price decrease for Prime Day was Amazon UK (30.7%).
Fashion subcategories with the highest percentage of items with a price decrease per UK retailer were:
• Amazon UK: Women’s shoes (38.5%), watches (33.5%) and men’s shoes (25.0%)
• Ebay: Men’s shoes (7.6%), women’s clothing & accessories (6.0%) and women’s shoes (5.5%)
• Etsy: Jewellery & accessories (4.7%), men’s clothing & accessories (4.3%) and women’s clothing & accessories (2.4%)
In Europe, Amazon Germany had the overall highest percentage of items with a price decrease for Prime Day (35.0%).
Fashion subcategories with the highest percentage of items with a price decrease per European retailer were:
• Amazon France: Women’s clothing & accessories (27.6%), watches (24.2%) and men’s shoes (19.4%)
• Amazon Germany: Women’s shoes (38.7%), watches (37.6%) and men’s shoes (36.7%)
Across the Middle East & Asia, Amazon UAE had the overall highest percentage of fashion items with a price decrease for Prime Day (49.1%).
Fashion subcategories with the highest percentage of items with a price decrease per retailer were:
• Amazon Saudi Arabia: Men’s clothing & accessories (54.0%), watches (52.0%) and men’s shoes (47.0%)
• Amazon UAE: Watches (55.8%), men’s clothing & accessories (54.3%) and men’s shoes (51.0%)
• Amazon Japan: Women’s clothing & accessories (17.5%) and men’s clothing & accessories (2.6%)
• Amazon Singapore: Women’s clothing & accessories (50.0%), men’s shoes (44.8%) and women’s shoes (40.9%)
Magnitude of price decrease
The US retailer with the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease for Prime Day was Nordstrom (29.3%).
The fashion subcategories with the greatest magnitude of price decrease per US retailer were:
• Amazon US: Women’s clothing & accessories (16.3%), watches (14.6%) and men’s clothing & accessories (14.3%)
• Nordstrom: Women’s clothing & accessories (35.0%), women’s shoes (29.3%) and men’s clothing & accessories (28.4%)
• Target: Men’s clothing & accessories (21.9%), women’s clothing & accessories (19.3%) and women’s shoes (18.6%)
• Walmart: Men’s clothing & accessories (23.5%), women’s shoes (16.7%) and women’s clothing & accessories (11.5%)
• Zappos: Women’s clothing & accessories (11.9%), men’s clothing & accessories (10.6%) and women’s shoes (6.6%)
Brands with the greatest magnitude of price decreases on fashions per US retailer included:
• Amazon US: Free Soldier (57.3%), Rockport (52.0%) and Alvaq (48.9%)
• Nordstrom: Little Words Project (60.0%), Robert Barakett and Nordstrom (50.0%) and Bonobos (49.1%)
• Target: Cowboy Bebop, Avatar: The Last Airbender, YuYu Hakusho, Dragon Ball Z and Naruto (all 40.0%)
• Walmart: Tredsafe (42.2%), C. Wonder and Crocs (both 30.0%) and Deer Stags (26.1%)
• Zappos: Volcom (25.9%), O’Neill (20.8%) and Bandolino (20.5%)
In the UK, Ebay and Etsy tied for the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease on fashion products for Prime Day (both 14.7%).
The fashion subcategories with the greatest magnitude of price decrease per UK retailer were:
• Amazon UK: Women’s shoes (27.9%), men’s shoes (27.5%) and men’s clothing & accessories (18.2%)
• Ebay: Men’s clothing & accessories (19.1%), men’s shoes (17.7%) and watches (17.6%)
• Etsy: Women’s shoes (30.2%), men’s shoes (17.1%) and jewellery & accessories (16.3%)
Brands with the greatest magnitude of price decreases across fashion sub-categories per UK retailer included:
• Amazon UK: Invicta (43.9%), Boss (42.7%) and Accurist (41.2%)
• Ebay: Dickies (55.6%), Havaianas (55.0%) and Branded (46.7%)
• Etsy: Mirugb (50.0%), LilisLeatherShop (41.6%) and OnaieShop (40.0%)
Among European retailers, Amazon Germany offered the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease on fashion products for Prime Day (16.1%).
The fashion subcategories with the greatest magnitude of price decrease per European retailer were:
• Amazon France: Women’s shoes (22.4%), men’s clothing & accessories (12.1%) and watches (9.1%)
• Amazon Germany: Women’s clothing & accessories (17.7%), watches (17.3%) and men’s clothing & accessories (15.0%)
Brands with the greatest magnitude of price decreases per European retailer included:
• Amazon France: Converse (58.3%), Alsino (43.2%) and Scuderia Ferrari (35.6%)
• Amazon Germany: Truth & Fable Damen Kleider (59.6%), Victorinox (59.5%) and Sockenkauf24 (56.7%)
Across the Middle East and Asia, Amazon Japan offered the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease on fashion products for Prime Day (18.4%).
The fashion subcategories with the greatest magnitude of price decrease per retailer were:
• Amazon Saudi Arabia: Men’s clothing & accessories (20.3%), men’s shoes (18.4%) and women’s shoes (16.7%)
• Amazon UAE: Men’s shoes (20.5%), men’s clothing & accessories (19.0%) and women’s shoes (18.9%)
• Amazon Japan: Men’s clothing & accessories (23.7%) and women’s clothing & accessories (18.0%)
• Amazon Singapore: Women’s shoes (12.2%), watches (7.6%) and men’s shoes (5.0%)
Brands with the greatest magnitude of price decreases per retailer in the Middle East and Asia included:
• Amazon Saudi Arabia: Dorina (48.7%), Cole Haan (40.2%) and Boss (39.7%)
• Amazon UAE: Aldo (53.2%), Mvmt (51.4%) and Inkast Denim Co. (39.4%)
• Amazon Japan: Face Trick Glasses (30.2%), モアプレッシャー (More Pressure) (23.7%) and
アツギ (Atsugi) (21.7%)
• Amazon Singapore: Bloch (49.0%), Adidas (38.5%) and Chums (31.4%)
Discounts before, during and after the event
Nordstrom was the US retailer with the biggest overall fashion discount before (39.0%), during (40.5%) and after (41.2%) Prime Day.
Nordstrom’s biggest pre-event discounts were on women’s shoes (44.2%), women’s clothing & accessories (36.6%) and men’s clothing & accessories (36.1%).
Women’s shoes (43.1%), men’s shoes (42.6%) and men’s clothing & accessories (39.5%) were the leading subcategories for Nordstrom’s discounts during Prime Day.
After the event, Nordstrom’s biggest discounts were for women’s shoes (42.5%), men’s shoes (42.2%) and men’s clothing & accessories (41.5%).
In the UK, Ebay offered the highest discounts before (43.7%), during (42.1%) and after (42.3%) Prime Day.
Before Prime Day, Ebay biggest discounts were on men’s clothing & accessories (47.9%), men’s shoes (43.9%) and watches (43.3%).
Ebay’s top discounts during Prime Day were on men’s clothing & accessories (45.3%), men’s shoes (44.6%) and women’s shoes (39.5%).
After the event, Ebay had the biggest discounts on men’s clothing & accessories (45.6%), women’s shoes (42.9%) and men’s shoes (41.9%).
In Europe, Amazon Germany dominated with the biggest overall fashion discounts before (27.1%), during (31.8%) and after (26.5%) Prime Day.
In the pre-sales event, Amazon Germany offered its most generous discounts on watches (27.5%), women’s shoes (12.6%) and men’s shoes (5.7%).
During Prime Day, Amazon Germany’s biggest discounts were on women’s clothing & accessories (36.8%), men’s clothing & accessories (32.5%) and watches (32.0%).
After Prime Day, Amazon Germany had the highest discounts on women’s clothing & accessories (34.1%), men’s clothing & accessories (27.6%) and watches (26.6%).
Popularity
In the US, among fashion products with high popularity, Amazon US offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (36.8%) and Nordstrom offered the greatest magnitude of price decrease (29.8%).
For fashion items with medium popularity, Amazon US offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (35.2%), and Nordstrom offered the greatest magnitude of price decrease (28.1%).
Among fashion merchandise with low popularity, Amazon US offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (27.2%) and Nordstrom offered the greatest magnitude of price decrease (31.6%).
In the UK, among fashion products with high popularity, Amazon UK offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (31.6%) and Ebay offered the greatest magnitude of price decrease (14.3%).
For fashion items with medium popularity, Amazon UK offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (32.5%) and Ebay offered the greatest magnitude of price decrease (17.6%).
Among fashion merchandise with low popularity, Amazon UK offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (24.5%) and Etsy offered the greatest magnitude of price decrease (23.1%).
In Europe, Amazon Germany dominated discounts for Prime Day 2021 across all levels of popularity.
Among fashion goods with high popularity, Amazon Germany offered both the highest overall percentage of items with a price decrease (40.5%) and the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease (16.3%).
For fashion items with medium popularity, Amazon Germany offered both the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (32.5%) and the greatest magnitude of price decrease (16.5%).
Among fashion merchandise with low popularity, Amazon Germany offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (30.8%) and the greatest magnitude of price decrease (15.1%).
In Middle East & Asia, among fashion items with high popularity, Amazon Saudi Arabia offered the highest overall percentage of items with a price decrease (55.9%) and Amazon UAE had the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease (20.6%).
For fashion products with medium popularity, Amazon UAE offered both the highest overall percentage of items with a price decrease (49.3%) and the greatest overall magnitude of price decrease (17.8%).
Among fashion items with low popularity, Amazon UAE offered the highest percentage of items with a price decrease (46.1%) and Amazon Japan had the greatest magnitude of price decrease (21.5%).
Prime Day fashion deals galore
Overall, Prime Day 2021 gave global shoppers an abundance of generous discounts on fashion items.
According to our analysis, the retailers whose Prime Day pricing stood out the most were Amazon US and Nordstrom in the US, Amazon UK and Ebay in the UK, Amazon Germany in Europe, Amazon UAE in the Middle East and Amazon Japan in Asia.
For more global Prime Day 2021 pricing insights, see our analysis of electronics and health & beauty products.