On October 15, 2020, Amazon released selected metrics for its Prime Day 2020 event, which ran on October 13–14 in 19 markets worldwide.

Amazon’s headline story was that third-party sellers generated sales of over $3.5 billion worldwide during the event. This is the closest indication of total sales that Amazon has given for its Prime Day events.

• We estimate that third-party sellers accounted for around 58.5% of Amazon product sales, by value, in 2019. This is based on a gross merchandise volume (GMV) split disclosed by Amazon for 2018 (Amazon does not routinely disclose its GMV).
• Applying that percentage to Prime Day implies total Amazon GMV of around $6 billion worldwide—split $3.5 billion by third-party sellers and $2.5 billion in first-party sales by Amazon. However, third-party sales may contribute a lower share than the average 58.5% on Prime Day, given Amazon’s traditional emphasis on promoting its own products such as Echo.
• Amazon reported that the Echo Dot was its best-selling device this Prime Day and that shoppers bought “millions” of Alexa-compatible devices.

Amazon’s focus on the performance of third-party sellers reflected its emphasis on supporting small and medium-sized businesses this year, which the company says make up the majority of such sellers.

• Amazon reported that sales by third-party sellers were up nearly 60% year over year and revealed that this was stronger growth than it saw for its first-party sales. This very substantial increase implies a solid (global) start to the holiday season.
• The company said that Prime Day constituted the two biggest days ever for third-party sellers on its site.
• Top-selling categories for third-party sellers include bedding, wireless accessories, nutrition and wellness, arts, crafts and sewing, and health Care.
• Amazon reported that the “top-selling deals” in the US, other than Amazon devices, were the iRobot Roomba Robot Vacuum, MyQ Wireless & WiFi Enabled Smart Garage Door Opener, LifeStraw Personal Water Filter, Goli Apple Cider Vinegar Vitamins and Kids Against Maturity: Card Game for Kids and Families.
• In the UK, top-selling deals (ex Amazon devices) were the Shark Upright Vacuum Cleaner, Celebrations Chocolate Bulk Box, Halloween Party Bag Fillers, Oral-B Smart 6 6000N CrossAction Electric Toothbrush.
• In China, the top-selling deals (ex Amazon devices) were L'Oreal Paris Golden Age Repair Cream, Dove Creme Body Scrub, Western Digital Desktop External Hard Drive and Philips Sonicare Genuine Replacement Brush Head.
• Amazon said that shoppers worldwide saved $1.4 billion during the event.