Retail Media Breakfast Club: Prime Day 2025 Participation Trends

In today's episode, I dive into the results of my recent LinkedIn poll about how brands plan to participate in Prime Day 2025. The numbers tell an interesting story: over half (51.79%) of respondents are either scaling back or skipping Prime Day entirely this year - a significant shift from previous years.

Poll Results:

Going Bigger: 12.50%
About the same: 35.7%
Scaling back: 37.5%
Skipping it: 14.29%

Why Brands Are Pulling Back:

New tariff costs (and uncertainty) have made discounting financially difficult, especially for 3P sellers
Advertising costs continue rising, with Sponsored Products CPCs up 12% during Prime Day 2024
Amazon's fee structure remains at historically high levels
Prime Day 2025 will be the first four-day U.S. event, plus eight weeks of "early deals" - stretching budgets thin

Three Cases FOR Prime Day Participation:

1. The Hidden Review Advantage

Jason Landro from Nectar points out that multiplying units sold during Prime Day can dramatically boost your review rate, providing a rankings boost that lasts long after Prime Day ends.

2. The Halo Effect

Data from Envision Horizons showed that even brands not directly participating in Prime Day saw a 60% sales increase compared to average days, with a 45% increase in Return on Ad Spend despite higher competition.

3. Prime Day as a Strategic Product Marketing Laboratory

Katherine McKee suggests using Prime Day strategically for medium-demand products to answer critical questions:

Is awareness the main obstacle?
Is pricing off?
Is the product page set up poorly?
Does the product have market fit?

Amazon's Perspective

Amazon claims they're seeing a "strong response from selling partners to Prime Day 2025."

Bottom Line

Prime Day 2025 requires more strategic thinking than ever. For some, particularly those with China-dependent supply chains, participation may be impossible. For others, focusing on data collection and review generation rather than pure sales volume might still deliver long-term value.

The era of automatic, all-in Prime Day participation is ending. Brands are becoming more selective and measured in their approach to Amazon's events.

Mentioned in this episode:

Prime Day 2025: Are Brands Scaling Back? (3 Reasons To Reconsider)

Retail Media Breakfast Club