It’s not even summer yet. But it’s still a good time to think about buying for—yes—back to school. That’s because next week, on June 21 and 22, it’s Amazon Prime Day: the online mega-retailer’s summer answer to Black Friday for big savings that drive big sales. The Ziff Media Group (publisher of PCMag) conducted a survey of people’s shopping plans, questioning 1,112 adults in the US over age 18, 65% of whom are Amazon Prime members, for seven days in April to find out what (and if) they’ll be buying.
Above are the results for tech products. Topping the list is headphones (22%), followed by laptop and desktop computers (20%). Both probably lead the charge as a result of the ongoing shift to remote work and learning.
Third place goes to the desire for a new gaming console (19%) but good luck buying one of those. The continued global chip shortage means the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are unlikely to be on sale during Prime Day, or anytime soon.
There’s plenty of other tech people want. In fact, most tech items earned double-digit plan-to-buy percentages, including tablets and e-readers (13%). It goes all the way down to genealogy kits, which are on the lists of 4% of respondents.
PCMag is all about the tech, but Prime Day isn’t limited to devices. The list below shows the real leaders in sales are likely to be things like apparel (38%) and home décor (24%). Plenty of household necessities are threaded in among the tech, including baby items, cleaning supplies, fitness equipment, and protective clothing and gear.
Also telling is that 15% of respondents said they didn’t know whether they would shop on Amazon for Prime day, while another 8% adamantly said they would not.
The survey shows that Amazon isn’t the retailer back-to-school shoppers think of first: It comes second, after Walmart (69%). Amazon claims 61%, though, which is still pretty great (unless your name is Bezos). Target stores are at 50%, with general clothing stores like Old Navy and Gap at 29%, and “dollar” stores like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar at 27%. Other department stores (such as Macy’s and JCPenney) are in 6th place at 21%.
Tech is also not top of the list for back-to-school purchases this year—which isn’t surprising. After so much school-at-home via video-conferencing in the past pandemic year, parents are probably thrilled to shop for old-fashioned school supplies (81%), clothes (74%), shoes (71%), and backpacks (66%). Electronics is at 37% for planned buys.
That said, when asked whether people would use Prime Day to order back-to-school items, 28% said it was likely, and 53% said very likely.
Shoppers won’t limit themselves to Amazon next week. Prime Day will bring about plenty of sales at other online retailers, which capitalize on the fact that so many consumers will be online shopping at the same time. When asked whether they agree with the statement that they look for deals from non-Amazon retailers, 40% said they do, and 54% said they wouldn’t complete a purchase until they’ve looked for another deal or discount.
Amazon Prime Day deals are already live on some items, including tablets, smart speakers and displays, TVs, and laptops, with more to come. And if you buy a $40+ Amazon Gift Card, you’ll get $10 extra to spend on Prime Day.
