This year’s Prime Day, aka “Black Friday in July,” occurred in an unsteady retail market: the ever-changing tariffs, the cost of living continuing to rise and a volatile changing stock market have been the biggest issues impacting the entire sector.

A new report by Impact Analytics found that with the newly imposed tariffs, Amazon was forced to change its promotional strategy from 2024. This year, the company lessened the number of stock keeping units on sale, but deepened its discounts. Impact Analytics conducted an analysis by looking at the promotional depth and breadth of the top 1,000 products across 13 retail categories, with each product analyzed two days before Prime Day and Prime Day itself.

In comparison to 2024, the breadth of discounts fell by 24 percentage points, but the average depth of discount increased by 4 points. While discounts rose from 24 percent pre-Prime Day to 32 percent during the event, only 14 percent of the total product assortments were given a promotion.

This is a major shift from last year, when 40 percent of products on Amazon were put on sale. The report’s authors said that this signifies a “deliberate shift” from Prime Day having wider visibility to being more intentional and focused.

On the higher discount side, the clothing, jewelry and shoes categories rose 9 percentage points from 27 percent to 36 percent — which is the steepest apparel discount in recent Prime Days. WWD previously reported that fashion was a leader for consumers’ shopping lists.

The report suggests that Prime Day has now become a window for summer products to be sold. In an effort to increase its discounts with more intention, the e-commerce retailer focused on clearing out its summer inventory while keeping the latest products full price.

Other retail categories that saw the highest rise in discounts this year were pet supplies; tools and home improvement; health and household, and patio, lawn and garden.

On the moderate end, beauty and personal care rose from 22 percent to 30 percent — for a 8 percent point increase. Despite the categories being known for their promotional sensitivities, Impact Analytics said that Amazon applied a more selective depth to its top-performing skus in skin care and self-care products for a “volume-oriented but margin-aware” approach.

Within the beauty and personal care sector, Amazon’s strategy was to discount 20 percent of its skus by 30 percent to focus on its top sellers and acquire new shoppers.

Other retail categories that received moderate discounts this year were electronics, baby products and home and kitchen. Meanwhile, the categories that saw the least discount increase include appliances, cell phones and accessories, sports and indoors and groceries and gourmet food.

With the Prime Day wrapping up Friday, Impact Analytics said that the major takeaway for retailers is that promotions are no longer about applying discounts across the board but having a more deliberate approach to their promotional strategy. Nowadays, targeting promotions is the move retailers are approaching despite the volatile spending market. Another major takeaway is that essentials can hold pricing power and value can be shown to consumers through bundles or limited-time offers.

Prime Day itself showcased just a glimpse of what’s to come for the upcoming back-to-school season, Black Friday and holiday season: measurable impact through promotions and more calculated planning early on.

“This year, Amazon traded promotional volume for precision — fewer skus were discounted, but the discounts ran deeper. It’s a clear signal to the market: retailers must get sharper, more surgical and margin-aware in the way they approach promotions. Prime Day this year wasn’t about doing more — it was about doing better. Retailers who approach pricing strategy with precision will reap bottom-line benefits,” said Prashant Agrawal, chief executive officer and founder of Impact Analytics.