Prime Day buyers gravitate towards essential items and groceries
Amazon Prime Day 2025 Sees Strong Sales in Household Essentials and Groceries
Retail giants, including Amazon, Walmart, and Target, are offering their best deals of the summer as part of their July sales events. Amazon, in particular, is making headlines with its expansion of Fast Prime Delivery to smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across the U.S., providing same-day or next-day service to more customers than ever.
During Amazon's Prime Day 2025, household essentials and groceries emerged as top-selling categories. Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray, Amazon’s Presto! Flex-a-Size Paper Towels, Amazon Basics Bath Tissue, and Cleancult Liquid Hand Soap Refill were among the best-sellers in the household category. In the grocery category, Prime Day featured significant sales on ice cream and frozen desserts at Whole Foods Market and discounts on Amazon Fresh purchases, including fresh produce and other perishable items.
Kitchen essentials such as measuring cups, stainless steel utensils, and microfiber cleaning towels were also highly recommended by consumers during the event. Amazon’s own branded paper towels and bath tissue received special mention for their performance and affordability during the deals, while Cleancult’s liquid hand soap refills, noted for quality and convenience, were popular as well.
Amazon Fresh offered deals like $30 off orders of $150 or more, broadening consumer savings on fresh foods. Whole Foods ran a 50% off promotion on all ice cream and frozen desserts, indicating heavy sales in frozen grocery items.
Interestingly, younger consumers are ditching traditional grocery stores for mass merchants, budget-friendly retailers, dollar stores, and club stores. Data and tech company Numerator published early results from the first two days of this year's extended Prime Day promotion, showing that 57% of Prime Day shoppers compared Amazon's prices to other retailers before buying something. More than two-thirds (69%) checked prices at Walmart, 46% compared prices to Target, 29% compared prices to club retailers like Sam's Club or Costco, and 19% compared prices to traditional grocery stores.
15% of Prime customers ordered groceries during the first days of the event, more than toys and video games, office/school supplies, small appliances, and books, videos, and media. The household essentials segment was tied for the top category with apparel and shoes, with 30% of Prime users buying those kinds of items. The average Prime Day spend per order is $57.12. More than a third (35%) of orders were placed for $20 or less.
As Amazon's Prime Day event wraps up on July 11, some news outlets reported slower comparable sales on the first day of the event. However, the strong focus on household essentials and groceries suggests that Amazon's strategy of expanding into these areas is paying off. With more retailers following suit, it seems that the competition for shoppers' dollars in these categories will only intensify.
[1] Numerator. (2025). Early Prime Day Results: What Shoppers Are Buying and How They're Shopping. [online] Available at: https://www.numerator.com/resources/prime-day-results-2025 [Accessed 10 Jul. 2025].
[2] The Verge. (2025). Amazon Prime Day 2025: A guide to the best deals. [online] Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2025/7/8/26265033/amazon-prime-day-2025-guide-deals-discounts [Accessed 10 Jul. 2025].
[3] CNBC. (2025). Amazon's Prime Day 2025: Here's what's on sale and how to find the best deals. [online] Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/08/amazon-prime-day-2025-deals-what-to-buy-and-how-to-save.html [Accessed 10 Jul. 2025].
[4] Business Insider. (2025). Amazon Prime Day 2025: Here's what's on sale and how to find the best deals. [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-day-2025-deals-what-to-buy-and-how-to-save [Accessed 10 Jul. 2025].
- The strong sales observed during Amazon Prime Day 2025 extended beyond household essentials and groceries to include kitchen essentials such as measuring cups, stainless steel utensils, and microfiber cleaning towels.
- In addition to household essentials and fresh produce, food-and-drink categories experienced significant sales during Amazon Prime Day 2025, with Whole Foods offering 50% off all ice cream and frozen desserts.
