Amazon Prime Day’s biggest attraction may be the all the deals and discounts, but celebrities like Will Smith and Kristen Bell are a close second.
Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN, +0.50% push for Prime Day 2019 includes a number of famous names, including a July 10 concert on Prime Video headlined by acts including Taylor Swift, Sza and Dua Lipa, and the launch of pre-orders for Lady Gaga’s new beauty brand Haus Laboratories.
Prime Day will span two days, July 15 and July 16.
The e-commerce giant is also offering “star-studded deals” like 20% off snack bars This Saves Lives, which donates to charity with each purchase. Actor Kristen Bell appears in a clip promoting the bars and Amazon Prime.
And there will be 25% off Just Water, sustainably-sourced spring water packed in a carton made from renewable materials co-founded by Jaden Smith. His dad, Will Smith, is featured in a clip for the product on the Amazon site.
See: Amazon Prime Day kicks off the months-long back-to-school shopping season
For the high-fashion shopper, Amazon has been pushing a limited-time collaboration between model Chanel Iman Shepard, pro-football player Sterling Shepard, and Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI, +0.00% , with both appearing in a video.
And for gamers, Twitch Prime featured celebrities competing live on July 11, July 12 and July 13.
Now that Prime Day has become a headline-grabbing blockbuster for Amazon and the jumpstart to the back-to-school shopping season, Corey Pierson, chief executive of Custora, a customer analytics platform, says that Amazon can use the shopping event as a way to further push into new categories and promote other parts of the Amazon ecosystem.
“For a long while, Amazon was a great easy way to find what you want at a low price and have it at your doorstep,” said Pierson. “As it branches into other areas like apparel, people don’t shop just for convenience.”
Celebrities and other influencers provide Amazon with a gateway into new product categories and new customer demographics, something that companies like newly-public Revolve Group Inc. RVLV, +0.26% has found. And it also gives Amazon a little street cred.
“It’s not a cool place to shop. You need a little cool,” said Pierson.
Read: Revolve shares pop after bullish analysts initiate outperform stock ratings
“Amazon is leveraging emotional capital that celebrities have with shoppers to promote Prime Day Deals in strategic categories and appeal to certain demographics while rising above the competitive offerings out there,” said Guru Hariharan, chief executive of CommerceIQ, a sales, advertising and operations platform for brands selling on Amazon.
According to data collected by coupon-code tracking site CouponFollow, 58% of Amazon users plan to shop on Prime Day. There are more than 100 million Prime members and Amazon is offering a free trial alongside the Prime Day event.
The most sought-after items are in the electronics, computers and office category, with 56.7% saying they’re most interested in buying these items on Prime Day. Next are clothing, shoes and accessories (39.3%), followed by movies, music and games (28%).
According to an Amazon spokesperson, the celebrity brands and promotions are part of the annual enhancement and “freshness” the company injects into the Prime Day event.
“We keep adding more deals, more fun, faster shipping and better exclusives for members to offer the best of shopping and entertainment for Prime Day. The new deals and brand offers by celebrities is a great example of that,” the statement said.
It could also be a way manage both the customers and the merchandise, said Jonathan Treiber, CEO of RevTrax, an offer-management platform.
Read: Amazon Prime Day for July 15-16 sparks deal frenzy from eBay, Target and Walmart
Last year, Amazon’s site crashed for a brief period.
“First, it will appeal to discerning buyers in a specific segment. Second, this is potentially a way for Amazon to split up the customer traffic which is expected to be even higher this year,” said Treiber.
“From an infrastructure standpoint, creating distinct shopping experiences within their platform might allow Amazon to divide their infrastructure to ensure they can handle the traffic in smaller groups. Avoiding any downtime will be the real sign of success for Amazon during his year’s Prime holiday.”
Amazon stock has gained 34.6% for the year to date while the Amplify Online Retail ETF IBUY, +0.50% is up 26.5% for the period and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.02% has gained 20.2%.
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