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India’s Black Friday 2025 Decoded: Discount Analysis and Brand Performance Across Major E-commerce Platforms
Black Friday has evolved from a purely Western retail phenomenon into a global shopping event. India is no exception. While the country celebrates its own mega sale events like the Great Indian Festival and Big Billion Days, Black Friday has carved out its own space in the Indian retail calendar. E-commerce in India is expected to reach $325 billion by 2030, with festive shopping seasons driving significant portions of that growth.

So how did Indian retailers and brands navigate Black Friday 2025? At DataWeave, we analyzed pricing trends across four major categories: Consumer Electronics, Home & Furniture, Health & Beauty, and Apparel. Our AI-powered retail intelligence platform tracked nearly 128,000 SKUs across leading platforms including Amazon India, Flipkart, Myntra, and others, revealing how the Indian market approached discounting and brand visibility during this high-stakes shopping period.

Our Methodology

DataWeave monitored average discount percentages across major Indian e-commerce platforms during two distinct periods:
- Pre-Black Friday: Up to November 23, 2025 – capturing early promotional activity and baseline pricing
- Black Friday Week: November 24 – December 1,2025 – spanning Thanksgiving week through Black Friday (November 28) and Cyber Monday (December 1)
We analyzed top-ranked products across subcategories on major retail sites, alongside Share of Search data, a metric that measures brand visibility by tracking which brand names appear in the top 20 search results for high-intent keywords.

Here’s a quick look at the overall discounts this Black Friday in India:

Consumer Electronics

Consumer electronics remain a cornerstone of Black Friday shopping in India, with smartphones and laptops driving significant online sales. Our analysis of 20,439 SKUs reveals distinctive discount patterns across subcategories.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

The category averaged 23.2% pre-Black Friday discounts with an additional 0.5% during Black Friday Week. Drones and TVs led pre-sale discounting at 47.1% and 45.2% respectively, suggesting retailers wanted to clear high-ticket inventory ahead of the main event. Tablets (25.2%) also saw aggressive pre-sale pricing. During Black Friday Week, Earbuds saw the most substantial additional discounts at 1.1%, while categories like Laptops and Smartphones, already heavily discounted, had minimal incremental price cuts at 0.2%.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

The most notable is Cofendy, electronics accessories and speaker brand, that saw the share of search rise from 1.4% pre Black Friday to 8.2% during the event. Realme followed with a solid 2.3% gain, reinforcing its position as a rising smartphone brand. Smart gadget brand Hammer also saw visibility increase by 1.4% at par with OnePlus, Fastrack, HP and Asus.

Samsung saw the highest brand visibility with share of search at 9.6% pre-event and 9.5% during Black Friday week, despite seeing a small drop in visibility. Audio brand Boat saw a visibility drop by 0.8%, while Xiaomi saw the share of search drop by 0.1%. This shift suggests that Indian consumers were drawn to newer brands and compelling deals across computing and mobile devices during the sale period.

Health & Beauty

The Indian beauty and personal care market is experiencing rapid growth, expected to reach $30 billion by 2027. Black Friday has become an important sales window for beauty brands and retailers. Our analysis of 19,854 SKUs reveals distinct patterns.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

The category averaged 17% pre-Black Friday discounts with an additional 0.4% during Black Friday Week. Beard Care led early discounting at 21.3%, reflecting strong pre-sale positioning in men’s grooming. Conditioner (17.2%), Makeup (16.9%), and Moisturizer (16.9%) also saw solid baseline promotions. During Black Friday Week, Makeup and Sunscreen saw the highest additional discounts at 0.5% each, while Electric Toothbrush and Toothpaste maintained modest incremental discounts at 0.2%.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Affordable and emerging beauty brands dominated during Black Friday in India. Kellsie (beauty tools brand) surged from 1.6% to 6.5%. Classic mass-market brands like Pond’s (+3.4%) and Parachute Advanced (+2.8%) also performed strongly, alongside men’s grooming favorite Beardo (+1.6%). Other popular brands like Maybelline, Tresemme, Vaseline, all saw share of search and visibility increase during Black Friday.

Skincare brand Minimalist made a notable entry, jumping from 0% to 2.0% visibility. The flip side? Premium international brand L’Oréal Paris dropped from 8.3% to 6.5%, losing visibility during Black Friday.

Apparel

Our analysis of 57,537 SKUs reveals interesting discount dynamics.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

The category averaged 14.3% pre-Black Friday discounts with an additional 0.1% during Black Friday Week. Men’s Swimwear and Men’s Athleisure led pre-sale promotions at 22.2% and 18.5% respectively, while Women’s Swimwear and Women’s Shoes also saw strong pre event discounts at 19.3% and 17.6%.

Black Friday Week saw minimal incremental discounting across all subcategories, with most adding just 0.1-0.3%. The relatively subdued incremental discounting indicates that early birds captured the best deals, or that margins were already stretched from pre-sale promotions.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Pepe Jeans dominated visibility, surging from 7.4% to 24.6%, a staggering gain that represents the largest visibility increase across all categories. Jockey also performed strongly with a 6% gain, solidifying its position in innerwear.

On the flip side, athletic and footwear stalwarts faced headwinds: Speedo dropped 1.4% and Bata fell 1.1%. This data suggests that during Black Friday 2025 in India, denim and lifestyle fashion brands invested heavily in promotional visibility, capturing massive mindshare at the expense of traditional athletic and footwear brands.

For brands and retailers navigating India’s increasingly competitive e-commerce landscape, the 2025 Black Friday data reveals a critical insight: pre-sale positioning matters more than Black Friday Week discounting. Early promotional investment and visibility campaigns delivered far greater returns than late-stage price drops, fundamentally reshaping how brands should approach this shopping event.

Want to understand how DataWeave’s retail intelligence platform can help your business make data-driven decisions during peak sales events? Contact us to learn more about competitive insights, price intelligence, assortment analytics, content analytics, and digital shelf analytics.

Check out our analysis on Black Friday 2025 Pricing and Discount trends in the USA, Canada, UK, and Germany. Follow our blog for more insights on retail pricing trends, brand visibility analysis, and data-driven commerce intelligence.
December 19, 2025
Black Friday 2025 Germany: Full Analysis of Discount Trends and Brand Search Visibility Across Key Categories
Black Friday 2025 solidified its position as a major retail event in the German market. German consumers demonstrated an average Black Friday budget of €317, the highest among select European countries.

The German market, however, exhibited unique consumer behavior patterns during Black Friday 2025. Rather than meticulous planning, 59% of German shoppers allowed deals to inspire their purchases, compared to just 32% who shopped with predetermined lists and budgets. This spontaneous yet budget-conscious approach distinguishes German consumers from other markets, where FOMO-driven purchasing tends to dominate.

Against this backdrop of rational deal-seeking and regional diversity, how did retailers and brands perform across key categories this Black Friday?

At DataWeave, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of Black Friday 2025 discounting trends across five major categories in the German market: Consumer Electronics, Home & Furniture, Health & Beauty, Grocery, and Apparel. Our AI-powered pricing intelligence platform monitored over 16,000+ SKUs across leading German retailers like Amazon, Aldi, Douglas, Nutritienda, Carethy, Bofrost, and more, revealing fascinating patterns in how retailers and brands approached this year’s sale season.

Our Methodology

For this analysis, DataWeave monitored average discounts across leading German retailers during two distinct periods:
- Pre-Black Friday: November 6 – November 23, 2025 – capturing early holiday deals and baseline pricing
- Additional Discounts During Black Friday Week: November 24 – December 1, 2025 – covering Thanksgiving week through Black Friday (November 28) and Cyber Monday (December 1)
Our sample encompassed the top-ranked products across subcategories on major retail sites. We also analyzed Share of Search data, which measures brand visibility by monitoring which brand names appear in the top 20 search results for critical keywords.

Black Friday 2025 Germany: The Big Picture

Our analysis covered 16,653 SKUs across five major categories. Here’s the snapshot of average discounts during the Pre-Black Friday period compared to Black Friday Week:

Key Insight: The German market presented a notably different discounting pattern compared to other markets. Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged 7% across all categories, with Black Friday Week adding 5.1% on average. Unlike the UK and US markets where retailers front-loaded promotions heavily, German retailers took a more balanced approach, with several categories actually seeing higher discounts during the main Black Friday Week.

Beauty led pre-sale discounts at 10%, followed by Electronics at 9.3%. Consumer electronics stood out with the highest Black Friday Week discounts at 9.4%, slightly exceeding even the pre-sale period at 9.3%.

Shopping Behavior Patterns: The relatively modest discount levels reflect the rational, value-oriented approach of German consumers. With the majority of shoppers setting budgets between €100-€299 and prioritizing wish fulfillment over impulse purchases, German retailers focused on strategic discounting rather than aggressive margin erosion.

Consumer Electronics

Consumer electronics dominated German Black Friday interest, with 77% of German shoppers most interested in electronics deals, making it the most anticipated category during the sales period. Our analysis of 2,077 SKUs reveals how discounts varied across subcategories and which brands dominated search visibility in this highly competitive category.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

This was one of the few categories where Black Friday Week discounts matched or exceeded pre-sale levels. Wearables led pre-sale discounting at 16.3%, followed closely by Audio & Video at 15.8%. During Black Friday Week, these categories saw additional discounts of 12.2% and 12.4% respectively.

The standout performer was Home Automation, which nearly doubled its additional discount from 7.2% to 13.9% during Black Friday Week. Mobile Devices saw additional discounts dropping from 13.4% pre-sale to 7.1% during Black Friday Week. Meanwhile Gaming doubled additional discounting from 2.1% to 4.3%.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Our Share of Search analysis reveals significant shifts in brand visibility during Black Friday Week:

HP saw the highest share of search across Black Friday at 10.5% pre event and 11.6% during the event. Apple led with a 4.7% increase in visibility, jumping from 1.6% to 6.3%. Asus followed at 4.6%. Motorola surged 3.6 %, while wearables brand Fitbit gained 1.7%.

In stark contrast, Logitech dropped by 7.8 %, Beats fell 6.2 %, and SanDisk declined 5.5 %. Computer manufacturers Dell and Acer also struggled, falling 2.5 and 2.3 % respectively.

Home & Furniture

The Home & Furniture category in Germany showed unique discounting behavior compared to other markets, with additional Black Friday Week discounts (6.7%) actually exceeding Pre-Black Friday levels (6.1%). Our analysis of 1,403 SKUs shows how discounts were distributed across subcategories.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Kitchenware led pre-sale discounts at 8.7%. Decor surged from 5% to 7.5%, lighting jumped from 5% to 6.9%, and bedding more than doubled from 3.2% to 6.6%. These substantial increases suggest strategic timing to capture consumer attention during peak shopping days.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Mattress brand Slumber Solutions saw the highest share of search at 21.8% pre event and 26.1% during Black Friday week. Meanwhile, another mattress brand Swedrea led all brands with a remarkable 10.8% surge in visibility, jumping from 8.8% to 19.6%. Budget-friendly furniture brand Clickbin gained 9.2%, while window treatment brand Sun Zero increased 9% and home textiles brand Safavieh surged 8.6%.

Premium and established brands also performed well: Caraway Home (cookware) rose 6.6%, mattress brand Serta gained 5.3%, and Slumber Solutions added 4.4%. Royal Gourmet, specializing in outdoor cooking equipment, gained 2.0%.

However, several mid-tier brands faced steep declines. Addison Rugs dropped 6.9% from 8.5% to just 1.6%, while Sunlifer fell 6.8 % and Maxax declined 6.4 %.

Health & Beauty

Our analysis of 6,474 SKUs reveals subcategory-level insights and dramatic brand visibility shifts that highlight the evolving German beauty landscape.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged 10%, with Black Friday Week adding 4.5% on average. Fragrance led pre-sale discounting at 11.6%, positioning perfumes and colognes as attractive early holiday purchases. However, Fragrance saw the smallest Black Friday Week addition at just 2.8%.

Hair Care and Skincare both showed strong performance across both periods, with Hair Care at 11.1% pre-sale and 4.9% during Black Friday Week, while Skincare registered 10.9% and 5.1% respectively. Skincare’s 5.1% Black Friday Week discount was the highest in the category.

Men’s Grooming stood apart with notably lower discounts at 3.3% pre-sale and 2.6% during Black Friday Week, suggesting either tighter margins in this subcategory or strategic positioning at different price points.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

L’Oréal Deutschland GmbH emerged as the most visible brand, surging from 37.7% to 51.9%, (+14.2). German pharmaceutical cosmetics company Medicos Kosmetik GmbH & Co. KG gained 4.4 %. Clinique gained 3.3 %, and French luxury brand Sisley added 3.1 %, German natural cosmetics brand Weleda rose 2.7 %, and Japanese prestige brand Shiseido gained 2.5 %.

The flip side? K-beauty brands and some international names faced significant challenges. Viral make-up brand Tirtir experienced the steepest decline visibility, dropping by 9.2 %. Aveda fell 6.2 %, Elizabeth Arden dropped 5.8 %, and Beauty of Joseon declined 3.8 %. German pharmacy brand Mi.to. Pharm GmbH lost 4.3 %, while Israeli makeup brand GA-DE fell 3.3 %.

The data reveals a clear German preference for European beauty heritage, pharmaceutical-grade cosmetics, and established prestige brands during Black Friday, rather than trendy K-beauty products or mid-tier international brands.

Grocery

While Grocery typically sees more modest discounts compared to discretionary categories, the German market showed interesting patterns with Black Friday Week discounts (3.5%) actually exceeding Pre-Black Friday levels (2.6%). Our analysis of 4,378 SKUs shows how German retailers approached promotions across essential and indulgent subcategories.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged just 2.6% in grocery. But Black Friday Week saw this surging to 3.5%, an increase that represents the highest proportional jump among all categories.

Pet Products and Household Essentials led discounting, with Pet Products at 4.6% pre-sale and an additional 5.5% during Black Friday Week. Meanwhile Household Essentials registered 4.9% and 5.4% respectively.

Beverages showed particularly strong Black Friday Week performance, jumping from 3.3% to 5.3%, while snacks doubled from 1.7% to 3.4%. Fresh categories maintained minimal promotional activity consistent with perishable inventory constraints: Meat & Seafood saw negligible discounts (0.6% pre-sale, 0.4% Black Friday Week), while Fresh Produce actually decreased from 2.4% to 2% during the main event.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

365 by Whole Foods saw the highest share of search at 9% pre event and 12% during Black Friday week. But Sprite led all brands with a 5.1% surge in share of search. Meanwhile, sister brand Coca-Cola experienced one of the steepest declines in our analysis, with visibility plummeting from 6.0% to just 0.1%. Fanta maintained modest search growth at 0.5 %. This stark divergence between two brands from the same parent company suggests vastly different promotional strategies during Black Friday Week.

Specialty and organic food brands performed well: Amy’s (organic/natural foods) gained 3.6 %, while spice brand McCormick surged 3.1 %. Pet food brand Nutro gained 1.7 %, while value-oriented Great Value added 0.8 %.

Snack brand Planters gained 0.4 %. On the decline side, Organic Valley dropped 2.8 %, Kraft Mac & Cheese fell 2.4 %, and Swanson’s declined 1.1 %.

Apparel

Apparel in the German market showed modest promotional activity compared to other markets, with Pre-Black Friday discounts averaging 5.9% and Black Friday Week at 5.2%. Our analysis of 2,321 SKUs reveals interesting patterns across fashion segments in the German market.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Footwear dominated discounting in both periods, with an impressive 23.3% pre-sale discount, and 15% additional discount during Black Friday Week. Men’s Clothing followed at 12.5% pre-sale, with additional 7.5% during Black Friday Week.

Activewear presented a unique pattern, with discounts increasing from 7.2% pre-event to additional 9.1% during Black Friday Week: one of the few subcategories to show higher discounts during the main event. Plus Size Clothing saw minimal promotional activity at 0.5% pre-sale and 0.7% during Black Friday Week, the lowest discounts in the entire category.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Danish fashion brand Jack & Jones experienced an unprecedented surge with a staggering 19.4% gain in visibility. Sister brand Vero Moda (also owned by Jack & Jones’ parent company Bestseller) maintained flat visibility at 7.1%. Footwear brand Chaoren gained 7%. Meanwhile activewear giant Under Armour rose by 5%.

However, established sportswear giants suffered dramatic visibility losses. Adidas experienced an 11.6% decline in share of search. Dream Pairs saw visibility drop by 10.2%, Puma fell 8.4%, and plus-size brand Just My Size declined by 3.8 %.

Want to understand how DataWeave’s pricing intelligence platform can help your business make data-driven decisions during peak sales events? Contact us to learn more about competitive insights, price intelligence, assortment analytics, content analytics, and digital shelf analytics.

Check out our analysis on Black Friday Pricing and Discount trends in the USA and UK. Follow our blog for more insights on retail pricing trends, brand visibility analysis, and data-driven commerce intelligence.
December 16, 2025
Black Friday 2025 UK: In-Depth Analysis of Discount Strategies and Brand Performance Across Major Categories
Black Friday 2025 saw British shoppers spend an average of £430 each this year representing a £91 increase from last year and totaling over £10.2 billion across the sales period.

The 2025 sales event arrived at a pivotal moment for UK retail. Retail sales fell 1.1% in October 2025 as consumers held back spending in anticipation of Black Friday promotions, according to the Office for National Statistics. Over 2 in 5 UK adults participated in Black Friday shopping, with 45% planning to pick up Christmas gifts at a discount, according to a Barclays study.

Against this backdrop of cautious optimism and strategic consumer behavior, how did retailers and brands perform across key categories this Black Friday? At DataWeave, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of Black Friday 2025 discounting trends across five major categories in the UK market: Consumer Electronics, Home & Furniture, Health & Beauty, Grocery, and Apparel. Our AI-powered pricing intelligence platform monitored over 71K SKUs across leading UK retailers like Costco, Selfridges, Boots, Debenham’s, Carethy, Argos, John Lewis, Amazon, and more, revealing fascinating patterns in how retailers and brands approached this year’s sale season.

Our Methodology

For this analysis, DataWeave monitored average discounts across leading UK retailers during two distinct periods:
- Pre-Black Friday: November 6 – November 23, 2025 – capturing early holiday deals and baseline pricing
- Additional Discounts During Black Friday Week: November 24 – December 1, 2025 – covering Thanksgiving week through Black Friday (November 28) and Cyber Monday (December 1)
Our sample encompassed the top-ranked products across subcategories on major retail sites. We also analyzed Share of Search data, which measures brand visibility by monitoring which brand names appear in the top 20 search results for critical keywords.

Black Friday 2025 UK: The Big Picture

Our analysis covered 71,642 SKUs across five major categories. Here’s the snapshot of average discounts during the Pre-Black Friday period compared to Black Friday Week:

Key Insight: Pre-Black Friday discounts were substantial across all categories. This suggests UK retailers front-loaded their promotions to capture early holiday shoppers, with additional discounts during Black Friday Week adding to the baseline discounts already in place. The extended promotional period transformed Black Friday from a single-day event into a month-long campaign, with 60% of UK shoppers beginning their deal searches as early as October.

Consumer Electronics

Consumer electronics remains a cornerstone of Black Friday shopping in the UK, with technology accounting for 48% of planned consumer spending during the sales period, according to PwC.

AI is transforming how consumers shop for electronics, with AI-driven traffic to retail sites expected to rise 410% year-on-year during the 2025 holiday season. Younger shoppers particularly embraced AI tools, with 17% of Gen Z consumers using AI platforms like Chat GPT and Gemini to source and compare deals. Our analysis of 10,297 SKUs reveals how discounts varied across subcategories and which brands dominated search visibility.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged 11.1% across subcategories, while Black Friday Week saw an additional 2.3% discount on average. Audio & Video products led the pre-sale discounting at 16.3%, indicating retailers were eager to move inventory early in the season.

During Black Friday Week, Home Automation saw the highest additional discount at 2.8%. Wearables and Computers both saw solid 2.5% additional discounts, making them attractive categories during the peak shopping period.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Our Share of Search analysis reveals significant shifts in brand visibility during Black Friday Week:

Bose dominated with its Share of Search more than doubling from 11.3% to 23.8%, a remarkable +12.5% gain. Lighting brand Philips Hue followed, gaining by +5.4% in share of search during Black Friday week. Notably, Meta, with it’s range of wearables, stands out for a +3.1% increase in visibility.

Apple’s Share of Search jumped from 10.1% to 16.4%, a gain of 6.4%. At the same time, Fitbit’s share dropped nearly 11%, the steepest decline in the entire electronics category. Meanwhile, Samsung and HP also lost on visibility this Black Friday in the UK.

Home & Furniture

The Home & Furniture category continues to attract UK consumers during Black Friday, though with a more measured discounting approach compared to other categories. Our analysis of 16,487 SKUs shows how discounts were distributed across subcategories.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Home & Furniture saw Pre-Black Friday discounts averaging 9.1%, with Black Friday Week adding just 1% on average, the lowest additional discount among all categories. Furniture led pre-sale discounts at 13.7%, followed by Bedding at 11.9%. This suggests retailers aggressively promoted larger home goods early in the season to capture deal-seekers.

During Black Friday Week, Kitchenware saw the highest additional discount at 1.9%, making it attractive for holiday cooking and gifting needs. Conversely, Lighting saw minimal additional promotion at just 0.5%.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Made.com, the contemporary furniture brand, saw visibility surge during Black Friday with an impressive 8.9% increase. Similarly, emerging mattress brand Vesgantti gained 5.4%. Rug specialist Gooch Oriental also made significant gains with a 4.9% increase.

On the flip side, British heritage brands faced challenges. Both Laura Ashley and Julian Bowen saw share of search drop 2.2%. Premium mattress maker Vispring also declined 2.1%, while French cookware brand Le Creuset fell 1.9%.

Health & Beauty

Health & Beauty has emerged as a growth engine during Black Friday in the UK. The beauty industry is projected to grow 5% annually through 2030 according to a McKinsey survey. The category continues to demonstrate resilience even as consumers show caution in other discretionary categories. Our analysis of 15,816 SKUs reveals fascinating subcategory-level insights and dramatic brand visibility shifts that highlight evolving consumer preferences in the beauty space.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Health & Beauty presented a unique discounting pattern compared to other categories. Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged 14.4%, the second-highest among all categories. But Black Friday Week discounts were also robust at 6.1%, the highest additional discount increase.

Hair Care led both periods with 16.4% pre-sale discounts and an additional 6.4% during Black Friday Week. Skincare saw the highest Black Friday Week discount at 6.9%, suggesting retailers strategically saved their best skincare promotions for the main event when consumers are actively seeking holiday gift sets. Men’s Grooming stood apart with strong pre-sale discounts of 12.5% but more modest Black Friday Week additions of just 2.3%.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

The UK Beauty category saw some of the most dramatic Share of Search swings in our analysis.

Himalaya, the Ayurvedic skincare brand, dominated the category with a stunning 16.8% gain. British cult favorite Dr. Pawpaw exploded from 3.7% to 11.8%, a gain that reflects the brand’s growing mainstream appeal. Face the Future, the skincare specialist, also gained significant ground with a 4.9% increase.

Budget-friendly British brand Q+A continued its momentum, rising 4%, while prestige names like Guerlain and Tous each gained 3.8%.

Italian natural beauty brand L’Erbolario saw the steepest decline, with visibility dropping by 9%. Haircare brand Noughty fell 6.1%, and eco-beauty brand So Eco declined by 5.1%.

Grocery

While Grocery typically sees more modest discounts compared to discretionary categories, the sector remains a critical part of Black Friday shopping in the UK, particularly as consumers prepare for holiday entertaining and gifting. Our analysis of 11,979 SKUs shows how UK retailers approached promotions across essential and indulgent subcategories.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Grocery had the lowest discounts across all categories, reflecting the already-thin margins in food retail. Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged just 5.7%, with Black Friday Week adding only 1.2%. Pet Products led pre-sale discounts at an impressive 13%, significantly outpacing other grocery subcategories.

Beverages and Household Essentials followed with 9.4% and 7.7% pre-sale discounts respectively, and maintained their lead during Black Friday Week with 1.7% and 1.5% additional discounts each. Fresh categories like Meat & Seafood (1.4% pre-sale, 0.6% Black Friday Week) and Frozen Foods (1.7% pre sale, 0.6% additional discounts during Black Friday week) saw minimal promotional activity, consistent with perishable inventory constraints and tight margins.

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

Doritos led with a 7.3% surge in visibility. Pepsi delivered an equally impressive performance, rising from 3.6% pre Black Friday to 10.7% during Black Friday week. Fanta too saw 5.2% gain in share of search.

Conversely, Coca-Cola gained more modestly at 1.6%, while its Sprite brand actually declined 0.9%.

Apparel

Apparel remains a Black Friday staple in the UK and is projected to deliver the strongest year-on-year growth of any UK retail segment this festive season. With clothing accounting for 39% of planned Black Friday purchases, the category represents one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds during the sales period.

Our analysis of 17,063 SKUs, the largest category in our study, reveals interesting patterns across fashion segments that demonstrate both the opportunities and competitive intensity in UK apparel retail.

Subcategory Discount Analysis

Apparel showed the strongest discounting activity throughout the BFCM period among all categories. Pre-Black Friday discounts averaged 17.2%, with Black Friday Week adding 3.5%, making it one of the most heavily promoted categories.

Activewear led pre-sale discounts at an impressive 26.7%, with an additional 4.5% discount during Black Friday week. Plus Size Clothing and Men’s Clothing tied for second place in pre-sale discounts at 21.9% each. Notably, Plus Size Clothing saw the highest Black Friday Week discount at 5.4%.

Women’s Clothing saw robust discounts throughout, with 20.8% pre-sale and an additional 6% during Black Friday Week (the highest additional discount in the category).

Share of Search: Brand Visibility Trends

White Stuff, the British lifestyle brand, saw a 7.2% surge in visibility during Black Friday. Y2K fashion made a statement as Juicy Couture jumped 5.8 %. Fast fashion player Pretty Little Thing gained in visibility by 5.2%. Comfort brands performed strongly, with Skechers gaining 4.5% and activewear specialist Sweaty Betty rising 3.4%. Even premium denim brand Levi’s gained ground, increasing share of search by 2.2%.

However, retail giants faced significant visibility challenges. John Lewis saw the steepest decline in the Apparel category, with share of search dropping by 10.6% during Black Friday week. Fast fashion giant Boohoo declined 2.5%. Premium accessory brand Coach’s share fell 4.9%.

The data suggests UK consumers gravitated toward distinctive brands with clear identities during Black Friday, whether heritage British labels, Y2K nostalgia, or comfort-focused specialists, rather than generalist retailers or fast fashion platforms.

Want to understand how DataWeave’s pricing intelligence platform can help your business make data-driven decisions during peak sales events? Contact us to learn more about competitive insights, price intelligence, assortment analytics, content analytics, and digital shelf analytics.

Check out our analysis on Black Friday 2025 Pricing and Discount trends in the USA.

Follow our blog for more insights on retail pricing trends, brand visibility analysis, and data-driven commerce intelligence.
December 16, 2025
Prime Day 2025: Shadow of Rising Prices Over Record Sales
Amazon Prime Day 2025 generated a record-breaking $24.1 billion in US online sales during its extended four-day run (July 8–11, 2025). While the expanded format helped broaden participation, it also diluted the urgency and daily peaks that typically define Prime Day.

Beneath this record-setting performance lies a more complex reality. Persistent inflation, shifting consumer behavior, and rising pricing pressures created a retail environment very different from previous years, one where higher baseline prices often replaced the deep discounts shoppers expected.

To understand these dynamics, DataWeave analyzed pricing and visibility trends across 11,495 products using our proprietary AI platform. The study focused on four major categories – Consumer Electronics, Apparel, Home & Furniture, and Health & Beauty – comparing identical SKUs from Prime Day 2024 and 2025, and tracking changes in both organic and sponsored share of search for leading brands.

The results reveal clear year-over-year price increases: Apparel led with a 9.5% rise, followed by Health & Beauty (7.9%), Consumer Electronics (5.1%), and Home & Furniture (3.9%). In total, 47% of tracked products saw higher prices, indicating that this year’s record sales were achieved in an environment of elevated base pricing rather than deeper discounts.

Multiple converging forces shaped the retail landscape leading into Prime Day 2025, pushing baseline prices higher even before promotions began.
- Supply Chain Pressures: Ongoing disruptions and elevated shipping and production costs continue to shape the cost structure across categories.
- Trade Policy Factors: Recent tariff measures and trade regulations may be contributing to upward pricing trends in certain categories, particularly those with high import dependence such as electronics and home goods.
- Labor and Operating Costs: Rising wages, transportation expenses, and general operating overhead are placing additional pressure on retailer margins and influencing pricing decisions.
- Currency Fluctuations: Shifts in exchange rates continue to add variability to the cost of imported goods, especially in globally sourced categories like electronics and apparel.
These combined pressures created a pricing environment where brands had less room for deep discounting, shaping not just how products were priced, but also how aggressively they were promoted.

To better understand the impact, we compared Prime Day 2025 prices to those from Prime Day 2024 for the same SKUs across major categories. This year-over-year view highlights how elevated baseline prices, driven by the factors outlined above, shaped the shopping experience and promotional strategies.

Consumer Electronics
- JBL prices increased 24% year-over-year, the highest among major electronics brands.
- Amazon’s own brand saw prices increase by 22%.
- Beats saw a significant 9% increase, while Sony and Samsung both experienced 8% price increases. Apple prices went up by 6%, and Google saw a 7% increase.
- Meanwhile, other established brands like LG and Motorola maintained minimal increases at 1%, Lenovo at 2%, Soundcore at 3%, and Bose and Hisense both at 5%.
Apple dominated visibility gains, jumping to 17.2% share of search during Prime Day with a 10.7% growth, likely driven by promotional focus on premium devices. Soundcore also saw significant gains of 10.3%, reaching 15.8% share of search.

LG and Amazon Basics both achieved strong 5.1% growth. Hisense gained 4.7% share with 5% price increases. Samsung and Amazon maintained strong positions with modest gains of 1.9% and 1.3% respectively.

However, several brands lost ground, with Sony declining most significantly by 1.8% share despite its strong market position, followed by Google (-0.5%) and Motorola (-0.4%).

Apparel
- Party Pants showed the highest price increases at 18% year-over-year, followed by casual wear brand Dokotoo at 13%.
- Athleisure brand CRZ Yoga saw prices increasing by 11%, while Under Armour saw prices rise by 10%.
- While Reebok experienced a significant 12% increase, Adidas saw 5% price increase.
- Meanwhile, innerwear brands like Hanes and Cupshe saw minimal price increases at 1%, while Coofandy also saw minimal increases of 1%.
- Amazon’s own Amazon Essentials maintained minimal price increases of 2%, and Jockey saw modest increases of 4%.
T-shirt brand Gildan led share of search gains with 4.0% growth along with a 5% price increase. Party Pants achieved 3.3% growth with 18% price increases, while CRZ Yoga gained 2.8% share and 11% price increases.

Amazon Essentials and Mens’ apparel brand Coofandy both improved share by 2.1%, with Amazon Essentials keeping price increases to just 2% and Coofandy at 1%. Under Armour gained 2.3% share with 10% price increase.

However, several brands lost ground, with Hanes declining significantly by 4.4% while keeping price increases to just 1%, followed by Cupshe (-1.4%) and Blooming Jelly (-0.7%).

Home & Furniture
- Mattress brand Best Price Mattress increased prices 23% year-over-year, the highest in the category.
- Amazon Basics showed 12% price increases, demonstrating strategic private label pricing.
- Home Improvement and Appliances brand Black+Decker saw a pricing increase of 11%.
- Better Homes saw an 8% increase, while most other brands saw price increases between 4-7%.
Appliance brand Acekool led visibility gains with 3.7% growth along with a 5% price increase. Amazon Basics improved significantly with a 3.6% share growth alongside its 12% price increases. Better Homes achieved 3.1% gains with 8% price increases.

Ironck gained 2.6% share with 7% price increases, and furniture brand Furinno improved by 1.5% with 5% price increases. However, several brands lost ground, with Samsonite declining most significantly by 4.4%, Best Price Mattress lost 2.1% share with its massive 23% price increase, and Allewie declined by 1.7% with 4% price increases.

Home goods face elevated pressure from expanded steel and aluminium tariffs increased to 50%.

Health & Beauty
- Minimalist saw prices increase 25% year-over-year, the highest in the category, followed by Tresemme at 20% and Oral-B at 17%.
- Neutrogena increased pricing by 14%, while Sun Bum rose 13% and Viking Revolution 12%.
- Nyx Professional Makeup saw price increases of 10%, Dove and L’Oréal Paris both at 8%, and Maybelline at 7%.
- Value-positioned brands saw modest price increases, with Philips Sonicare (6%), OGX and Banana Boat (both 5%), e.l.f. (4%), and Garnier (3%).
- Notably, Cetaphil, Colgate, and Sensodyne all kept increases to just 1%.
Dove led visibility gains with 9.3% growth along with 8% price increases. Minimalist achieved remarkable 8.1% growth even with the category’s highest 25% price increases, and Maybelline gained 4.9% share with 7% price increases.

Cetaphil improved by 4.8% with minimal 1% price increases, while e.l.f. gained 4.1% share with 4% price increases. However, several established brands lost share, with Oral-B declining most significantly by 9.3% along with 17% price increases, followed by OGX (-7.9%) with 5% price increases, Viking Revolution (-6.5%) with 12% increases, and Philips Sonicare (-5.5%) with 6% price increases.

In Conclusion

Prime Day 2025 underscores the shifting realities of retail, where persistent pricing pressures, evolving consumer behavior, and complex market forces are redefining how promotions are planned and executed. In this environment, success hinges on having the right intelligence at the right time, empowering brands to target promotions strategically, protect margins, and maintain visibility in a crowded marketplace.

As competition intensifies, the ability to anticipate trends and respond with precision will separate market leaders from the rest. At DataWeave, we equip retailers and brands with the insights needed to navigate these changes and make data-backed decisions that drive sustainable growth.

Stay connected to our blog for ongoing analysis of pricing, promotion, and visibility trends or reach out to us today to learn more.
August 11, 2025
Black Friday 2024 in Canada: Insights on Consumer Electronics and Home & Furniture
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are major retail events in Canada, with 43% and 29% of the population making purchases during these sales respectively, according to a YouGov report. Consumer electronics continue to lead the Canadian retail market during these events, with 55% of surveyed shoppers choosing to buy tech products on Black Friday. Household appliances come in second, with 25% of shoppers opting for these items, while 18% prefer to shop for furniture deals.

These statistics highlight the importance of delivering value during the Thanksgiving sales week. Retailers must cater to shoppers’ expectations with competitive pricing, attractive deals, and a seamless shopping experience. So, what unique offerings did Canadian retailers present to shoppers this season?

To understand the pricing and discount dynamics during BFCM 2024 in Canada, DataWeave analyzed discounts across leading consumer electronics and home & furniture retailers. Using our AI-powered pricing intelligence platform, we analyzed 37,108 SKUs across these categories for major retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Canadian Tire from the 10th to 29th November. We focused on the top 500 products ranked for each search keyword on each retail site, using targeted terms aligned with categories like “sofa” and “wearables”.

In the following insights, the Absolute Discount represents the reduction of the selling price compared to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The Additional Discount reflects how much lower the selling price is during Black Friday compared to its price a week before the sale. This metric reveals the actual or effective value of the sale event, beyond the standard discounts typically offered.

Also check out our detailed analysis of discounts and pricing for the consumer electronics, apparel, health & beauty, grocery, and home & furniture categories across major US retailers this Black Friday.

Consumer Electronics

Retailers in Focus

Consumer electronics saw robust participation from major retailers, with Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart leading the charge. Here’s how they stacked up in terms of discounts:
- Best Buy emerged as the frontrunner in absolute discounts at 31.2%, while Amazon impressed with a notable 19.7% additional discount, indicating a strong Black Friday-specific markdown strategy.
- Walmart offered steady competition, particularly in audio and video products, which reached an average absolute discount of 37.2%. However, it’s average additional discount was only 3.1%, indicating muted BFCM-specific price reductions in this category.
Subcategory Insights

Diving deeper into consumer electronics subcategories, we observed varied discounting strategies.
- Audio & Video stood out as the most discounted subcategory, with Walmart leading at 37.2%.
- In Wearables, Walmart again took the top spot with 36.4%, while Amazon offered higher additional discounts (22.4%).
- Discounting for computers and gaming was less aggressive, highlighting strategic pricing to maintain profitability in these high-demand segments.
Brand Performance

Brand-level data highlighted how key players used Black Friday to drive visibility and sales.
- Dell led in average absolute discounts (36.7%) followed by Samsung at 36.68%
- Audio brand JBL offered significant absolute discounts at 35.9%.
- Apple and Lenovo offered comparatively fewer discounts but maintained strong visibility, as seen in their increase in the Share of Search during the sale period.
- MSI (laptop brand) and Bose (audio and earphone brand) experienced significant increases in visibility, with Share of Search increases of 5% and 3.6%, respectively.
- Notably, HP faced a decline (-3.2%) in the Share of Search, suggesting missed opportunities to align promotions with consumer interest.
Home & Furniture

Retailers in Focus

The home and furniture category saw competitive discounting, with Walmart, Canadian Tire, and Home Depot vying for consumer attention.
- Walmart took the lead with the highest absolute discounts at 36.8%. The retailer’s additional discounts were more conservative at 3.6%. This is similar to their discount levels in Consumer Electronics.
- Canadian Tire offered stiff competition, providing 31.6% absolute discounts and 25% additional discounts.
- Home Depot matched its absolute and additional discounts, maintaining consistency at 24.1%.
Subcategory Insights

Home and furniture subcategories revealed targeted discount strategies.
- Bedding emerged as the most discounted subcategory at Walmart (50.6%) and Canadian Tire (35.3%).
- Kitchenware saw competitive pricing, with Walmart leading at 42.9%, followed by Canadian Tire at 33.9%.
- Canadian Tire focused on lighting, offering the highest absolute discounts in this subcategory (38.2%)
Brand Performance

Brand-level analysis revealed stark contrasts in discounting approaches.
- Furniture brands Homcom led in absolute discounts (36.4%), while South Shore stood out with the highest additional discounts (30.2%).
- Value-oriented brands like furnishings brand Mainstays and mattress and bedding brand Zinus offered more modest discounts, focusing on consistent affordability.
- Zinus (mattresses and sofa brand) experienced a significant 7.9% increase in the Share of Search, driven by aggressive promotions.
- Home furnishings brands like Costway and Safavieh faced declines, reflecting the importance of aligning promotional strategies with consumer expectations.
Insights for Retailers and Brands

This Black Friday, Canadian retailers effectively balanced deep discounts with category-specific strategies to maximize sales. However, the fluctuating Share of Search highlights the critical need for brands to align promotions with consumer interest.

For brands and retailers looking to stay ahead of the competition, DataWeave’s pricing intelligence platform offers unparalleled insights to refine discounting strategies and boost visibility. Contact us to learn how we can help you stay competitive in this dynamic retail landscape.
December 18, 2024
A Deep Dive into Consumer Electronics Pricing During Black Friday 2024
Americans spent a whopping total of $10.8 billion online this Black Friday. As Thanksgiving Week 2024 wraps up, one thing is clear: the consumer electronics category continues to dominate seasonal shopping trends. Fueled by a blend of enticing deals and high consumer demand, the sector delivered competitive discounts across subcategories like wearables, gaming, and mobile devices.

At DataWeave, we analyzed discounting trends in the U.S. consumer electronics market during this year’s sales events. Using our AI-powered pricing intelligence platform, we tracked pricing and promotions for 22383 SKUs across Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy from November 10 to 29. We focused on the top 500 products ranked for each search keyword on each retail site, using targeted terms aligned with categories like “gaming” and “apple.” Here’s what we uncovered.

Also check out our insights on discounts and pricing for health & beauty, grocery, apparel, and home & furniture categories this Black Friday.

Retailers Battle It Out with Competitive Discounts

Discount trends reveal clear leaders in terms of markdowns:
- Walmart offered the deepest average absolute discounts at 36.9%.
- Amazon and Target followed closely, highlighting a diverse range of deals designed to appeal to budget-conscious shoppers
- Best Buy, the specialist consumer electronics retailer, offers the lowest discounts this Black Friday at 26.2%.
Note: The Absolute Discount represents the reduction of the selling price compared to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The Additional Discount reflects how much lower the selling price is during Black Friday compared to its price a week before the sale. This metric reveals the actual or effective value of the sale event, beyond the standard discounts typically offered.

Subcategory Spotlight: Where the Best Deals Happened

From audio & video to wearables, each retailer carved out competitive advantages across subcategories.
- Both Amazon and Walmart offered high discounts in audio & video and wearables, but Walmart led, with discounts up to 46.3%.
- Best Buy, meanwhile, offered high absolute discounts on Mobile Devices(34%) and Storage (31%), followed by high discounts on wearables and Audio & Video.
- Amazon maintained a balanced approach, excelling in audio & video and mobile devices.
Brand-Level Insights: HP and Samsung Dominate

The biggest winners this year were brands that strategically leveraged Black Friday discounts to boost visibility and sales:
- HP took the top spot with average discounts of 36.9%, followed by Samsung at 31.4%.
- Despite its premium reputation, Apple offered an average discount of 29.3%, signaling a shift in strategy to attract deal hunters.
Share of Search: Shifting Consumer Attention

Search trends reveal how discounts shaped brand visibility:
- Microsoft saw the largest spike in share of search (+8.6%), thanks to aggressive pricing on gaming consoles and accessories.
- Marshall and Amazon also saw significant gains in visibility.
- Surprisingly, HP experienced a sharp decline (-9.8%), indicating missed opportunities despite steep discounts.
Consumer Electronics: Lowest-Priced Retailer Analysis

In the previous analysis, we focused on the top 500 products within each subcategory for each retailer, showcasing the discount strategies for their highlighted or featured items. However, to identify which retailer offered the lowest or highest prices for the same set of products, it’s necessary to match items across retailers. For this, we analyzed a separate dataset of 340 matched products across retailers to compare their pricing during Black Friday. This approach provides a clearer picture of price leadership and competitiveness across categories.

Here are the key takeaways from this analysis.

Category-Level Highlights
- Amazon leads with the highest average discount (41.35%), offering the most value to consumers. It is followed by Target (39.37%) and Walmart (36.15%).
- Best Buy, the specialist consumer electronics retailer, ranks last with an average discount of 31.53%, emphasizing a less aggressive pricing strategy compared to competitors.
Subcategory Highlights
- Wearables: Amazon offers the steepest discounts (55.40%), followed by Best Buy (50.60%) and Walmart (45.75%).
- Mobile Devices: Amazon also leads (37.94%), with Walmart (29.30%) in second place and Target trailing at 19.48%.
- Gaming: Target takes the lead (37.47%), with Amazon and Best Buy offering similar discounts around 30%.
- Computers: Target again emerges as the leader (39.18%), narrowly surpassing Walmart (36.13%).
Brand Highlights
- Apple: Amazon dominates with 53.06%, closely followed by Walmart (50.55%), while Target and Best Buy hover around 43%.
- Nintendo: Target edges out Amazon (37.62% vs. 36.54%), with Best Buy (33.21%) and Walmart (25.92%) trailing.
- Beats by Dr. Dre: Amazon leads (46.07%), with Target (37.14%) as the runner-up. Best Buy and Walmart offer comparatively modest discounts around 25%.
- Bose: Walmart emerges as the value leader (23.90%), surpassing Target (16.09%) and Best Buy (15.29%).
- Cricut: Amazon sets a high benchmark (54.13%), with Target far behind (36.43%) for this viral portable printer brand. Best Buy (12.32%) and Walmart (10.79%) offer significantly lower discounts.
What This Means for Retailers and Brands

Retailers looking to stay competitive should focus on strategic discounting and enhanced brand visibility. Brands must align with consumer expectations by:
- Leveraging platforms like DataWeave to analyze discount trends.
- Optimizing pricing and assortment strategies for seasonal demand.
For more insights into consumer electronics pricing, contact DataWeave to discover how our AI-powered solutions can drive success in today’s fast-paced market. Stay tuned for more category-specific analyses in the coming weeks!
December 6, 2024
The Apparel Market: A Closer Look at Black Friday Discounts
As the holiday shopping season kicked off, savvy shoppers embraced the spirit of the season, drawn by enticing deals. The apparel category is forecasted as the second highest earning category (Source: Statista), expected to generate revenues up to $43.9 billion, closely following consumer electronics. To understand the pricing strategies of top retailers amidst the sale season, DataWeave analyzed the pricing trends for the Apparel category this Black Friday.

We leveraged our AI-powered data platform to analyze the discounting across key retailers. Our analysis focused on the Apparel category, examining how Amazon, Walmart, Target, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s differentiated themselves through their discounts.

Also check out our in-depth insights on discounts and pricing for health & beauty, grocery, and home & furniture categories this Black Friday.

Our Methodology

For this analysis, we tracked the average discounts of apparel products among leading US retailers during the Thanksgiving weekend sale, including Black Friday. Our sample was chosen to encompass the top 500 ranked products in each product subcategory across during the sale.
- Sample size: 37,666 SKUs
- Retailers tracked: Amazon, Walmart, Target, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus
- Subcategories reported on: Footwear, Kid’s Clothing, Men’s Clothing, Women’s Clothing, Activewear, Plus Size Clothing, Accessories
- Timeline of analysis: 10 to 29 November 2024
We focused on the top 500 products ranked for each search keyword on each retail site, using targeted terms aligned with categories like “athleisure” and “plus size clothing”. Our methodology distinguished between standard discounts and Black Friday-specific ‘additional discounts’ or price reductions during the sale compared to the week before, to reveal true consumer value.

Key Findings

This year’s fashion discounts were unprecedented. Let’s take a look.

Retailer Level Insights
- Nordstrom leads with the highest average absolute discount at 59%, followed by Saks Fifth Avenue at 35.5% and Bloomingdale’s at 41.5%. Macy’s shows the lowest average discount at 24.1%, while Amazon has an average discount of 30.4%.
- Amazon ranks lower in both average absolute and additional discounts compared to competitors, indicating a more conservative discounting strategy.
Subcategory Analysis
- Kids’ Clothing saw the deep discounts (up to 55% at Nordstrom), reflecting growing pressure on family budgets and heightened competition to attract budget-conscious parents.
- Plus-Size Clothing emerged as a major focus, with Nordstrom leading at 53.22% average absolute discounts, signaling that retailers are increasingly prioritizing size inclusivity and appealing to a broader consumer base.
- Footwear experienced robust discounting, particularly at Bloomingdale’s with 37% average absolute discounts, showing a competitive approach to attract customers looking for seasonal footwear deals.
- Activewear displayed substantial discounts, with Walmart offering up to 41% on average, aligning with the trend of consumers looking for practical and comfortable attire during the winter season.
Brand Level Insights

Apparel brands, meanwhile, also offer telling insights.
- Top Discounting Brands: Aqua leads with an average absolute discount of 44.58%, followed by Boss at 42.33% and Burberry at 37.84%.
- Lowest Discounts: Athletic Works shows the lowest average absolute discount at 31.23%, with a minimal additional discount of 3.73%.
- Competitive Advantage: Brands like Ralph Lauren and Boss show strong discounts, indicating aggressive marketing during the sale.
Share of Search Insights
- Top Gainers: Adidas and Nike each saw an increase of 1.20% in their share of search during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, highlighting their strong brand presence and consumer interest.
- Top Losers: Reebok experienced a sharp decline, losing 2.60% in its share of search, while Levi’s also dropped by 0.60%.
- Search Trends: The data suggests a strong consumer preference for activewear brands like Nike and Adidas and a decline in interest for traditional apparel brands like Levi’s.
Who Offered Most Value This Black Friday

In the previous analysis, we focused on the top 500 products within each subcategory for each retailer, showcasing the discount strategies for their highlighted or featured items. However, to identify which retailer offered the lowest or highest prices for the same set of products, it’s necessary to match items across retailers. For this, we analyzed a separate dataset of 418 matched products across Apparel specific retailers to compare their pricing during Black Friday. This approach provides a clearer picture of price leadership and competitiveness across categories.

Here are the key takeaways from this analysis.

Category-Level Analysis

At the overall category level, Macy’s emerged as the lowest-priced retailer, offering the highest average discount of 28.72%, followed closely by Nordstrom (26.06%). The steep decline in average discounts from Saks Fifth Avenue (14.42%) and Neiman Marcus (7.93%) highlights a clear gap in discounting strategies.
- Macy’s and Nordstrom are aggressively competitive on pricing in the overall apparel category, likely capturing consumer attention with substantial discounts.
- Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus may rely more on brand perception and luxury positioning rather than heavy discounting.
Subcategory-Level Analysis
- Neiman Marcus tops the ranking with an impressive 60.85% average discount, outperforming Macy’s (52.86%) and Nordstrom (43.04%) for Men’s Clothing. We see a similar trend with Neiman Marcus offering more value across Women’s Clothing as well, compared to other retailers.
- The competition in footwear was intense, with Neiman Marcus narrowly securing the top spot at 31.03%, slightly ahead of Saks Fifth Avenue (30.28%) and Macy’s (30.07%).
- Saks Fifth Avenue led by a significant margin in the Activewear category, offering 39.89% average discounts, indicating a strong push in this growing segment.
- Macy’s followed at 32.16% in Activewear, while Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom had comparatively lower discounts of 26.40% and 19.52%, respectively.
Brand-Level Analysis
- Kate Spade New York: Neiman Marcus leads with the highest discount of 55.23%, reflecting strong price leadership in premium fashion, closely followed by Saks Fifth Avenue at 51.66%.
- Coach: Neiman Marcus dominates with a significant 75.85% discount, showcasing an aggressive promotional strategy for this luxury brand.
- Spanx: While Neiman Marcus leads with 28.22%, discounts across other retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, and Nordstrom are clustered within a competitive range of 17–19%.
- Montblanc: Macy’s takes the lead with 20.32%, signaling its competitiveness even in high-end accessories, with Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom closely behind.
- Ugg: Saks Fifth Avenue leads with 31.42%, focusing on maintaining price leadership for this popular brand, while other retailers remain competitive with discounts around 25–30%.
What’s Next

To win over price-conscious shoppers, retailers need to stay competitive and consistently offer the lowest prices.

For a deeper dive into the world of competitive pricing intelligence and to explore how our solutions can benefit apparel retailers and brands, reach out to us today!

Stay tuned to our blog for more insights on different categories this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
December 6, 2024
Breaking Down Grocery Discounts This Black Friday
As shoppers flocked online and to stores during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the grocery category stood out as a key battleground for retailers. With inflation affecting consumer spending, discounted groceries have become a critical driver for both shopper savings and retailer competitiveness.

In fact, according to the NRF, one of the top shopping destinations during Thanksgiving weekend were department stores (42%), online (42%),and grocery stores and supermarkets (40%). Clearly, consumers are looking to stock up in bulk on their groceries to maximize their savings.

To understand the pricing dynamics in the grocery category, DataWeave analyzed grocery discounts across leading grocers, uncovering significant trends that shaped consumer choices during this holiday shopping period.

Our research encompassed retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart, examining their discounting strategies across subcategories, alongside trends in share of search for leading CPG companies.

Also check out our detailed analysis of discounts and pricing for health & beauty and home & furniture this Black Friday.

Key Grocery Market Stats for Black Friday-Cyber Monday 2024
- Retailer Discounts: Walmart offered the highest average absolute discount at 27.6%, followed by Amazon at 20.4% and Target at 14.0%
- Subcategory Insights: Beverages Category at Walmart saw the deepest discounts, with an average of 33.4%
- Top Gaining Brands: Cesar experienced the largest increase in share of search during the sales period (+3.89%)
This blog will dive deeper into grocery discount trends and brand-level strategies, offering insights for retailers looking to stay competitive in the grocery sector.

Our Methodology

For this analysis, we tracked the average discounts offered by major U.S. grocery retailers during the Thanksgiving weekend, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We focused on key subcategories within the grocery segment, capturing trends in discounting strategies.
- Sample Size: 18,324 SKUs
- Retailers Tracked: Amazon, Walmart, Target
- Subcategories Reported On: Fresh Produce, Dairy & Eggs, Pantry Essentials, Snacks, Frozen Foods, Meat & Seafood, Household Essentials, Beverages, Pet Products, Baby Products
- Timeline of Analysis: November 10 to 29, 2024
In the following insights, the Absolute Discount represents the reduction of the selling price compared to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The Additional Discount reflects how much lower the selling price is during Black Friday compared to its price a week before the sale. This metric reveals the actual or effective value of the sale event, beyond the standard discounts typically offered.

Key Findings

Retailer-Level Insights
- Walmart emerged as the leader in grocery discounting, offering the highest average absolute (27.6%) and additional (18%) discounts.
- Amazon adopted a mid-tier discounting strategy, with average absolute discounts of 20.4%.
- Target, while more conservative, maintained competitiveness in select subcategories like baby products.
Subcategory Insights
- Pantry Essentials saw Walmart leading with an average discount of 31.2%, appealing to budget-conscious consumers stocking up for the holidays.
- Fresh Produce showed consistent discounting across retailers, with Amazon slightly ahead at 27%.
- Beverages stood out for significant discounting at Walmart, with an impressive 33.4% average discount.
Brand-Level Insights
- Lay’s led in absolute discounts (37.52%) and additional discounts (26.23%) showcasing aggressive pricing in the snacks subcategory.
- Good & Gather maintained its competitive edge with strong discounts, appealing to price-conscious consumers seeking value.
- Brands like Blue Buffalo (pet food brand) offered significant absolute discounts, but with a low additional discount of just 2%, the overall impact of the sale event on effective value was limited.
Share of Search Insights
- Cesar (dog food brand), Tide (laundry staple) and Doritos saw significant gains in share of search, reflecting successful promotional strategies.
- Brands like Pampers (baby diapers brand), Healthy Choice, (frozen foods brand) and Pedigree (pet food brand) experienced a decline, indicating less effective engagement during the sale period.
Who offered the lowest prices?

In the previous analysis, we focused on the top 500 products within each subcategory for each retailer, showcasing the discount strategies for their highlighted or featured items. However, to identify which retailer offered the lowest or highest prices for the same set of products, it’s necessary to match items across retailers. For this, we analyzed a separate dataset of 1433 matched products across retailers to compare their pricing during Black Friday. This approach provides a clearer picture of price leadership and competitiveness across categories.

Here are the key takeaways from this analysis.

Category-Level Analysis
- Walmart is the lowest priced retailer overall for the grocery category, with an impressive average discount of 44.60%. This significant discount advantage makes Walmart a leading option for value-seeking consumers.
- Target follows with strong discounts of 36.73%, indicating solid pricing in comparison but less aggressive than Walmart.
- Interestingly, Amazon was the most expensive in Grocery, with an average discount of only 6.3%.
Subcategory-Level Analysis
- Walmart leads in various subcategories such as Pet Products (21.12%), Dairy & Eggs (13.79%), Household Essentials (13.05%), Frozen Foods (15.07%), and Meat & Seafood (17.60%), showcasing its extensive value across the board.
- Target excels in Beverages (14.58%) and Baby Products (15.00%) with competitive discounts, standing out in these specific subcategories.
- Kroger provides notable value in Pantry Essentials (20.04%) and Fresh Produce (15.85%), although its overall average discount is lower than Walmart’s.
- Amazon consistently ranks lower in terms of average discounts across most subcategories, highlighting it as less competitive for consumers seeking the lowest prices.
Brand-Level Analysis
- Walmart also holds the top position for several key brands like Cheetos (14.92%) and Dannon (8.81%), making it the best option for consumers looking for budget-friendly choices across popular brands.
- Target takes the lead for brands like Betty Crocker (25.20%) and Chobani (11.37%), showing that it can offer value for specific products.
- Kroger maintains strong discounts for brands such as Delmonte (9.19%), but it does not outpace Walmart in the overall grocery brand comparison.
- Amazon generally lags behind in average discounts for most brands, with Dannon (1.12%) and Chobani (2.43%) showing significantly lower discounts.
Walmart is the lowest priced retailer in the grocery category and provides substantial value across a wide range of subcategories and popular brands. This ties in with Walmart’s ELDP pricing strategy. The retailer leads in overall average discounts and maintains its position as the go-to for price-conscious consumers. Target offers strong value in certain subcategories and brands but falls short of Walmart’s broad value based pricing advantages.

What’s Next

For grocery retailers, competitive pricing and targeted promotions are critical to driving sales during key shopping events. As consumers continue to prioritize value, staying ahead in the discounting game can significantly impact market share.

For detailed insights into grocery discounting strategies and to explore how DataWeave’s solutions can help retailers optimize their pricing, contact us today!

Stay tuned to our blog for further analyses of other categories during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
December 5, 2024
Black Friday 2024: Home & Furniture Pricing Trends Analyzed
The Home & Furniture category continues to thrive, propelled by consumer interest in creating personalized and functional living spaces. In 2023, the U.S. furniture and home furnishings market was valued at approximately $641.7 billion in 2023 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% from 2024 to 2032. Black Friday and Cyber Monday play a crucial role in fueling this growth, offering consumers a mix of premium and affordable options across subcategories.

To better understand market trends and discount strategies this Black Friday, at DataWeave we tracked over 18,149 SKUs across major home & furniture retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Overstock, from November 10 to 29, 2024. Using our AI-powered pricing intelligence platform, we focused on the top 500 products in subcategories like kitchenware, furniture, decor, lighting, outdoor items, and bedding.

In our analysis, the Absolute Discount represents the reduction of the selling price compared to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The Additional Discount reflects how much lower the selling price is during Black Friday compared to its price a week before the Black Friday sale. This metric reveals the actual or effective value of the sale event, beyond the standard discounts typically offered.

Also check out our insights on discounts and pricing for the health & beauty category this Black Friday.

Retailer Performance: Who Led the Discount Race?

Retailers showed varying discount strategies for Home & Furniture products. Walmart emerged as the leader in absolute discounts (37.5%) while Amazon offered the highest additional discount of 14%. Best Buy maintained competitive pricing across all subcategories, while Overstock and Home Depot offered relatively modest discounts.

Subcategories in Focus

Breaking down the discounts by subcategory provides deeper insights into consumer priorities and retailer strategies:
- Kitchenware saw strong competition, with Walmart (30.40% absolute discounts) and Amazon (29% absolute discounts) dominating.
- Lighting became a discount hotspot, with Walmart offering up to 45.8% in absolute discounts and 25.3% additional markdowns.
- Furniture remained a core focus for Target, delivering an impressive 34% average absolute discount.
- Bedding stood out at Walmart, where discounts peaked at 49.6%.
Brand Spotlight: Who Stood Out?

Among top-performing brands, furniture brand Costway offered the highest discounts, with an average of 48.4%. Meanwhile, Adesso (lighting solutions), Mainstays and Safavieh (both home furnishings brands) balanced discounts and premium appeal.

Search Visibility: The Winners and Losers

Share of search dynamics revealed significant shifts in brand visibility during Black Friday:
- Furniture brand Costway (+1.2%) and home improvement player Black+Decker (+1.5%) gained visibility.
- On the flip side, premium brands like Safavieh known for rugs and home furnishings (-16.8%) and furniture brand Burrow ( -1.7%) saw declines.
Who Offers the Lowest Prices?

In the previous analysis, we focused on the top 500 products within each subcategory for each retailer, showcasing the discount strategies for their highlighted or featured items. However, to identify which retailer offered the lowest or highest prices for the same set of products, it’s necessary to match items across retailers. For this, we analyzed a separate dataset of 735 matched products across Home & Furniture specific retailers to compare their pricing during Black Friday. This approach provides a clearer picture of price leadership and competitiveness across categories.

Here are the key takeaways from this analysis.

Category-Level Highlights
- Amazon emerges as the lowest-priced retailer across Home & Furniture categories, with the highest average discount of 27.50%, closely followed by Walmart (26.09%).
- Overstock and Wayfair trail with average discounts of 22.93% and 20.71%, respectively, while Home Depot offers the least aggressive pricing at 18.14%. This is notable, as all 3 players are known specialists in the category.
Subcategory Highlights
- Amazon stands out as the leader in multiple subcategories, including Appliances, Furniture, Decor, and Outdoor, offering competitive average discounts of around 26-29%.
- Overstock leads in Bedding and Kitchenware, with strong average discounts of 24.26% and 20.72%, respectively.
- Wayfair is notable for Lighting, with an average discount of 19.95%, and is also competitive in Outdoor and Furniture categories.
- Walmart consistently ranks high in several subcategories like Appliances and Bedding, providing solid discounts of around 22-23%.
What’s Next

For home & furniture retailers, driving maximum value during mega sale events like Black Friday involves offering bundles and sets to meet customer demands and trend expectations. Gaining insights into competitor discounts and pricing can help furniture retailers get an edge amid this environment.

Want to know how DataWeave’s intelligence platform can empower your business during peak sales events? Contact us to discover more about competitive insights, price intelligence, and data-driven decision-making.
Stay tuned to our blog to see more coverage on Black Friday 2024.
December 4, 2024
Health & Beauty Deals on Black Friday 2024: Insights from Top Retailers and Brands
The U.S. health and beauty retail sector shows remarkable resilience amid economic uncertainties, with the skincare market projected to hit $21.83 billion in 2024. Black Friday data reinforces this trend, with health and beauty products seeing a 14.6% surge in web traffic compared to last year.

At DataWeave, we conducted an in-depth analysis of Black Friday discounting trends in the U.S. health and beauty sector. DataWeave’s AI-powered pricing intelligence platform was used to monitor pricing and discounts across Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Target, and Amazon during Black Friday 2024. The study covered 19985 SKUs from November 10-29. We focused on the top 500 products ranked for each search keyword on each retail site, using targeted terms aligned with categories like “skincare” and “fragrance”.

The results? Beauty leads across categories in discount depth this year, with some retailers offering significant markdowns.

The Beauty Boom: More Than Just Looking Good

If there’s one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that self-care isn’t just a luxury – it’s a necessity. This Black Friday proved that beauty has become an indispensable part of consumers’ lives, with retailers offering unprecedented discounts and crafting strategic promotions to capture the growing demand.

The Absolute Discount represents the reduction of the selling price compared to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The Additional Discount reflects how much lower the selling price is during Black Friday compared to its price a week before the sale. This metric reveals the actual or effective value of the sale event, beyond the standard discounts typically offered.

Ulta Beauty led with 45% average discounts, followed by Sephora at 38.1% and Walmart at 35.2%. In terms of additional Black Friday discounts, Ulta maintained dominance at 35%, with Sephora following at 28%.

Hair care emerged as the standout category, with Ulta Beauty offering up to 56% discounts, reflecting sustained demand for at-home beauty routines. Skincare saw fierce competition, with Sephora emphasizing premium discounts (37%) while Walmart focused on value pricing (32.5%).

Fragrance and Makeup attracted consumers with targeted promotions from Walmart and Ulta Beauty, signaling strong demand for gifting items.

Major beauty brands echoed the sentiment. Premium skincare brand Clinique leads with 50.6% average discounts. Meanwhile, drugstore staples like Revlon (29.1%) and Maybelline (24.4%) balanced accessibility and affordability, driving mass-market appeal. Popular beauty and makeup brand L’Oreal Paris also offered a modest 22.8% average discount, reinforcing its position as a value-oriented brand.

The more interesting story? The massive shift in brand visibility, as our share of search rankings denote:
- Shampoo and hair care brand Tresemmé saw an unexpected 5.5% jump in the share of search results
- Beauty brand Herbal Essences gained 5.1% in share of search well
Declines in share of search were noted for brands like L’Oreal Paris (-1.8%) and Pantene (-0.6%), indicating missed opportunities in promotional visibility.

Insight: What’s driving this beauty boom? TikTok and social media continue to fuel beauty purchases, with viral products driving significant search and sales spikes. Plus, the “skinification” of hair care has turned basic shampoo shopping into a full-blown beauty ritual.

Who Offered the Lowest Prices?

In the previous analysis, we focused on the top 500 products within each subcategory for each retailer, showcasing the discount strategies for their highlighted or featured items. However, to identify which retailer offered the lowest or highest prices for the same set of products, it’s necessary to match items across retailers. For this, we analyzed a separate dataset of 1133 matched products across Health & Beauty specific retailers to compare their pricing during Black Friday. This approach provides a clearer picture of price leadership and competitiveness across categories.

Here are the key takeaways from this analysis.
- Bloomingdale’s emerges as the overall leader, offering the highest average discount of 14.87%, closely followed by Bluemercury (12.41%).
- Ulta Beauty ranks third (10.94%), demonstrating competitiveness across key subcategories, while Sephora trails with the lowest average discount (7.33%), reflecting a more premium positioning.
- Ulta Beauty leads in Hair Care with the highest discount (22.62%), while Bluemercury dominates in Skin Care (13.81%), Makeup (22.98%), and Fragrance (10.6%).
- Sephora consistently offers the lowest discounts across all subcategories, reflecting their premium positioning.
- Bluemercury offers the lowest prices for luxury brands like Kiehl (27.02%) and Laura Mercier (34.87%), with Bloomingdale’s closely trailing.
- Bloomingdale’s leads for Bumble and Bumble (13.59%) and Hourglass (23.41%), showcasing strong promotional efforts.
- Sephora maintains a more restrained discount strategy, with notable leadership only for Estée Lauder (7.18%).
- Ulta Beauty shines in offering the steepest discount for Briogeo (33.26%), emphasizing competitiveness in key brands.
What’s Next for Holiday Discounting?

For retailers, the message is clear: traditional holiday playbooks need a serious update. For shoppers, it means unprecedented opportunities to score deals in categories that traditionally held firm on pricing.

Want to stay ahead of retail trends and optimize your holiday shopping strategy? DataWeave’s commerce intelligence platform helps brands and retailers strategically navigate these shifts. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you make data-driven decisions in this rapidly evolving retail landscape.

Stay tuned to our blog for forthcoming analyses on pricing and discounting trends across a spectrum of shopping categories, as we continue to unravel the intricacies of consumer behavior and market dynamics.
December 3, 2024
Early Black Friday Deals Analyzed: How Top Retailers Stack Up on Discounts
Black Friday, once confined to a single weekend, has evolved into a shopping season that now stretches well before Thanksgiving. With inflation hovering around 3% and consumer confidence showing signs of recovery, retailers are adapting their promotional calendars to capture early-bird shoppers and maintain a competitive edge.

Major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, have capitalized on this trend by launching promotions weeks in advance, signaling the traditional holiday rush is now a month-long event. At DataWeave, we put these deals under a microscope.

Our Methodology

Using DataWeave’s advanced, AI-powered pricing intelligence platform, we tracked early Black Friday deals across Consumer Electronics, Home & Furniture, Health & Beauty, and Apparel categories. We monitored dedicated Black Friday deal pages on Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Sephora to gather and analyze discount data a week prior to Black Friday weekend.

Who’s Offering the Best Deals Across Categories?

Our pre- Black Friday analysis reveals a clear pattern of premium brands offering deeper discounts across categories ahead of the holiday. Here are some key findings around retail players:
- Walmart emerges as the most aggressive discounter across categories, leading in Health & Beauty (57.07%), Apparel (48.97%), and Consumer Electronics (43.35%).
- Amazon maintains consistent but lower discounts (28-29%) across categories, suggesting potential deeper cuts ahead.
- Best Buy and Sephora, both category specialists, play it conservative compared to mass retail players.
Let’s look at each category more closely to get a detailed snapshot of the deals this Thanksgiving week:

Health & Beauty

Our analysis reveals that it’s not electronics, but the health & beauty category that leads with the widest discount range pre Black Friday, making it the category to watch out for.
- Walmart takes the lead with an aggressive 57.1% average discount in this category, capitalizing on its value-oriented reputation.
- Beauty specialist Sephora holds modest beauty discounts (32.81%) compared to other retailers.
- Amazon offers the broadest range of SKUs (571) in the category.
Among the health & beauty brands we analyzed, cosmetics brand Tarte and viral K-Beauty skincare brand COSRX stand out with discounts above 40%, appealing to cost-conscious beauty enthusiasts.

Consumer Electronics

Our pre- Black Friday analysis reveals interesting insights about consumer electronics deals this season.
- Walmart, once again, emerges as the frontrunner in the category with 43.4% average discounts.
- Best Buy plays it conservative in electronics (30.75%), despite being a category specialist, but offers the most extensive SKU coverage (3030).
- Amazon’s consistent 29.7% discount across 1,749 SKUs suggests they’re probably holding back their best deals for Prime members during Black Friday.
Brand-specific data for the category reveals significant deals on Speck (48.07%) and smart TV brand Insignia (39.22%), making accessories and mid-tier electronics attractive for early shoppers. Core computing (HP at 32.14%) and electronics brands maintain more conservative discounts. It remains to be seen if this changes on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Apparel

Our analysis of the apparel category reveals several highlights:
- In the apparel category too, Walmart dominates with an impressive 49% average discount, effectively targeting price-sensitive shoppers in the fashion segment.
- Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, both known for apparel, offer significant discounts at 43.2% and 37.8% respectively.
- Amazon’s expansive SKU coverage (1344) is countered by a modest 29.5% discount, showing its focus on variety over depth of discounts.
Premium fashion brands dominate the highest discounts this Black Friday in the apparel category. Vince Camuto leads with over 45.1% average discount. Notably, Levi and Nike’s aggressive 44.43% and 43.50% discounts suggests significant inventory positions or intent to capture market share.

Home & Furniture

Our analysis reveals an interesting trend across the category.
- In the home & furniture category too, Walmart leads at 41.8% average discounts. Target follows closely, but with significantly lesser SKUs on offer.
- Amazon’s 28.1% discount, though the lowest among major players, spans a substantial 1,982 SKUs, reinforcing its position as a marketplace for diverse needs.
Top 3 Products With the Highest Discounts Across Retailers

To provide a clearer picture of the early Black Friday landscape, we analyzed the top 3 products with the most substantial discounts in consumer electronics and health & beauty categories. These insights highlight how retailers are leveraging strategic discounts on high-value items to attract early shoppers.

Top Discounted Products in Consumer Electronics

Premium TVs dominate the discount scene, with LG’s 83″ OLED offering up to 44.5% off on Amazon, closely followed by a 44.4% discount on Best Buy, showcasing aggressive competition. The same product has much lower discounting on Walmart, but notably, the product is retailed at $3999.9, at least $1000 less than other retailers, highlighting Walmart’s commitment to offering lowest prices.

Gaming consoles, like the PlayStation 5 Slim Bundle, show moderate discounts (ranging from 15% on Walmart and Target to 25% at Best Buy), appealing to tech-savvy shoppers.

Notable competition is evident in price matching across major retailers, particularly in TVs and high-value electronics like the Nikon Z 8 camera, where Walmart offers the deepest discount at 13.75%, edging past Amazon and Best Buy.

Top Discounted Products in Health & Beauty

Viral skincare staples like Tatcha’s Water Cream show tight discounting consistency, with Walmart offering 19.47% off compared to Amazon’s 20% and Sephora’s 20.83%.

Trending haircare brand Olaplex displays greater disparity, with Walmart leading with a 33.33% discount, surpassing Amazon and Sephora. Luxury brand, Yves Saint Laurent’s Satin Lipstick is one of the highest discounted items across retailers.

Looking Ahead

Our analysis suggests that while some early deals offer genuine value, particularly in premium beauty and high-end electronics, many retailers might be holding their best discounts for Black Friday.

For shoppers, the key is being selective: jump on premium brand discounts now (since they’re likely to remain the same though the weekend), but wait on mid-range electronics and home goods where better deals are likely to emerge on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

For retailers, the imperative is clear: dynamic pricing intelligence is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge while protecting margins. Competitive insights will be critical as the holiday season progresses to balance market share against profitability.

Stay tuned for our Black Friday Cyber Monday analysis next week, where we’ll track how these early discounts compare to the main event’s deals!
November 28, 2024
10 SEO Tactics to Help Retail Brands Win More Search Visibility on Amazon

Today, the first name that comes to anybody’s mind when they hear about online shopping is Amazon. In the US alone, Amazon accounted for over 37.6 percent of total online retail sales in 2023 with the second place Walmart not even managing to win double-digit numbers on the same scale.

With such a phenomenal market share, it is not surprising that any retail brand would want to have their products listed on Amazon for sale. However, as enticing as the potential exposure could be, the overwhelming presence of brands selling similar products on Amazon is so huge that getting fair visibility for your products may require some heavy-lifting support.

Will the Same SEO You Use for Google Work with Amazon?

Unfortunately, no, as Google and Amazon have different objectives when it comes to search rankings on their respective customer platforms. Google makes the lion’s share of its revenue from search advertising, whereas Amazon makes money when customers buy products listed on its platform by sellers.

Relying on traditional search engine optimization (SEO) techniques may not get the desired results as they are more optimized for search engines like Google. Amazon embraces its unique DNA when it comes to product display rankings on its search option.

How Does SEO Work in Amazon?

Over the years, Amazon amassed data about shopping experiences that billions of customers globally had on its platform. With this data, they developed their custom search algorithm named A9. Contrary to the gazillion objectives that Google has for its intelligent search algorithms, Amazon has tasked A9 with just a simple straightforward target—when a customer keys in a search query, provide the best choice of products that they will most probably purchase, as search results.

A9 works to fulfill the mission of guiding shoppers to the right product without worrying about semantics, context, intent, mind mapping, etc. of the search query in contrast to what Google does. As with Google search, Amazon does have paid advertising and sponsored results options such as Amazon PPC, Headline ads, etc. but their SEO algorithms are aware of how to support and boost search rankings of genuine products and brands that have taken an effort to follow best practices in Amazon SEO as well as have a great offering with attractive prices.

As additional knowledge, Amazon also has clear guidelines on what it prioritizes for search rankings. Known in the SEO world as Amazon ranking signals, these are core factors that influence how a product is ranked for search queries. Some of the top Amazon ranking signals that carry heavy influence on search rankings include on-page signals, off-page signals, sales rank, best sellers rank, etc.

What Brands Need to Strategize to Master the Amazon SEO Algorithms

From a broad perspective, we can classify the actions brands need to take in this regard in 3 core stages:

Pre-Optimization

This deals with getting first-hand knowledge about both customers who are likely to purchase your product and the competitors who are vying for sales from these very same customers. Filtering your target customer or audience is essential to ensure that you get the most ROI from marketing initiatives and that sales cycles are accelerated. For example, if your product is a premium scented candle, there is no point in wasting advertising dollars trying to win attention from customers who are not likely to ever spend on luxury home décor items.

Knowing how your competitors are performing on Amazon search, the keywords, and SEO strategies they have adapted is critical to ensure that you stay one step ahead.

Product Listing Page Optimization

This includes strategies that a brand can adopt so that its product description page gets the much-needed content optimizations to sync with Amazon’s A9 algorithm. It has a mix of keyword-integrated content, relevant images, descriptions in easy-to-understand language, localized content flavors to resonate with target buyers, etc. For example, a kitchen tool like a grater might be used for different kinds of food preparation techniques in different regions of the same country.

The brand must ensure that the description adequately localizes the linguistic or usage preference representation of the target audience. If the grater is used for grating coconut shells to extract the fibrous pulp in the Midlands and for grating ginger skin in the Far East, both use cases should be part of the product description if the target customers are from both regions.

Sales Optimization

This deals with options that have more sales strategies integrated into their core. For example, blogs on popular websites with the Amazon purchase link embedded in the content, collaboration with social media influencers, paid advertising on Amazon itself as well as on search engines, video ads, banner and display ads, etc.

The key intent here is to drive organic and inorganic traffic to the Amazon product listing page and ultimately win sales.

How Can Your Products Rank High in Amazon Search Results? Top 10 Tactics

Now that you have a clear understanding of the strategies that help in mastering Amazon’s ranking algorithms, here are some great tips to help achieve higher search rankings for your products on Amazon search:

1. Target Relevant Keywords

You need to figure out the best keywords that match what customers put as queries into the Amazon search bar. Your brand needs to clearly understand customer behavior when they arrive on Amazon to search for a product or category of products. The best place to begin looking for the same would be on competitor pages on Amazon. The keywords that helped them rank well on Amazon can help you as well. Manually investigating such a large pool of competitors is nearly impossible but with the right tools, you can easily embrace capabilities to know which keywords can help you in mimicking the success of your competitors.

2. Focus on Product Titles

Every single part of the content in your brand’s Amazon storefront or product page needs dedicated focus. Beginning with the product titles, effort needs to be made to ensure that they include the brand name, key product category or features, and other relevant keyword information.

In other words, product titles must be optimized for searchability. This searchability for product titles needs to be optimized for both mobile and desktop screens.

3. Create Product Descriptions that Resonate with the Audience

For product descriptions on your Amazon webpage, you need to figure out the optimal quality levels needed for the intended audience. Effective content can help achieve better search ranking visibility and convince the incoming traffic of shoppers to make a purchase. It is important to periodically review and modify your page content to suit the interests of visitors from both web and mobile devices.

Leveraging solutions like DataWeave can help with regular content audits to ensure you are putting out the best product content that will delight shoppers and deliver on sales conversion targets.

4. Use High-Quality Media Assets like Images and Videos

Promoting your product doesn’t have to be restricted to just textual content in Amazon product description sections. You can use other multimedia assets of high quality. These include images, videos, brochure images, etc. Every content asset must aim to educate shoppers on why your product should be their number one choice. For example, look at this detailed product description for the viral K-Beauty product COSRX Mucin Essence.

Moreover, images can help attract more attention span from visitors, thereby increasing the probability of purchases.

5. Strengthen the Backend Keywords As Well

Amazon also supports hidden backend keywords that sellers add to their product listings. They help add more relevance to products similar to meta descriptions and titles in traditional SEO for search engines like Google. A typical backend keyword may comprise synonyms, misspelled keywords, textual variations, etc. However, knowing how to pick the right ones is crucial. By analyzing your keyword rankings against competitors and higher-ranking product results in search, the platform can help you consistently optimize your content backend to help grow visibility.

6. Focus on Reviews and Ratings

Reviews and ratings on product pages are key insights that help customers with their purchasing decisions. So, it is natural for brands to keep a close eye on how their products are faring in this regard. Reviews and ratings are a direct indication of the trustworthiness of your product. When previous buyers rate you high and leave favorable reviews on your product, it will directly promote trust and help you secure a better rapport with new customers.

This upfront advantage can help boost sales conversions better. Leveraging solutions like DataWeave can help you understand the sentiments that customers have for your products by intelligently analyzing reviews and ratings.

7. Implement Competitive Pricing Strategies

The goal of most customers when shopping online is to get their desired product at the most affordable prices. The eCommerce price wars every year are growing in scale today and getting your product pricing right is crucial for sales. However, there is a need to gain comprehensive insights into how your competitors are pricing their offerings and how the market responds to specific price ranges. Solutions like DataWeave help your brand access specific insights into pricing. By analyzing competitor pricing, you can create a winning price model that is sustainable for your brand and favorable for target customers.

8. Track Share of Search

Content and other SEO activities will help improve your search rankings on Amazon. However, it is equally important to know how well your products are performing periodically against your competitors for the same set of specific keyword searches. You need to understand the share of search that your products are achieving to formulate improvement strategies. DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics solution provides share of search insights helping you uncover deep knowledge on your discoverability on Amazon (and other marketplaces) for your vital search keywords.

9. Ensure Stock Availability

To achieve better ranking results, brands need to ensure that the relevant products matching the search keywords are available for quick delivery at the desired ZIP codes where users are more likely to search and order them. Out-of-stock items seldom show up high on search results. Certain products, especially if they’re popular, can get stocked out frequently in certain locations. Keeping a close eye on your stock availability across the map can help minimize these scenarios.

10. Optimize Your Brand Presence

While optimizing content and other key areas within the Amazon webpage for your product is critical, there are other avenues to help boost search rankings. One such option includes registering in the Amazon Brand Registry, which provides more beneficial features like protection against counterfeits and ensuring that your brand page is optimized according to Amazon storefront standards.

The Bottom Line

Winning the top spot in Amazon search ranking is crucial for brands that aim to capitalize on online sales revenue to grow their business. Knowing your workaround for Amazon’s proprietary SEO frameworks and algorithms is the first step to succeeding. The key element of success is your ability to gain granular insights into the areas we covered in this blog post such as competitor prices, sentiments of customers, market preferences, and content optimization requirements.

This is where DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics solution becomes the biggest asset for your eCommerce business. Contact us to explore how we can empower your business to build the most visible and discoverable Amazon storefront that guarantees higher search rankings and ultimately increased sales. Talk to us for a demo today.

November 8, 2024
Mastering Retail Media Metrics: A Deep Dive into Share of Media
Brands are investing millions of dollars in digital retail media to make their products stand out amid unrelenting competition.

The ad spend on digital retail media worldwide was estimated at USD 114.4 billion in 2022, and the current projections indicate that it will grow to USD 176 billion by 2028. This amounts to a 54% increase in just six years.

The current surge in digital retail media advertising has led brands to find an effective way to monitor the efficacy of their ad spend. While Share of Search has long been used to measure brand visibility effectively, the metrics often missed tracking ads on retail sites.

DataWeave’s Share of Media solution helps solve this problem.

What is the Share of Media?

At DataWeave, Share of Media is a metric used to measure a brand’s presence in sponsored listings and banner ads on eCommerce platforms. It captures how often a brand appears in paid promotions compared to competitors, offering insights into advertising visibility and effectiveness.

These days most marketplaces seamlessly blend banner ads and sponsored listings into organic search results. Let’s take a closer look.

Banner Advertising

Banner advertising strategically places creative banners across websites—often at the top, bottom, or sides. Some eCommerce platforms also integrate these banners into product search listings.

What makes banner ads so special is the unique ability to allow marketers to use various types of media in a single ad, such as images, auto-play videos, and animations. Brands can also present curated collections of products. This flexibility provides marketers with creative opportunities to differentiate from competitors, capture customer interest, and encourage conversions.

Sponsored Listings

Sponsored listings are paid placements within search engine results or eCommerce platforms. They are usually marked as ‘sponsored’ or ‘ad,’ and they often appear at the top of search results and alongside organic product listing results.

Unlike organic search results, sponsored listings are prioritized based on the advertiser’s bid amount and relevance to users’ search queries.

Sponsored listings offer a strategic advantage by enabling businesses to connect directly with consumers who are actively searching for their products. This targeted approach ensures that marketing efforts are focused on individuals with high intent of making a purchase, maximizing the potential return on investment.

The Power of Banner Ads and Sponsored Listings

Banner ads and sponsored listings are great choices for boosting customer engagement and product sales. Here are four key advantages they offer:
- Enhanced Visibility: Digital retail media strategically places your brand where it will stand out—outshining competitors and grabbing the attention of high-purchase-intent consumers.
- Precision in Reach: These ads target specific keywords or categories, allowing for highly focused advertising based on demographics and search intent.
- Minimal Conversion Friction: Smooth transitions from ads to a brand’s native store or product listing on the marketplace keep conversion friction to a minimum.
- Brand Awareness and Recall: Consistent exposure to your brand through banner ads and sponsored product listings can leave lasting impressions and build brand recognition.
The bottom line is that it’s increasingly important for brands to monitor their Share of Media.

How to Monitor Your Brand’s Share of Media

DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics (DSA) platform extends beyond the traditional Share of Search metrics and provides robust support for monitoring the Share of Media.

DataWeave monitors the Share of Media in two ways: keywords and product categories. Users can view Share of Media insights through aggregated views, trend charts, and detailed tables. The views are designed to show brand visibility and the overall competitive landscape. For example, the screenshot below, taken from DataWeave’s dashboard, showcases the Share of Media across keywords, categories, and retailers.

Share of Media by Keyword

The Share of Media metric captures a brand’s advertising presence within search listings for a designated keyword. This provides a comprehensive view of a brand’s visibility and promotional efforts across retail platforms, helping brands validate and gauge the effectiveness of their ad spend.

For example, the screenshot below shows the trend of manufacturer’s Share of Media by keyword—‘baby food.’

Share of Media by Category

The Share of Media metric measures the presence of brands’ banner ads and sponsored listings across product categories on retail sites. This helps brands see which product categories require more investment, making it easier for them to spend their ad budget wisely.

The screenshot below illustrates manufacturers’ Share of Media by category across retailers.

Share of Media: An Essential Ecommerce Metric

As retail media continues to evolve, our analytics must follow—after all, knowledge is a competitive advantage. In the dynamic world of eCommerce, where competition is fierce and consumer attention is scarce, understanding your share of media is crucial.

Analyzing the Share of Media can give brands a competitive edge. By regularly monitoring and analyzing this metric, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your brand’s visibility, attract more customers, and ultimately drive sales growth. With a deeper understanding of their target audience and market dynamics, brands can refine promotional efforts to drive more effective results and optimize return on ad spend (ROAS).

For more information on how Digital Shelf Analytics can enhance your brand’s digital shelf presence, request a demo or contact us at contact@dataweave.com.
October 14, 2024
Do Amazon’s Competitors Lower Prices During Prime Day?

As the retail landscape continues to evolve, events like Amazon Prime Day have become more than just shopping extravaganzas—they’ve transformed into strategic battlegrounds where retailers assert their market positions and brand identities. Prime Day 2024 was no exception, serving as a crucial moment for retailers to showcase their pricing prowess, customer loyalty programs, and category expertise.

In an era where consumer expectations for deals are at an all-time high, the impact of Prime Day extends far beyond Amazon’s ecosystem. Retailers like Walmart, known for its “everyday low prices,” Target with its emphasis on style and value, and Best Buy, the electronics specialist, have all adapted their strategies to compete. These companies didn’t just react to Prime Day; they proactively launched their own pre-emptive sales events, with Target Circle Week, Walmart July Deals and more, effectively extending the shopping bonanza and challenging Amazon’s dominance.

For Prime Day, we analyzed over 47,000 SKUs across major retailers and product categories to publish insights on Amazon’s pricing strategies as well as the performance of leading consumer brands. Here, we go further to delve into the discounts offered (or not offered) by Amazon’s competitors during Prime Day. Our analysis reveals that some retailers chose to compete on price during the sale for certain categories, while others did not.

Below, we highlight our findings for each product category. The Absolute Discount is the total discount offered by each retailer during Prime Day compared to the MSRP. These are the discounts consumers are familiar with, displayed on retail websites prominently during sale events. The Additional Discount, on the other hand, is the reduction in price during Prime Day compared to the week prior to the sale, revealing the level of price markdowns by the retailer specific to a sale event.

Consumer Electronics

In the Consumer Electronics category, Best Buy stood out as a strong competitor, offering an Additional Discount of 5.9%—the highest among all competitors analyzed. This is unsurprising, as Best Buy is well-known for its focus on consumer electronics and is likely aiming to reinforce its reputation for offering attractive deals in order to maintain its strong consumer perception in the category.

Walmart was a close second with a 4.3% Additional Discount while Target reduced its prices by only 2% during the sale.

Apparel

In the Apparel category, Walmart’s Additional Discount was 3.1%, demonstrating its willingness to be priced competitively on a small portion of its assortment during the sale, without compromising much on margins.

Target, on the other hand, opted out of competing with Amazon on price during the sale, choosing instead to maintain its Absolute Discount level of around 11%.

Home & Furniture

The Home & Furniture category showcased diverse strategies from retailers. Specialty furniture retailers such as Overstock and Home Depot provided Additional Discounts of 3.9% and 2.5%, respectively, compared to Amazon’s 6.9%. This indicates a clear intent to maintain market share and remain top-of-mind for consumers despite Amazon’s competitive pricing.

Although Target didn’t significantly lower its prices during the sale, its Absolute Discount remains substantial at 18.9%. This suggests that Target’s markdowns were already steep before the event, which could explain the lack of further reductions during the sale.

Health & Beauty

The Health & Beauty category saw minimal participation from Amazon’s competitors, with the exception of Sephora, which reduced prices by 3.7% during Prime Day.

Ulta Beauty chose not to adjust its prices, likely reflecting its strategy to uphold a premium brand image. Walmart, on the other hand, offered a modest Additional Discount of 2% on select items. Given Walmart’s generally affordable product range, its total discount remained relatively low, around 3.5%.

In Conclusion

During Prime Day, Walmart was the only major retailer that made an effort to compete, albeit modestly. Target, on the other hand, largely chose not to offer any additional markdowns. However, several category-specific retailers, such as Best Buy in Consumer Electronics, Overstock and Home Depot in Furniture, and Sephora in Health & Beauty, aimed to retain market share by providing notable discounts.

What this means for consumers is that even on Amazon’s Prime Day, it’s not a bad idea to compshop to identify the best deal.

For retailers, the key takeaway is the importance of quickly analyzing competitor pricing and making agile, data-driven decisions to improve both revenues and margins. By utilizing advanced pricing intelligence solutions like DataWeave, retailers can optimize their discount strategies, better navigate pricing complexities, and drive revenue growth — all while staying prepared for major shopping events and beyond.

Reach out to us today to learn more!

August 21, 2024
Amazon Prime Day India 2024: Key Insights on Pricing and Visibility Across Categories and Brands
As the dust settles on Amazon’s 8th Prime Day extravaganza in India, held on July 20-21, 2024, the eCommerce giant has once again shattered records. This year’s event saw unprecedented engagement, with 24% more Prime members participating compared to 2023, marking the highest-ever Prime member involvement in the sale’s history.

At DataWeave, we’ve conducted an extensive analysis of this landmark event, examining over 47,000 SKUs across major categories for Flipkart and Amazon to uncover compelling insights into pricing strategies, competitive positioning, and emerging trends in the Indian eCommerce space. This follows our comprehensive analysis of Prime Day in the USA across categories and brands, which readers can explore for a global perspective on Amazon’s strategies.

Key Highlights:
- Tier-2 Cities Drive Growth: This year’s exponential growth was notably fueled by orders from tier-2 cities, highlighting the expanding reach of eCommerce in India.
- Swift Deliveries: Most Prime members’ orders from metros were delivered the same day or the next, while tier-2 cities saw deliveries in less than 2 days, highlighting the importance of delivery time when it comes to purchase decisions.
- Brand Participation: Over 450 top Indian and global brands participated, including Intel, Samsung, OnePlus, and Puma, alongside 3,200 new product launches from small and medium Indian businesses. This highlights Amazon’s policy to promote small, local businesses globally in 2024.
- Premium Products in Demand: Despite modest discounts across electronics and similar offerings, consumers chose to purchase premium products during Prime Day. With financial flexibility and no-cost EMI options, Indian consumers, especially Gen Z and millennials, are now ready to invest in premium products and experiences.
Our analysis focused on both the Additional Discounts offered during Prime Day (calculated relative to prices the week prior to the event), highlighting the event’s genuine benefits, and the Absolute Discounts offered during Prime Day, representing the total markdown relative to the MRP.

Cross-Category Discount Strategy

Our analysis this year reveals that the Consumer Electronics category saw the highest Absolute Discounts with an average of 48.9%, closely followed by Apparel at 46.9%. The Health & Beauty category had the lowest Absolute Discount at 32.1%.

However, Amazon offered the highest Additional Discount in Health & Beauty at 9.3%. Electronics and Apparel had additional discounts of 8.6% and 7.7% respectively.

Overall, Flipkart chose to not compete aggressively with Amazon during Prime Day this year. Only in Electronics did Flipkart offer an additional discount of 3.2% during the sale. Price changes in Apparel and Health & Beauty were negligible.

Category Deep Dive

Consumer Electronics

In Electronics, Earbuds (14.7%) and Wireless Headphones (12.5%) saw the highest Additional Discounts on Amazon, likely due to high demand for personal audio devices. Smartwatches followed closely at 12.5%, indicating a strong push in the wearable technology sector.

Larger electronic appliances like TVs saw more modest Additional Discounts (5.2%), despite a significant Absolute Discount (42.3%).

Smartphones, interestingly, had the lowest Additional Discount (2.8%) among the subcategories, potentially due to their already competitive pricing or brand-specific strategies.

Brand-level Insights in Consumer Electronics

During the sale event, Soundcore (headphone and earphone brand from Anker) led with the highest Additional Discount of 10.3%, followed closely by OnePlus at 9.3%. These brands clearly leveraged Prime Day to drive sales and potentially gain market share.

Sennheiser and Sony also offered significant additional discounts, indicating aggressive promotional strategies during the event.

Notably, some well-known brands like Apple and HP offered more conservative discounts, possibly due to their established market positions or differing promotional strategies.

Despite modest discounts though, Amazon revealed that the iPhone 13 and OnePlus 12R were among the top premium smartphones customers bought this Prime Day. Prime members shopped from top brands such as LG, IFB, Bosch, and Haier and upgraded to premium appliances through affordability options of no cost EMI, Bank discounts and exchange offers, claims Amazon.

These learnings offer valuable insight into the mindset of the modern Indian consumer, who is ready to purchase premium products. Brands can leverage more detailed market intelligence to drive their positioning in India.

Share of Search Analysis

The Share of Search (SoS) for a brand represents the number of its products in the top 20 search results for relevant search keywords on Amazon, relative to that of its competitors. It provides insights into a brand’s visibility during the sale event.

HP saw the most significant improvement in its Share of Search during Prime Day, gaining 9.2%, with strong growth in both organic (7.5%) and sponsored (1.7%) listings. LG also made substantial gains of 8.2% and 5.3% respectively. Both brands offered significant markdowns on laptops and accessories.

Surprisingly, some popular brands like Apple (-0.6%) and Acer (-1.0%) experienced slight decreases in their SoS. Lenovo notably lost 7.2% of its visibility share, with a significant decline in organic listings (-7.6%). Samsung maintained its strong position with an increase in SoS (3.7%).

Key Takeaways:

While some brands like Soundcore and OnePlus used aggressive discounting to drive sales, others like HP and LG focused on improving their search visibility. The data suggests that a combination of attractive discounts and improved search visibility was key to success during the event. Brands that managed to balance these factors effectively, like HP and Samsung, seemed to perform particularly well. Interestingly, some brands with lower discounts (like HP) still managed to significantly increase their SoS, indicating that factors beyond pricing played a role in visibility during the event.

Apparel

Within the subcategories analyzed, Women’s Shoes (13.4%) and Men’s Shoes (11.6%) saw the highest Additional Discounts on Amazon, indicating a strong focus on footwear during the event. Men’s Shirts followed closely at 11.1%

Women’s Tops had a more modest Additional Discount of 7.9% despite a high Absolute Discount before the event. Similarly, Women’s Dresses showed substantial Additional Discounts (10.4%).

Swimwear for both men and women saw low Additional Discounts (3.7% and 3.0% respectively). Innerwear categories for both men and women had more conservative discounts, with Men’s Innerwear showing the lowest Absolute Discount (19.9%) among all subcategories.

Brand-level Insights in Apparel

During the sale event, Sangani (innerwear brand) led with the highest Additional Discount of 41%, followed by Louis Philippe at 25%. These brands clearly leveraged Prime Day to drive sales and gain market share.

Puma offered the highest Absolute Discount at 60% with a significant Additional Discount of 20%, indicating a consistently aggressive promotional strategy. Chromozome (men’s innerwear brand) and Bacca Bucci (homegrown shoe brand of Shark Tank India fame) also offered substantial Absolute Discounts (57% and 56% respectively), but their Additional Discounts varied significantly (16% and 6% respectively).

Again, some well-known brands like Adidas, and Pepe Jeans offered more moderate Additional Discounts, possibly due to their established market positions.

Share of Search Analysis

Biba (women’s ethnic wear brand) saw the most significant improvement in its SoS, gaining 3.60%, entirely through investments in sponsored listings. Allen Solly and New Balance (shoe brand) also made substantial gains of 3.3% and 3.2% respectively.

Surprisingly, some popular brands like Louis Philippe (-2.00%) and Sangani (-2.10%) experienced decreases in their SoS. Louis Philippe lost its share due to a roll back of its sponsored listings, while Sangini lost ground organically.

Key Takeaways:

While some brands like Sangani and Louis Philippe used aggressive discounting to drive sales, others like Biba and Allen Solly focused on improving their search visibility through sponsored listings.

Some brands with high discounts (like Sangani) saw a decrease in SoS, while others with more modest discounts (like Biba) significantly increased their visibility. This indicates that factors beyond pricing played a crucial role in brand performance during the event.

The significant use of sponsored listings by some brands highlights the importance of paid advertising in gaining visibility during competitive events like Prime Day.

Health & Beauty

Health & Beauty emerged as a standout category during Amazon Prime Day India 2024, with significant discounts and competitive strategies at play.

Within the subcategories we analyzed, Moisturizer (11.9%) and Sunscreen (11.8%) saw the highest additional price reductions on Amazon, likely due to seasonal demand during Prime Days. Make-up followed closely at 10.6%.

Electric Toothbrushes had the highest Absolute Discount at 47.1%, but a lower Additional Discount of 6.0%, highlighting that these products were already significantly discounted before the event. Similarly, Beard Care products showed high Absolute Discounts (43.7%) but lower Additional Discounts (5.7%) during Prime Day.

Everyday essentials like Toothpaste saw more modest discounts (19.9% Absolute, 8.4% Additional), reflecting steady demand for these products.

Brand-level Insights in Health & Beauty

Vaseline led with the highest Additional Discount of 13.1%, followed by Maybelline at 9.5%. These brands clearly leveraged Prime Day to drive sales and potentially gain market share.

Honest Amish (beard care brand) and Nivea also offered substantial Absolute Discounts (15.6% and 8.2% respectively), but their Additional Discounts were lower, indicating pre-existing promotional strategies.

Once again, some well-known brands like Colgate, Dove, and Neutrogena offered more conservative discounts, possibly due to their established market positions or differing promotional strategies.

Share of Search Analysis

Maybelline saw the most significant improvement, gaining 5.6% in SoS, all through organic listings. The brand has been aggressively increasing market share with several new product launches and influencer campaigns. Nivea and Vaseline also made substantial gains of 5.2% and 3.8% respectively.

In this category as well, some popular brands like Dove (-0.4%), Pond’s (-0.8%), and Honest Amish (-0.8%) experienced slight decreases in their SoS. Parodontax (toothpaste brand) notably lost 1.3% SoS, with most of the decline in sponsored listings. Colgate maintained its strong position with a slight increase in SoS (0.2%), reflecting its dominant market presence.

Key Takeaways:

While some brands like Vaseline and Maybelline used aggressive discounting and improved visibility to drive sales, others like Colgate and Dove relied more on their established market positions.

None of the brands made any significant strides in sponsored listings, revealing that brands in this category are not yet fully leveraging retail media to help manage and boost their visibility on online marketplaces.

Final Thoughts

Amazon Prime Day 2024 has redefined the eCommerce landscape in India, yet again, showcasing diverse strategies employed by brands to maximize their impact. By understanding and leveraging these insights, brands and retailers can better navigate future sales events, optimizing their eCommerce strategies to achieve sustained growth and success.

Stay tuned to our blog for more in-depth analyses of brand and retailer performance across various retail events.

Reach out to us today to learn how you can leverage data-driven insights to optimize your eCommerce strategy.
August 1, 2024
Amazon Prime Day Pricing Trends 2024: Deals and Discounts Galore Across Categories

Amazon Prime Day 2024 has once again shattered records, with more items sold during the two-day event than any previous Prime Day. Prime members worldwide saved billions across all categories, while independent sellers moved an impressive 200 million items.

At DataWeave, we conducted an extensive analysis of the discounts offered by Amazon across major categories. By examining over 47,000 SKUs, we’ve uncovered compelling insights into pricing strategies, competitive positioning, and emerging trends in the eCommerce space.

Since products on Amazon and other eCommerce websites are often sold at discounts even on normal days not linked to a sale event, we delved into the real value that Prime Day offers to shoppers by focusing on price reductions or the Additional Discount during the sale compared to the week before. As a result, our approach highlights the genuine benefits of the event for shoppers who count on lower prices during the sale. At the same time, our report also includes the Absolute Discounts offered during Prime Day, which represents the total markdown relative to the MSRP.

Amazon’s Cross-Category Discount Strategy

Our analysis reveals that the Electronics category saw the highest discounts with an average absolute discount of 20.4% and additional discounts on Prime Day amounting to 10.4%. Meanwhile the Home & Furniture had the lowest discount at 13.1%.

The Health & Beauty category saw significant additional discounts during Prime Day, at 9.26%. The Apparel category offered attractive absolute (16.10%) and additional (8.90%) discounts.

Category Deep Dive

Consumer Electronics

Still the star of the show, the electronics category saw the highest markdowns this Prime Day with absolute discounts at 20.40% and across 14.61% of their inventory.

Across Electronics subcategories, Earbuds had the highest markdowns at 34.80%, followed closely by Wireless Headphones at 30.60% and Headphones at 29.00%, with steep additional discounts during Prime Day as well. Apple AirPods Pro, for example, retailed at $168 (down from $249) at a 32% discount.

Meanwhile, smartphones had the lowest markdowns at 9.30%, followed by Laptops at 10.50%. Laptops also had the lowest additional discount during Prime Day at just 1.28%, significantly lower than other subcategories. Speakers (20.80%), Drones (19.10%), and Smartwatches (25.00%) offered moderate to high markdowns.

Notably, all Amazon products including Kindle, Echo, Echo Earbuds, Alexa, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire Tablets, were aggressively discounted upwards of 30% this Prime Day. These products also came with the label “Climate Pledge Friendly.”

These aspects indicate Amazon’s push to promote its own ecosystem of products to the top, as well as cater to changing consumer preferences.

Apparel

Discounts offered this Prime Day increased from 13.2% in 2023 to 16.1% in 2024.

Amid apparel subcategories, Amazon appears to be pushing Women’s apparel categories more aggressively, particularly in Tops, Shoes, and Athleisure.

Women’s Shoes lead with the highest discounts at 26.50%, followed by Women’s Tops at 22.50% and Men’s Shoes at 22.80%. Women’s Tops also maintained the highest additional discount at 15.27%, followed by Women’s Athleisure at 13.03% and Men’s Swimwear at 12.44%.

Similar to 2023, Men’s Innerwear offered significantly lower discounts, with only 1% absolute discount and 0.72% additional discount. Women’s Innerwear also shows low discounts at 3.20% absolute and 2.23% additional.

Health & Beauty

Amid health & beauty subcategories, Moisturizes witnessed the highest markdowns at 20.10%, followed by Make Up at 18.90%. The Moisturizer subcategory also offers highest additional discounts at 12.20%, followed closely by Sunscreen at 10.25% and Beard Care at 10.22%.

The Toothpaste subcategory has the lowest discounts, at 10.90%. The lower discounts on everyday essentials like this might indicate a steady demand or an attempt to maintain margins on frequently purchased items.

Most Health & Beauty subcategories fall in the 15-18% range for actual discounts and 8-10% range for additional discounts. Electric Toothbrush (16.90% actual, 9.91% additional) and Shampoo (16.50% actual, 8.78% additional) represent the middle of the pack. There were a few highly attractive deals though, such as the Philips Sonicare toothbrush retailing at $122.96 (down from $199.99), with a 39% discount.

Amazon also offered significant discounts on Open Box products (products that are returned, but unused, out of mint condition boxes) to Prime members.

Home & Furniture

This category saw the lowest discounts for this Prime Day event at 13.1%. Across subcategories, Rugs lead with the highest average discount at 21.50%, closely followed by Luggage at 20.90%. Amazon seems to be pushing decorative and organizational items (Rugs, Bookcases) more aggressively, possibly due to higher margins. Rugs also stood out as the subcategory with the highest additional discount of 11.54%.

Sofas have the lowest additional discount at 2.76%, followed by Dining Tables at 3.21%. Items like Cabinets (15.80% absolute, 6.66% additional) and Coffee Tables (14.40% absolute, 6.25% additional) represent the middle range of discounts.

Watch Out For More

As the holiday season approaches, it’s clear that the retail landscape continues to evolve. While Amazon remains a formidable force, there are opportunities for savvy competitors to carve out their niches and attract deal-hungry shoppers. By analyzing these trends and adjusting strategies accordingly, retailers can position themselves for success in the high-stakes world of summer sales events.

Stay tuned to our blog for more insights on how Amazon’s competitors reacted to Prime Day, and how leading brands across categories fared in terms of their pricing and their visibility during the sale event. Reach out to us today to learn more.

July 20, 2024
Cinco de Mayo 2024 Pricing Insights: An Analysis of Discounts Amid Inflation
Cinco de Mayo is a vibrant celebration of Mexican-American and Hispanic heritage, marked by lively parades, festive tacos, and refreshing tequila across North America. For the service industry, brands, and retailers, this day offers a golden opportunity to roll out enticing promotions on beloved Mexican foods and beverages, drawing in large crowds and boosting sales.

Americans love to indulge in Mexican cuisine during Cinco de Mayo. Take avocados, for example: despite inflation, avocado sales soared to 52.3 million units this year, marking a 25% increase from last year, according to the Hass Avocado Board’s 2023 Holiday Report. Such festive events see a significant sales spike, largely driven by appealing discounts and special offers.

So, what discounts did retailers roll out this Cinco de Mayo?

At DataWeave, our cutting-edge data aggregation and analysis platform tracked and analyzed the prices and deals on Mexican food and alcohol products offered by leading retailers. Our in-depth analysis sheds light on their pricing competitiveness during Cinco de Mayo, revealing how pricing strategies differed across various subcategories and brands.

We conducted a similar analysis in 2022, allowing us to compare the prices of identical products this year versus last year. This comparison helps us understand the impact of inflation over the past two years on the prices offered today.

Our Methodology

For our analysis, we monitored the average discounts offered by major US retailers on over 2,000 food and beverage products during Cinco de Mayo, as well as in the days leading up to the event. Many retailers kick off their Cinco de Mayo promotions a week before, so we included the entire week leading up to May 5th in our analysis.

Key Details:
- Number of SKUs: 2000+
- Retailers Analyzed: Target, Amazon Fresh, Safeway, Walmart, Total Wines & More, Sam’s Club, Meijer, Kroger
- Categories: Food, Alcohol
- Analysis Period: April 28 – May 5
To truly demonstrate the value of Cinco de Mayo for shoppers, we concentrated on price reductions and additional discounts during the event. By comparing these with regular day discounts, we were able to highlight the genuine savings and benefits that Cinco de Mayo promotions offer to budget-conscious consumers.

Our Findings

Safeway led the pack with the highest average additional discount of 4.91%, covering 38.6% of their food inventory for Cinco de Mayo. Total Wine & More followed closely, offering an average discount of 3.46% across 70.8% of its tequila, whiskey, mezcal, and other spirit products during the Cinco de Mayo week.

In contrast, Target provided minimal additional discounts, averaging just 0.8% over a small fraction (11.6%) of its SKUs. Similarly, Kroger’s additional discounts were also 0.8%, but they were spread across over 60% of its tracked products. Walmart (1.4%) and Amazon Fresh (1.2%) offered relatively conservative discounts during the sale period.

During Cinco de Mayo, various brands rolled out attractive discounts to entice shoppers. Among beverage brands, The American Plains vodka led the way with the highest average discount of 20.80%. Coffee brands also joined the festivities with significant discounts: Death Wish Coffee at 14.30%, Dunkin’ at 11.10%, and Starbucks at 5.70%. Notably, Dunkin’ and Death Wish Coffee introduced complimentary beverages such as whiskey barrel-aged coffee and spiked coffee products to celebrate the event.

In the wine category, Erath stood out with a 10% additional discount. However, brands like Jose Cuervo and Franzia offered more modest discounts of 0.70% and 1.80%, respectively.

Food brands associated with traditional Mexican ingredients or products, such as tortillas, salsas, and spices, provided higher discounts compared to mainstream snack brands. For instance, McCormick (25%), El Monterey (13.3%), and La Tortilla Factory (16.7%)—known for ready-to-eat frozen foods, seasonings, and condiments—delivered the highest discounts. Other notable discounts included Jose Ole (12.5%), a frozen food brand, and Yucatan (8.3%), known for its guacamole.

Safeway’s private label brand, Signature Select, offered a 5.20% discount. Additionally, Safeway provided deep discounts on brands like Pace, Herdez, and Taco Bell, indicating an aggressive discounting strategy. In contrast, brands closely associated with Mexican or Tex-Mex cuisine, such as Old El Paso, Mission, Rosarita, and La Banderita, offered relatively modest discounts ranging from 0.5% to 3.3%.

The discount patterns varied between alcohol and food categories, with food brands generally offering higher discounts. This trend may be attributed to pricing being regulated in the alcohol industry. These differing discount levels highlight how brands navigated the balance between driving sales and maintaining profit margins during Cinco de Mayo, particularly in the context of inflation affecting costs.

Impact of Inflation on Cinco de Mayo Prices (2024 vs 2022)

To gauge the impact of inflation on popular Cinco de Mayo products, we analyzed the average prices at Walmart and Target between 2022 and 2024. These two retailers were chosen due to their prominence in the retail sector and the robustness of our sample data.

At Walmart, the Tex Mex category saw the highest average price increase, rising by 22.51%. Other notable subcategories with significant price hikes include Condiments (23.21%), Vegetables/Packaged Vegetables (21.22%), and Lasagne (14.10%). Categories like Dips & Spreads (13.77%), Pantry Staples (14.92%), and Salsa & Dips (8.23%) experienced relatively lower increases.

At Target, the Snacks subcategory had the steepest average price rise at 27.94%, followed by Meal Essentials (16.07%) and Deli Pre-Pack (8.82%). Categories such as Dairy (0.51%), Frozen Meals/Sides (7.11%), and Adult Beverages (7.41%) saw smaller price increases.

Brands associated with traditional Mexican or Tex-Mex cuisine faced higher price hikes. Examples include Old El Paso (24.59% at Walmart, 8.70% at Target), Tostitos (35.44% at Walmart, 11.41% at Target), Ortega (30.59% at Walmart, 19.69% at Target), and Rosarita (14.39% at Walmart).

In contrast, private label or store brands generally experienced lower price increases compared to national brands. For instance, Good & Gather (Target’s private label) saw a 9.55% increase, while Market Pantry (Walmart’s private label) had a 17.27% rise. This trend is understandable as retailers have more control over their costs with private label brands.

The data clearly indicates that both Walmart and Target have significantly raised prices across various categories and brands, reflecting the broader inflationary environment where the cost of goods and services has been steadily climbing.

Interestingly, we observed higher price increases at Walmart compared to Target. Although Walmart is renowned for its consumer-friendly pricing strategies, it too had to elevate grocery prices post-2022 to combat inflationary pressures. As consumers become more cost-conscious and reduce spending on discretionary items, Walmart and other retailers are now cutting prices across categories to align with shifting consumer behaviors.

Mastering Pricing Strategies During Sale Events

Our pricing analysis for Cinco de Mayo reveals compelling insights into the dynamics of retailer landscapes in the US. It highlights the enduring relevance of private label brands, even amidst fluctuating demand, showing the emergence of local, national, and small players vying for market share.

As retailers navigate inflationary pressures and evolving consumer behaviors, understanding these pricing dynamics becomes crucial for optimizing strategies and bolstering market competitiveness. This analysis offers actionable intelligence for retailers seeking to navigate the intricate terrain of sale event promotions while addressing shifting consumer preferences and economic challenges.

Access to reliable and timely pricing data equips retailers and brands with the tools needed to make informed decisions and drive profitable growth in an increasingly competitive environment. To learn more and gain guidance, reach out to us to speak to a DataWeave expert today!
May 22, 2024
Easter Candy Pricing Trends 2024: Winning Strategies for Retailers and Brands Amid Cocoa Price Surge
Easter egg hunts just got more challenging for families this year as the price of chocolate and other candies has soared. The root of this price surge lies in a cocoa deficit, attributed to diseases affecting crops and the adverse effects of climate change on West African farms, which supplies over 70% of the world’s cocoa. This has resulted in a tripling of cocoa prices over the last year, causing a “cocoa crunch,” and severely impacted confectioners and chocolate makers.

Reuters recently reported that Iconic brands such as Hershey’s and Cadbury find themselves grappling with the need to adjust to escalating costs for raw materials. Given that Easter is one of the top three candy-purchasing occasions, these manufacturers are contemplating raising their prices to sustain their profit margins.

Despite the challenges posed by the cocoa shortfall and persistent inflation, the National Confectioners Association anticipates that Easter candy sales in the U.S. will match or even exceed last year’s figures, which amounted to approximately $5.4 billion. This expectation is predicated more on price increases than on a rise in sales volume.

At DataWeave, our ongoing analysis of pricing trends across various consumer categories among retailers has provided insight into the evolving landscape of chocolate and candy prices in 2023 and 2024.

Our Analysis of Inflation in Candy and Chocolate Prices

Our study encompassed a broad array of 3,300 products from leading U.S. retailers, Amazon, Target, Kroger, and Giant Eagle. As illustrated in the following chart, the trajectory of prices over the past 15 months was compared against the average prices in January 2023. Our tracking focused on two key price points: the selling price, which represents the final cost to consumers after applying any discounts or promotions, and the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP), as determined by the brands themselves.

The findings from our analysis indicate that the average selling price, primarily influenced by retailer decisions, has experienced a steady increase throughout 2023, reaching a peak at 16.2% above January 2023’s figures by December. As of March 2024, coinciding with the Easter season, the selling prices are approximately 10% higher than they were at the beginning of the previous year.

Simultaneously, the MSRP has seen a consistent uptick, driven by the climbing costs of cocoa. Brands have adjusted their suggested prices accordingly, with the current MSRP standing about 7% above its January 2023 level, after having peaked at a 7.6% increase by December 2023. This reflects the direct impact of rising cocoa costs on product pricing strategies.

Chocolate Candies Are Hit The Hardest

Across all candies, chocolate-based products have witnessed significantly sharper price increases than their non-chocolate counterparts. In the past 14 months, the selling prices of chocolate items have surged by 14.9%, a stark contrast to the modest 4% rise observed in non-chocolate candies.

This price escalation was particularly pronounced during the Christmas shopping period, a response to heightened demand, before experiencing a temporary decline in February.

The diminishing availability of cocoa, coupled with rising costs for packaging and transportation, has compelled brands and retailers alike to transfer these added expenses onto the consumer. This dynamic underpins the distinct pricing trends observed across the candy spectrum, with chocolate items bearing the brunt of these cost pressures.

Discounts Offered By Retailers and Brands to Entice Easter Shoppers

In our analysis, we delved deeper to identify the retailers and brands offering the most compelling prices for Easter-centric confections, including Chocolate Eggs, Chocolate Bunnies, and Easter-themed gift packs.

Kroger emerged as the frontrunner among the retailers we monitored, offering an impressive 19% discount on Easter candies. Giant Eagle followed with a solid 14% average markdown. Meanwhile, Amazon and Target provided more modest promotional discounts at 12% and 10%, respectively.

Kroger is making significant efforts to ensure consumers have access to attractively priced Easter treats. The retailer planned to keep its doors open throughout the Easter weekend, featuring baskets brimming with discounted items such as Russell Stover chocolate bunnies, Brach’s jelly beans, Reese’s eggs, and assorted bags of popular candies from Snickers, Twix, and Starburst, among others. Additionally, Kroger is enhancing its value proposition through gift card offers and exclusive Easter deals for its loyalty program members.

On the brand front, Starburst by Mars Wrigley leads with the steepest discount of 25%. Cadbury, under Mondelez, is not far behind, offering 21% off its mini eggs and other Easter treats, marking an increase from last year’s 17% discount. Ferrero Rocher is making a strong pricing move with an average 20% markdown on its Easter selections, including the chocolate bunny and squirrel figures.

The beloved Peeps marshmallow candies by Just Born are being offered at an 18% discount this year, slightly less than the 23% discount seen in 2023, likely reflecting the impact of rising sugar costs, given their sugar and corn composition.

Other notable brands, including M&M’s and the premium Swiss chocolatier Lindt, have elevated their average Easter discounts to 17% this year, up from the previous year’s discounts of 12%, and 10% respectively, showcasing a competitive pricing strategy to delight consumers this Easter season.

Coping With Inflation This Easter Season

Retailers and brands aiming to remain profitable and competitive in the current challenging environment can adopt a few strategic approaches:
- Creative Product Bundling: Design innovative combo packs that mix chocolate and non-chocolate items. Such bundles can cater to diverse consumer preferences and budget ranges while preserving profit margins.
- Encouragement of Bulk Purchases: Offer enticing discounts on larger quantities to promote bulk buying. This strategy can help amplify sales volumes, compensating for increased costs per item and fostering economies of scale.
- Strategic Competitive Pricing: Keeping a vigilant eye on competitors’ pricing strategies is vital. Aim to capture market share through well-thought-out discount strategies that balance competitiveness with margin preservation. Leveraging advanced pricing intelligence, such as that offered by DataWeave, can provide invaluable insights for making informed pricing decisions.
- Product Size Adjustments: Consider revising the size or weight of products as a cost management measure, a strategy known as “shrinkflation.” It’s crucial to approach this transparently, ensuring clear communication on packaging to uphold consumer trust.
Adopting these strategies—focusing on bundle offerings, incentivizing bulk purchases, optimizing pricing strategies based on competitive intelligence, and thoughtfully adjusting product sizes—will be pivotal for confectioners to navigate the challenges posed by the cocoa price surge.

For more information, reach out to us to speak to a DataWeave expert today!
April 1, 2024
Capturing and Analyzing Retail Mobile App Data for Digital Shelf Analytics: Are Brands Missing Out?
Consumer brands around the world increasingly recognize the vital role of tracking and optimizing their digital shelf KPIs, such as Content Quality, Share of Search, Availability, etc. These metrics play a crucial role in boosting eCommerce sales and securing a larger online market share. With the escalating requirements of brands, the sophistication of top Digital Shelf Analytics providers is also on the rise. Consequently, the adoption of digital shelf solutions has become an essential prerequisite for today’s leading brands.

As brands and vendors continue to delve further and deeper into the world of Digital Shelf Analytics, a significant and often overlooked aspect is the analysis of digital shelf data on mobile apps. The ability of solution providers to effectively track and analyze this mobile-specific data is crucial.

Why is this emphasis on mobile apps important?

Today, the battle for consumer attention unfolds not only on desktop web platforms but also within the palm of our hands – on mobile devices. As highlighted in a recent Insider Intelligence report, customers will buy more on mobile, exceeding 4 in 10 retail eCommerce dollars for the first time.

Moreover, thanks to the growth of delivery intermediaries like Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc., shopping on mobile apps has received a tremendous organic boost. According to an eMarketer report, US grocery delivery intermediary sales are expected to reach $68.2 billion in 2025, from only $8.8 billion in 2019.

In essence, mobile is increasingly gaining share as the form factor of choice for consumers, especially in CPG. In fact, one of our customers, a leading multinational CPG company, revealed to us that it sees up to 70% of its online sales come through mobile apps. That’s a staggering number!

The surge in app usage reflects a fundamental change in consumer behavior, emphasizing the need for brands to adapt their digital shelf strategies accordingly.

Why Brands Need To Look at Apps and Desktop Data Differently

Conventionally, brands that leverage digital shelf analytics rely on data harnessed from desktop sites of online marketplaces. This is because capturing data reliably and accurately from mobile apps is inherently complex. Data aggregation systems designed to scrape data from web applications cannot easily be repurposed to capture data on mobile apps. It requires dedicated effort and exceptional tech prowess to pull off in a meaningful and consistent way.

In reality, it is extremely important for brands to track and optimize their mobile digital shelf. Several digital shelf metrics vary significantly between desktop sites and mobile apps. These differences are natural outcomes of differences in user behavior between the two form factors.

One of these metrics that has a huge impact on a brand’s performance on retail mobile apps is their search discoverability. Ecommerce teams are well aware of the adverse impact of the loss of even a few ranks on search results.

Anyone can easily test this. Searching something as simple as “running shoes” on the Amazon website and doing the same on its mobile app shows at least a few differences in product listings among the top 20-25 ranks. There are other variances too, such as the number of sponsored listings at the top, as well as the products being sponsored. These variations often result in significant differences in a brand’s Share of Search between desktop and mobile.

Share of Search is the share of a brand’s products among the top 20 ranked products in a category or subcategory, providing insight into a brand’s visibility on online marketplaces.

Picture a scenario in which a brand heavily depends on desktop digital shelf data, confidently assuming it holds a robust Share of Search based on reports from its Digital Shelf Analytics partner. However, unbeknownst to the team, the Share of Search on mobile is notably lower, causing a detrimental effect on sales.

To fully understand the scale of these differences, we decided to run a small experiment using our proprietary data analysis and aggregation platform. We restricted our analysis to just Amazon.com and Amazon’s mobile app. However, we did cover over 13,000 SKUs across several shopping categories to ensure the sample size is strong.

Below, we provide details of our key findings.

Share of Search on The Digital Shelf – App Versus Desktop

Our analysis focused on three popular consumer categories – Electronics, CPG, and Health & Beauty.

In the electronics category, brands like Apple, Motorola, and Samsung, known for their mobile phones, earbuds, headphones, and more, have a higher Share of Search on the Amazon mobile app compared to the desktop.

Meanwhile, Laptop brands like Dell, Acer, and Lenovo, as well as other leading brands like Google have a higher Share of Search on the desktop site compared to the app. This is the scenario that brands need to be careful about. When their Share of Search on mobile apps is lower, they might miss the chance to take corrective measures since they lack the necessary data from their provider.

In the CPG category, Ramen brand Samyang, with a lot of popularity on Tiktok and Instagram, shows a higher Share of Search on Amazon’s mobile app. Speciality brands like 365 By Whole Foods, pasta and Italian food brands La Moderna, Divinia, and Bauducco too have a significantly higher Share of Search on the app.

Cheese and dessert brands like Happy Belly, Atlanta Cheesecake Company, among others, have a lower Share of Search on the mobile app. Ramen brand Sapporo is also more easily discovered on Amazon’s desktop site. Here, we see a difference of more than 5% in the Share of Search of some brands, which is likely to have a huge impact on the brand’s mobile eCommerce sales levels and overall performance.

Lastly, in the Health & Beauty category, Shampoos and hair care brands like Olaplex, Dove, and Tresemme exhibited a higher Share of Search on the mobile app compared to the desktop.

On the other hand, body care brands like Neutrogena and Hawaiian Tropic, as well as Beardcare brand Viking Revolution displayed a higher Share of Search on Amazon’s desktop site.

Based on our data, it is clear that there are several examples of brands that do better in either one of Amazon’s desktop sites or mobile apps. In many cases, the difference is stark.

So What Must Brands Do?

Our findings emphasize the imperative for brands to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to digital shelf analytics. The striking variations in Share of Search between mobile apps and desktops conclusively demonstrate that relying solely on desktop data for digital shelf optimization is inadequate.

If brands see that they’re falling behind on the mobile digital shelf, there are a few things they can do to help boost their performance:
- If a brand’s Share of Search is lower on the mobile app, they can divert their retail spend to mobile in order to inorganically compensate for this difference. This way, any short-term impact due to lower discoverability is mitigated. This is also likely to result in optimized budget allocation and ROAS.
- Brands also need to ensure their content is optimized for the mobile form factor, with images that are easy to view on smaller screens, and tailored product titles that are shorter than on desktops, highlighting the most important product attributes from the consumer’s perspective. Not only will this help brands gain more clicks from mobile shoppers, but this will also gradually lead to a boost in their organic Share of Search on mobile.
- CPG brands, specifically, need to optimize their digital shelf for delivery intermediary apps (along with marketplaces). The grocery delivery ecosystem is booming with companies like DoorDash, Delivery Hero, Uber Eats, Swiggy, etc. leading the way. Using Digital Shelf Analytics to optimize performance on delivery apps is quite an involved process with a lot of bells and whistles to consider. Read our recently published whitepaper that specifically details how brands can successfully boost their visibility and conversions on delivery apps.
But first, brands need to identify and work with a Digital Shelf Analytics partner that is able to capture and analyze mobile app data, enabling tailored optimization approaches for all eCommerce platforms.

DataWeave leads the way here, providing the world’s most comprehensive and sophisticated digital shelf analytics solution, rising above all other providers to provide digital shelf insights for both web applications and mobile apps. Our data aggregation platform successfully navigates the intricacies of capturing public data accurately and reliably from mobile apps, thereby delivering a comprehensive cross-device view of digital shelf KPIs to our brand customers.

So reach out to us today to find out more about our digital shelf solutions for mobile apps!
January 19, 2024
The Indian E-Commerce Showdown: Unveiling the Price War Between Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival
India’s homegrown eCommerce giant Flipkart, now backed by Walmart, reported a record 1.4 Billion customer visits during the early access phase and throughout the seven days of its premier shopping event, the Big Billion Days, launched on 8th October 2023. Competing with Flipkart, Amazon’s Great Indian Festival sale event started on October 8th as well and saw a whopping 95 Million customer visits to the website within the first 48 hours of the event.

For consumers, the most pressing question was, “Who offered more attractive deals and lower prices during these sale events?”

To answer this question, we leveraged our proprietary data aggregation and analysis platform and analyzed the prices and discounts on Amazon and Flipkart across key product categories..

The details of our sample are mentioned below:
- Number of SKUs Analyzed: 30,000+
- Websites: Amazon.com and Flipkart.com
- Categories: Apparel, Home & Furniture, Electronics, Health & Beauty
- Dates: 7th Oct 2023 to 22nd Oct 2023
Key Findings

Based on our analysis, the Big Billion Days by Flipkart showcased relatively higher price reductions across categories compared to the Great Indian Festival sale by Amazon. The Apparel category on Flipkart saw the highest average discount at 50.6%. The Health & Beauty category had the lowest discount across Flipkart at 39.4% and Amazon at 33%.

Overall, Flipkart offered higher discounts in each product category. It is clear that the retailer invested heavily in leveraging its supplier partnerships with key brands or sellers to enable them to offer higher discounts, thereby attracting more customers.

Next, let’s take a closer look at each product category.

Apparel

While a majority of retailers expected demand for apparel and clothing to dip this festive season in India, eCommerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart are likely to recognize the strong consumer inclination towards apparel during this period.

In the detailed assessment of Apparel sub-categories, Women’s Dresses, Women’s Tops, Men’s Shirts, Men’s Shoes, and Women’s Innerwear emerged as the segments showcasing the most substantial discounts during the sale events. While Flipkart offered higher average discounts across all sub-categories, Amazon offered competitive discounts as well.

We observed significant differences in the average discounts across brands between Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. Reinforcing the significant discounts on the Shoes subcategory, brands like Red Tape, Arrow, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, and more offered extensive discounts on both Flipkart and Amazon. Notably, Adidas and Reebok offered better deals on Amazon’s Great Indian Festival as compared to Flipkart.

One8 by Virat Kohli had a significantly lower discount on Amazon compared to Flipkart, indicating an exclusive partnership.

For brands, however, reducing prices is just one approach to entice shoppers. They must also guarantee their prominent presence and easy discoverability within Amazon and Flipkart search results. To gain insight into this, we monitored brands’ Share of Search across various frequently used search terms in addition to the discounts they provided. The Share of Search denotes the portion of a brand’s products within the top 20 search results for a specific search query.

Our data indicates that Jockey and Speedo gained in Share of Search on Flipkart, but reduced discoverability on Amazon. Van Heusen fell behind in search results on Flipkart but showed a higher Share of Search on Amazon.

Home & Furniture

With demand for home and furniture products picking up in October, right before the festive season, Amazon and Flipkart offered significant discounts in this category.

Discounts on both Amazon and Flipkart hovered around 50%. Across a few subcategories, Flipkart offered slightly lower discounts compared to Amazon. Only Luggage, Rugs, Sofas, and Entertainment Units saw lower markdowns on Flipkart during the Big Billion Days.

Dishwashers and Washer/ Dryers saw higher discounts on Amazon compared to Flipkart. The significant discounts on these products on Amazon possibly point to changing consumer preferences, as demand for these products is traditionally low in India, but seems to be growing.

When it comes to Home & Furniture brands, Nasher Miles, Safari, Aristocrat, VIP, and American Tourister, luggage brands mostly, offered higher discounts on Flipkart, followed closely by Amazon.

In terms of Share of Search, Skybags had high discoverability on both Flipkart and Amazon. The brand leveraged a strategy of offering big discounts this festive season as well as ensuring prominent placement in search results. Wildcraft lost out on its discoverability on Flipkart in contrast to its prominence on Amazon. Duroflex saw lower searchability on Amazon compared to Flipkart’s Big Billion Days.

Consumer Electronics

The Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) expected an uptick in sales of consumer electronics products this festive season in India. With more consumers buying premium products using credit cards and EMIs, demand for expensive, high-end electronics was expected to increase.

Again, average discounts in this category hovered around 50% on Flipkart and Amazon.

Across electronics subcategories, Smartwatches, Earbuds, and Drones had the highest markdowns with Flipkart leading the pack during the Big Billion Days. Amazon offered relatively higher discounts at 44.9% on the TV subcategory, compared to Flipkart’s 40.6%.

Speakers, Laptops, Smartphones, and Tablets also saw lower markdowns on Amazon compared to Flipkart. Amazon was the official partner for the launch of many high-level smartphones and products in September-October, contributing to the higher markdowns in the subcategory.

Across brands, Lenovo’s discounts were the most differentiated between the two sites, with the brand offering higher discounts on Amazon (45.4%) compared to Flipkart (24.7%). Noise offered the highest discounts at 72.5% on Amazon and 52.8% on Flipkart. Brands like Boat and Zebronics, also saw lower discounts on Flipkart.

Mi and JBL offered deeper discounts on Flipkart’s Big Billion Days. Apple meanwhile stands out with only 11.83% discounts on Amazon, but the brand offered impressive 31.4% discounts on Flipkart.

Samsung dominated the Share of Search on Amazon at 15.7%, compared to only 2.6% on Flipkart. Apple and Lenovo also saw higher discoverability on Amazon. On Flipkart, JBL and Skullcandy stand out as brands with high search visibility.

Health & Beauty

The Health & Beauty category saw the lowest markdowns with only 39.4% discounts on Flipkart and 33% on Amazon.

In the subcategories analyzed, Electric Toothbrushes had relatively high markdowns across both sites. Staple and lower priced subcategories like Toothpaste had the lowest markdowns across both sale events, with Amazon offering only 17.4% average discounts.

Across brands, Beardo, a leading beard care brand, offered significantly higher discounts on Amazon compared to Flipkart. Most other well-known brands, including Nivea and Vaseline, saw higher discounts on Amazon compared to Flipkart. Only Tresmme and Dove were exceptions with higher discounts on Flipkart.

In terms of Share of Search, once again, Beardo was the most discoverable brand in this category. Brands like Dove, Pond’s, Swiss Beauty, and Tresemme saw a lower Share of Search on Flipkart compared to Amazon.

Navigating the Competitive Landscape: How To Thrive During Sale Events

Amazon and Flipkart’s strategic pricing during the Big Billion Days and the Great Indian Festival Sale reflects a balance of profitability, inventory, and competition. Competitive pricing insights empower retailers to make informed decisions, optimize strategies, and thrive during high-stakes sale events with timely and relevant insights at a massive scale.

To learn more about how you can leverage competitive pricing insights to stay ahead of the game during sale events, reach out to us today!
December 20, 2023