Tag: Category Wise Analysis

  • Black Friday vs Boxing Day: Which Sale Event Offered Better Deals?

    Black Friday vs Boxing Day: Which Sale Event Offered Better Deals?

    When it comes to shopping events, Black Friday stands out as one of the most anticipated dates for scoring deals. Typically occurring the day after Thanksgiving, the weekend kicks off the holiday shopping season with a frenzy of discounts. But Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26, is also well-known for its post-Christmas clearance sales.

    This Black Friday, US eCommerce sales increased by a hefty 14.6% in 2024, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. While Black Friday leads in overall revenue generation for retailers, Boxing Day presents unique opportunities for clearing post-holiday inventory.

    For a consumer, which sale event is likely to offer the most attractive deals?

    At DataWeave, we analyzed discounts across retailers and categories to uncover the answer.

    Our Methodology

    For this analysis, we tracked pricing data across major retailers for Black Friday and Boxing Day. To provide a comprehensive analysis of Black Friday pricing strategies, we explored a matched products dataset, comparing identical 14,000+ SKUs across retailers within key categories.

    • Categories included: Consumer Electronics, Home & Furniture, Apparel, Health & Beauty, Grocery
    • Retailers included: Amazon, Target, Walmart, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Overstock, Home Depot, Best Buy, Saks Fifth Ave, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus
    • Timeline: November 26 (Black Friday), December 26 (Boxing Day)

    Average Discounts: Black Friday vs Boxing Day

    Our analysis reveals that Black Friday generally offered steeper discounts across most categories, although Boxing Day wasn’t far behind. Here’s a breakdown:

    Boxing Day Vs. Black Friday - Discounts Across Categories

    While Black Friday led in most categories, Apparel saw a slight edge on Boxing Day, with discounts averaging 40.22% compared to 37.67% on Black Friday. Electronics, Beauty, and Home, however, remained more lucrative during Black Friday.

    Top 5 Products Higher Discounts on Black Friday

    Diving deeper into specific products, here are our top 5 picks offering better discounts during Black Friday.

    Top 5 Products With Higher Discounts on Black Friday
    • Appliances like an Immersion blender set offering a discount of 88.29%, significantly higher than its Boxing Day offer of 86.62%. 
    • High-end electronics like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 also saw substantial markdowns at 84.60%. 
    • In beauty and fashion, both La Roche Posay’s retinol serum and Vera Bradley’s satchel offered discounts above 80%. 
    • Even everyday essentials like paper towels enjoyed generous discounts, with markdowns reaching 82.35% during Black Friday compared to 76.47% on Boxing Day.

    Top 5 Products With Higher Discounts on Boxing Day

    Boxing Day revealed some remarkable deals across diverse categories, with certain products offering significantly better value than their Black Friday counterparts.

    Top 5 Products With Higher Discounts on Boxing Day
    • The JBL Go 2 portable speaker emerged as the standout, with an extraordinary 82% Boxing Day discount compared to just 20% on Black Friday—a dramatic 62% difference.
    • Home furnishings showed strong Boxing Day performance, with the Costway accent armchair set reaching 80.30% off.

    In Conclusion

    Black Friday reigns supreme in driving early holiday sales, offering deeper discounts and drawing larger crowds. However, Boxing Day remains critical for retailers to offload surplus inventory and attract post-holiday shoppers.

    By combining insights from both events, retailers can refine their strategies to maximize revenue and enhance customer satisfaction. For shoppers, the decision comes down to timing—shop early for better deals or wait to capitalize on clearance markdowns. The products and categories with more attractive offers tend to vary between these two sale events. Hence, as a shopper, it’s a good idea to keep track of prices all through the holiday season to take advantage of the best deals.

    Check out our comprehensive coverage of Black Friday 2024 deals and discounts across categories.

    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!

  • Amazon Prime Day Pricing Trends 2024: Deals and Discounts Galore Across Categories

    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%.

    Discounts offered Across Key Categories on Amazon Prime Day USA 2024

    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.

    Discounts offered on Consumer Electronics Subcategories During Amazon Prime Day USA 2024.

    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.

    Discounts offered on Consumer Electronics Subcategories During Amazon Prime Day USA 2024 Featuring Apple Air Pods

    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.”

    Sustainability Features For Amazon Products During Prime Day USA 2024

    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.

    Discounts offered on Apparel Subcategories During Amazon Prime Day USA 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%.

    Discounts offered on Health & Beauty Subcategories During Amazon Prime Day USA 2024

    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.

    Discounts offered on Health & Beauty Subcategories During Amazon Prime Day USA 2024 Featuring A Philips Electric Toothbrush

    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%.

    Discounts offered on Home & Furniture Subcategories During Amazon Prime Day USA 2024

    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.