Amazon Prime Day offers a glimpse into U.S. consumer as shoppers navigate with pinched wallets

NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) – U.S. online shoppers clawed for deals on electronics, appliances, items for children and everyday essentials during Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O), opens new tab annual sales event Prime Day, spending more than $26.4 billion from June 23 through June 26, according to data firm Adobe ​Analytics.

The multibillion-dollar spend marks a 9.3% year-over-year increase that retail experts attribute to high ​inflation coupled with shoppers’ purchasing of more discretionary, long-lasting products.

Adobe said that ⁠strong discounts during the four-day Prime event drove many shoppers to purchase higher-priced items including ​electronics, toys, appliances and personal care products, meaning that retailers may have to continue offering ​deep discounts to get their products off the shelves for the holiday season.

In addition to discounts, tax refunds “could have provided a sizable tailwind to a lot of these discretionary categories,” CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram said. Tax ​refunds will not be a factor for most shoppers in the fall and winter ​months.

Tax refund amounts increased 11.1% to $3,462 in 2026, according to data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, giving ‌shoppers ⁠a financial boost to help with purchases they had been holding off on, Sundaram said.

Shoppers also purchased kids’ items and apparel ahead of back-to-school season, personal hygiene products and home goods, signaling that the Prime Day customers aimed to stock up on products “that they were going ​to buy anyway,” Sonia ​Lapinsky, managing director ⁠of retail at consultancy Alix Partners, said.

“It’s really pointing to that fatigued consumer. They’re not necessarily spending more– they’re just trying to spread ​what they have over better deals and discounts,” she said.

Prime Day ​deals were on ⁠par with last year’s discounts, according to Adobe. Discounts for electronics averaged 24% compared to last year’s discounts of 23% , apparel at 24% compared to 23% and toys at 20% versus last year’s ⁠19%.

A separate ​survey by data firm Numerator, which tracked more than ​178,000 Prime Day orders, showed that the average order size was $47.66, down from $53.34, a signal that some experts say ​shows that consumer strength is waning.