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Last year, Amazon caught brands and shoppers by surprise with their first early October shopping event, Prime Early Access Sale. This year, Amazon sellers and advertisers knew what to anticipate, and their focus on strategy paid off big, as Amazon reports the 2023 event outpaced last years. But now, for brands, the focus and push now shifts towards Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

With under a month to go from arguably one of the most busiest and profitable times of the year for brands, Code3 is taking our learnings from earlier tentpole events to help drive an effective strategy for brands to win in Q4. Read on to learn how Prime Early Access results should influence your brand's Q4 strategy.

A few key takeaways Code3 Strategists are taking into consideration is the cost to play in the space during the crowded holiday season. Ecommerce platforms continue to see increased competition, leading to cost per clicks to rise significantly during tentpole events like Turkey 5, the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. Looking back to Prime Big Deal Days, Code3 clients saw CPCs rise 23% YoY (compared to PEAS in 2022).

With each tentpole shopping event, the cost to advertise on Amazon continues to increase, which means adversiters' dollars do not go as far. To help combat this increase in cost to play in the space, Code3 Search Strategists are ensuring our clients are spending their dollars in the most efficient way possible to help reach their goals. One critical part of seeing this strategy come to life is ensuring budgets are flighted throughout this busy time frame. It is important for brands to reserve budget for the lead in time frame, during Turkey 5 itself and then also during the lead out period. Flighting budgets helps ensure brands capture consumers throughout the eternity of their shopping journey on Amazon.

Optimizing campaigns for top of search is also a measure Code3 Search Strategists employ to make sure brands are visible and placed in prime inventory during Turkey 5. Last year brands on Amazon saw a 140% increase in sponsored product sales when campaigns were optimized for top of search.

Participation in promotions is another area of consideration for Code3 clients and brands this holiday season. As Americans continue to feel the impacts of inflation and unsteady economic conditions discounts and deals are a sure way to help garner sales. According to Numerator, a market research firm in the ecommerce industry, money saving measures seem to be top of mind for consumers this holiday season. Specifically, 67% of holiday shoppers said they would be more likely to purchase items if they were on sale and another 47% of shoppers said they would be more likely to purchase items if they had a coupon. Participating in some sort of deal this holiday season will serve dividends across the board, and is sure to be a critical part of strategy for brands.

Lastly, understanding and preparing for the sheer volume of consumers this holiday season is important for Amazon sellers and advertisers across the board. While we are in a moment of economic uncertainty, Insider Intelligence has projected that US holiday ecommerce sales will return to double-digit growth this year at 11.3% YoY, as growth rates for all retail channels return to a state of pre-pandemic normalcy. Therefore, while there are factors outside of our control as we enter this holiday season, it is still critically important for brands to be prepared.

Not sure where to start for holiday strategy preparation? It’s all about the big strategy and the little details. The season is quickly approaching, and some tasks should be completed ASAP, including:

• Ensure PDP’s are fully optimized and retail ready
• Create a full funnel approach: utilize all sponsored ad types in order to achieve maximum reach.
• Launch coverage early for campaigns to gain momentum and learnings
  • Goal is to have campaigns fully optimized going into the main event time frame.