Australia’s first Amazon Prime Day has come and gone. While there were plenty of great deals over the 36-hour day, some folks were a little underwhelmed by what was on offer. And other retailers joined in and managed to compete on some of the deals so the retailing megabeast didn’t have things all their own way. Was it a success? Or was it a fizzer?
Unsurprisingly, Amazon talked up the event. In fact, they went as far as to say it was their best day in Australia ever.
Amazon Australia Country Manager, Rocco Braeuniger said “We have been humbled by the response from Prime members to Prime Day in Australia, with demand exceeding our expectations, and sales surpassing Boxing Day on the first day”.
That sounds impressive but they don’t actually tell us how big Boxing Day was for them here. And given Amazon Prime only launched in Australia, officially, a few weeks ago, breaking local records isn’t going to be all that hard.
That said, some of the deals were pretty good. I’m still bummed I didn’t move fast enough on the PS4 Pro deal they had. Amazon had the 1TB console with some extra Fornite stuff for just $379 – that’s a price I haven’t been able to spot anywhere else. And their deal on the Nintendo Switch was so good it sold out in under a minute. There were also plenty of electronics going for 30%+ off the RRP.
If we take Amazon’s comments at face value then Amazon Prime Day was a success but I can’t help feeling a little grumpy at retailers in general.
I’m assuming that some of the great deals Amazon offered weren’t made at a loss. I’m guessing that while their margin might be reduced that they still made a few bucks on the cheap PS4, Switch and other items. And that suggests that, perhaps, we are over-paying the rest of the time.
There’s also the question of Amazon’s questionable workplace practices which routinely see personnel not paid for time at work as well as working under some quite harsh conditions such as extreme heat without air-conditioning or limited access to bathrooms. So, those deals we all love do come at a cost – it’s just that we aren’t the ones paying.
Amazon Prime Day did offer up some great bargains but I find myself increasingly questioning whether such events are actually taking us for a ride.
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