Prime Big Deal Days: What This Means for Your Property and How to Prepare

It’s back! Amazon is getting ready to light up the internet yet again with its annual fall Prime Day Sale, also known as Big Deal Days, running October 8 and 9. This year’s Prime Day sales have already exceeded last year’s: Adobe Analytics reported that consumers spent $14.2 billion during the July Prime Days, an 11% jump from last year’s $12.7 billion total.¹ This spending and accompanying delivery frenzy make now a critical time to start preparing your property for the onslaught of residents’ Prime Day deliveries.

What to Expect from This Year’s Big Deal Days

According to Numerator, the average order size on 2024 Prime Day sales event was $57.97 and 60% of households shopping Prime Day placed 2+ separate orders, bringing the average household spend to roughly $152.33.² Some other takeaways from July’s Amazon Prime Days include:³

• While Amazon doesn’t share exact figures, they reported that Prime members shopped “millions of deals across more than 35 categories.”
• Independent sellers on Amazon sold more than 200 million items, mostly from small and medium-sized businesses.
• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) accounted for 7.6% of online orders, totaling $1.08 billion in spending.

Amazon expects this year’s Big Deals Days to be even bigger than last year’s, adding up to more deliveries at your property – and potentially more high-ticket items at risk of being pilfered by porch pirates. According to Rob Garf, Vice President and General Manager of Retail and Consumer Goods at Salesforce, “Amazon’s annual Prime Day gives us a glimpse into what we can expect this holiday season…And much of the online growth was based on people buying more, not just higher prices.”⁴

More Purchases, More Packages

Recently, Amazon has expanded its shopping footprint with events like the Big Spring Sale in March, Amazon Pet Day in May, and its main event, Prime Days in July. The delivery influx from this retailer is relentless.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Prime Day and other sales holidays created by the brand have inspired other retailers to offer equal discounts and sales to their customer base. Target is hosting Target Circle Week from October 6-12 and Walmart is hosting its Holiday Deals event from October 8-13.^5,6 Even earlier than that, Best Buy hosted its Member Exclusive Sale from September 27-29.⁷

This scale of activity underscores the importance of being prepared for the surges in resident orders and resulting deliveries, both during the usual holiday shopping season as well as outside of it.

Who’s Ordering & Why it Matters

More than 55% of US consumers prefer to shop online, equating to 80% of the population, or more than 268 million American consumers.⁸ Tied to these numbers are millennials, also known as the “Generation of Renters”, who are also the largest group of online shoppers at nearly 42 million between the ages of 28 to 43.⁹

While consumers place orders at different intervals, most shop at least once a month; 22% shop once a week, 27% shop once every two weeks, and 29% shop once a month. Direct home delivery is the primary reason they shop online thanks to the increased convenience it brings.¹⁰

Residents’ love of online shopping and the rise of major online sales events outside the holiday season are quickly becoming a problem for properties. In a recent article, Steve Boyack, Senior Managing Director at Greystar described the staff time spent on packages: “Office management spent two to three minutes per package on handling time. When that’s multiplied times 200 per day, then factor in [a special promotion] like Amazon Prime Day—the property managers get crushed.”¹¹

Package theft affects resident satisfaction and retention

Residents want to have their packages and mail delivered directly to their homes; however, continued growth in home deliveries now comes with the challenge of combatting theft. According to a survey conducted by SafeWise, 75% of survey respondents had a package stolen in the 12 months of the survey. Four in ten people who had a package stolen over the year experienced it more than once, which could add up to an estimated $6 billion in losses.¹²

Even if community management is responsible for package distribution, items can be lost or stolen because there’s an extra step (or more) between the delivering carrier and the recipient. Any time a package is left unattended, there is the possibility of pilfering by visitors, other residents, or opportunistic thieves.

While age, income, and goals for renting may vary from resident to resident, everyone wants their deliveries to be safe and secure. Creating a plan for Prime Day, holiday, and everyday deliveries provides your residents a sense of security and satisfaction with their community.

How to Prepare Your Property for the New Prime Shopping Season

Here are a few ways you can set your property up for success during peak shipping seasons:

• Review Your Package System: Before residents’ purchases arrive, ensure your delivery management process is secure and effective. Self-service options can alleviate the burden for onsite teams while also providing secure, on-demand access for residents’ deliveries. Remember to account for oversized items and remind residents that some items might require assistance for retrieval.
• Alert Residents: Communication is critical. Be sure to remind residents about the logistics of retrieving items, including any necessary identification, scheduled holidays, and hours for pick-up.
• Prepare Your Team for Key Peak Periods: Competition between retailers at this time is fierce, meaning consumers will likely be lured to spend more – and therefore to receive more items. To streamline your system, consider extra staffing and instituting a “no-grace period” pick-up policy immediately after major retail sales events.

Planning Ahead for Big Deal Days 2024 and More

Big Deal Days 2024 is not just another online sales event; it’s a pivotal moment that sets the tone for how your property addresses resident security and satisfaction. By planning ahead, you not only boost security and convenience for your residents but also position your property as a forward-thinking, resident-centric community.

Ready to lock in your property’s package management solution? Contact a Parcel Pending representative today.

Sources:

1. Connolly, Brian. Amazon Prime Day 2024 Results: Data FBA Sellers Need to Make the Most Amazon Sales Events. www.junglescout.com. July 19, 2024. https://www.junglescout.com/resources/articles/amazon-prime-day-results/
2. Numerator. 2024 Prime Day Highlights Report. www.numerator.com. July 18, 2024. https://www.numerator.com/prime-day/
3. Haleem, Abbas. Prime Day 2024 drives record sales for overall US ecommerce. www.digitalcommerce360.com. July 18, 2024. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/amazon-prime-day-sales/
4. Ibid.
5. Alvarez, Bianca. Target has announced its upcoming Target Circle Week – Here’s what we know. www.nbcnews.com. September 16, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/target-circle-week-announcement-oct-2024-rcna171322
6. Morris, Ashley. Walmart is hosting its first Holiday Deals event – and these are all the details. www.nbcnews.com. September 23, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/walmart-holiday-deals-what-know-2024-rcna172203
7. Fernandez, Cory. Best Buy’s 2024 holiday sales events: Here’s everything you need to know. www.nbcnews.com. September 23, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/best-buy-holiday-sales-rcna171683
8. Aviso, Agatha. 69 Online Shopping Statistics Retailers Should Know in 2024. fitsmallbusiness.com. August 15, 2024. https://fitsmallbusiness.com/online-shopping-statistics/
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Castenson, Jennifer. Solving an Ongoing Management Issue: Unwrapping Package Management. www.multifamilyexecutive.com. July 25, 2017. https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/property-management/solving-an-ongoing-management-issue-unwrapping-package-management_o
12. Edwards, Rebecca. Worst Metro Cities for Package Theft for 2023. www.safewise.com. November 15, 2023. https://www.safewise.com/blog/metro-areas-porch-theft/