FBIC Global Retail & Technology is tracking Amazon Prime Day live. The sales event is a global shopping day exclusively for Amazon Prime members who have been promised new deals every 10 minutes through the day on July 15. So how have consumers responded? The dominant mood on social media, as we noted in our first update, tends to be one of disappointment. "When I die I want whoever's responsible for #AmazonPrimeDay to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time," wrote one wag on Twitter. The somewhat esoteric product mix, spanning coconut oil to cat house lodges, mouthwash to pet drinking fountains, appeared to disappoint some would-be customers searching for media and electronic products. There were big-name media products included in the mix. Offers included 75% off Sports Champion 2 for Playstation 3 and 77% off the Lord of The Rings Trilogy on Blu-Ray. Electronics deals included 80% off an Oral-B CrossAction Electric Toothbrush and 50% off Bose QuietComfort 20 Noise Cancelling Headphones. The impression to some browsers, though, is of these kind of deals being swamped by the more niche offerings. These were Amazon.com’s “Top Prime-Exclusive Lightning Deals” at 09.44 EST on July 15:

UNHAPPY SHOPPERS?

The good news for Amazon: #PrimeDay was the top trending hashtag whenever we checked on July 15. The bad news: The comments didn’t exactly contitute glowing praise. Twitter was awash with criticism of the deals. “So far Amazon’s Prime deals look no different than the bargain table at Family Dollar.” “It's a sad day when Amazon makes #Walmart look like a better option. #PrimeDay.” “I stayed up for #PrimeDay and got rewarded with lightning deals on granny panties and cheetah masks.” “Hey @amazon please tell us why we stayed up until 2 am to get a deal on Pop Tarts. This is embarrassing #PrimeDay”

IN EUROPE TOO!

Prime Day is global, running across the UK, German and French sites. Amazon is hugely popular in Germany. By revenues, the country is Amazon’s biggest market outside of the US, posting $11.9 billion of sales in 2014. Amazon is understood to be far less popular in neighboring France, however. In part because French consumers are less avid online shoppers than the Brits or the Germans, its French site is thought to see much lower usage and so revenues (Amazon doesn’t break out French revenues, which in itself is suggestive of its relative lack of scale). So Amazon may be hoping that Premium Day (as it is called there) drives up its French shopper numbers. Lawnmowers, earphones, board games, tech hardware and Amazon’s Kindle devices were among the products on offer in France.

Amazon France Premium Day Deals:

German shoppers not only love Amazon, they love bargains (Germany is the home of discounters such as Aldi and Lidl). So we expect consumers there to have flocked to the site in anticipation of Prime Day deals. Germany saw a similar mix of Amazon Kindle products, lifestyle goods, board games and niche tech hardware.

Amazon Germany Premium Day Deals:

SOME COMPETITORS RESPOND

We noted in our first update today that Walmart had responded in a high-profile way to Prime Day. But eBay’s response has been much more muted, judging by its homepage, which doesn’t appear to acknowledge the day as one for any extra-special promotions. In the UK, leading electronics specialist chain Currys-PC World countered with its own flash sale. Like Amazon, though, promotions are an everyday event at Currys-PC World, so it’s possible that conventional offers are being rebundled into a “flash event.” Similarly, the electronics market leader in France, Darty, is running two days of flash sales. But in Germany, MediaMarkt , the biggest electronics specialists, made no apparent attempt to respond.

SOME TYPICAL DEALS

Lastly, for the record, here’s a run-down of some of the deals we spotted on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk: