Prime Day has always been Amazon’s biggest sales event—a big deal in retail that usually brings in huge sales, popular deals, and good marketing buzz that goes beyond just Amazon. Many brands heading into Prime Day 2025 expected nothing less than great results.
But this year, things didn’t go as planned.
Early numbers from Momentum Commerce show that sales on the first day dropped by a lot—around 41% compared to last year.
Although Amazon has said those numbers might not be accurate, thousands of sellers are seeing similar problems: less traffic, slower sales, and ads that aren’t working as well as before.
At first, it’s confusing because other data suggests the opposite.
Adobe is predicting that total U. S. e-commerce sales during the four-day Prime event will hit over $23. 8 billion—a new record. So if people are still buying a lot online, why are so many Amazon sellers not doing as well?
The real reason isn’t that there’s less demand overall.
It’s more about how people are finding and thinking about products these days.
A Surge in AI-Driven Shopping
Prime Day has always been Amazon’s biggest selling event—a huge shopping deal that keeps breaking sales records, creating buzz online, and giving Amazon a strong, positive image that goes way beyond just the website. Most brands approached Prime Day 2025 anticipating nothing less.
But this year’s performance has been a wake-up call.
Based on initial estimates by Momentum Commerce, Day 1 sales declined by an eye-popping 41% year-over-year. While Amazon has contested the validity of those numbers, thousands of vendors are seeing the same discomforting patterns: lighter traffic, softer conversion rates, and ad budgets that just aren’t delivering the impact they once did.
On the surface, this decline appears difficult to reconcile with other industry trends. Adobe, after all, is estimating that U.S. online sales during the four-day Prime event will exceed $23.8 billion—a new record. So why are so many sellers on Amazon falling short if consumers are shopping online in record numbers?
The solution, as it happens, isn’t about so much of a general decline in demand as it is about the fundamental transformation in the way that individuals are finding and assessing products.
The Declining Effectiveness of Traditional Ads
One of the strongest gripes from sellers on this Prime Day has been increasing ad expense—and decreasing payoff. While competition has consistently driven bids higher during busy shopping periods, this year brands reported that even heavy spending couldn’t produce the same quality and quantity of traffic.
This shouldn’t be a shock when you think about how GenAI disrupts the buying process. If the consumer avoids the traditional Amazon search box for an AI chatbot or browser add-on that collates reviews, price history, and relevance, then outbidding others on keywords won’t automatically win visibility.
Brands that don’t evolve with these new routes risk engaging in an costly cycle of decreasing returns—investing more to reach a decreasing audience of traditional search-led buyers.
What Smart Brands Are Doing Differently
Those brands that fared better this Prime Day tended to be those that had foreseen these behavioral changes. Rather than banking on traditional advertising alone, they invested in developing more substantial, AI-compliant content:
Robust product information that AI can read and present easily in recommendations
Rich product descriptions and FAQs that provide answers to typical questions and objections
Strong organic signals—high-quality reviews, consistent fulfillment performance, and trust in the brand—that AI systems increasingly rely on when ranking possibilities
In addition, forward-looking brands are beginning to create direct relationships with consumers beyond the Amazon ecosystem. By cultivating owned audiences—email list subscribers, social followers, and loyalty program members—they’re less exposed to arbitrary platform or algorithm changes.
The Bigger Picture
It’s simple to read this year’s dip in Prime Day sales as a fluke or the result of a single factor like economic uncertainty. But the data more and more is pointing to a deeper reality: an evolving understanding of how consumers shop, learn about, and make purchasing decisions on goods.
Generative AI isn’t just another technology fad—it’s a behemoth that will continue to reshape e-commerce in increasingly profound ways. Sellers who want to stay in the game will be compelled to redesign their approaches from scratch and put themselves through tough questions:
Are our items easy for AI tools to find and recommend?
Do our listings answer the quiet questions buyers pose to AI assistants?
Are we investing enough in content and brand assets that go beyond typical ad campaigns?
Final Thoughts
Prime Day 2025 will be noted not just for the stories of falling sales but as the watershed when generative AI radically changed the face of e-commerce.
This change needn’t be a loss—if anything, it’s a chance for brands that are prepared to adjust. The vendors who take up this transition and master the ability to connect with customers where they actually are—within the AI-driven decision process—will be the ones to succeed as buyer habits continue to reshape themselves.
As you look forward to the balance of the year, think about how you can future-proof your company against this new reality. Because one thing is for sure: this won’t be the last time AI disrupts the rules of the game.
