Amazon GCC’s Stefano Martinelli on Prime Day and its highlights

Amazon GCC’s retail director tells us about the ecommerce giant’s strategy for Prime Day this year

by Gulf Business

July 8, 2023

Stefano Martinelli, GCC Retail Director, Amazon talks about Prime Day and its highlights image Amazon

Image credit: Amazon|Supplied

What can buyers expect when logging into Amazon for the prime day sale and how is it different from the previous year?

Prime Day is our annual event exclusive to Prime members, where members around the world can get the most out of their membership as they enjoy greater savings than ever before. This year, Prime Day is taking place on July 11 and 12, offering more deals than any past Prime Day event on Amazon.ae, with hundreds of thousands of deals available across over 30 product categories including electronics, beauty, fashion, grocery, kitchen, home, toys, and sport.

Following an agreement Amazon.ae signed with LuLu Group at the end of 2022, one significant addition to this year’s Prime Day in the UAE is the inclusion of deals on the recently rolled out Amazon Fresh category which provides an expanded grocery offering paired with fast two-hour scheduled delivery. Now, as part of this year’s Prime Day, members in eligible locations across the UAE will be able to enjoy deals on hundreds of grocery products from Amazon Fresh, including fruits, vegetables and everyday essentials, with free and fast two-hour scheduled delivery options available.

In addition to the slate of saving opportunities and promotional offers available throughout Prime Day on July 11 and 12, Prime members in the UAE will also be able to explore the year-round value offered through the full set of Prime benefits in their membership, including unlimited free and fast shipping options, Prime Video, and Prime Gaming. We are excited to once again celebrate our membership program, and all the value it has to offer, this Prime Day.

Read: Prime Day deals: Amazon UAE reveals exclusive offers for Prime members on July 11-12

What have been the most popular deal categories for UAE buyers?

In previous years, Amazon Prime members in the UAE enjoyed incredible savings with best-selling categories including electronics, beauty, grocery, health & personal care, home, and baby. In 2022, top purchased products by Prime members in the UAE during Prime Day included smartphones, perfumes, moisturizers, makeup products, personal care appliances such as groomers, as well as grocery items including laundry detergent, batteries, pet food, and dishwasher cleaner.

This year, Prime Day deals will span top local and international brands including Bose, Samsung, Nivea, Hugo Boss, Guess, Amazon Devices, as well as local small and medium-sized businesses through the ‘Shop Local’ collection on the website. Prime members can also shop select Prime Day deals from Amazon US and UK via the Amazon.ae Global Store, with Free International Shipping with no minimum purchase required.

Which electronic device segments have been the most popular purchases and what do you expect for 2023?

During previous Prime Day events in the UAE, the most popular electronic device purchased was smartphones, with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Dual SIM 128GB and Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Dual SIM being among the top purchased products in 2022. Additionally, Amazon Devices such as the Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Oasis, Ring Indoor Camera, and Ring Stick-Up Camera were also highly sought after by Prime members during the sale event in previous years.

This year’s Prime Day offers a wide range of deals across our electronics category once again, with savings to be had across mobile phones, smart watches, TVs, laptops, headphones, and much more. We are looking forward to seeing our Prime members in the UAE explore the full set of deals once they go live on July 11 and 12, with something for every member to enjoy.

Have UAE buyers surprised Amazon in any way?

At Amazon, we’re always working backwards from the customer to understand how we can further innovate on their behalf. One thing we have learned is that our customers, in any of the regions we operate in, are more similar than they are different.

Customers will always want access to a vast selection of products, at great prices, and want to get them in the most convenient way possible. That said, there are some differences in customer preferences when it comes to specifics, such as preferred products, delivery, and payment options. It is our job to tailor our offering to our customers, and our local teams are focused on this.

We’re focused on price, selection, and convenience. Making progress and staying committed in those three areas will always be good for customers. Take our Prime program as an example – we don’t just want to be a shipping or streaming service, we want to provide value and solutions to members across multiple touchpoints in the day, week, or year.

We strive to offer incremental value to our local Prime members, every day, with free and fast shipping options, exclusive deals and great prices which we work on with our selling partners, additional savings during sale events such as Prime Day which is coming up on July 11 and 12, and access to entertainment with Prime Video and Prime Gaming.

Tell us about the ramp-up in logistics in preparation for the prime day sale.

Fast and free delivery of Prime Day orders to members shopping on Amazon.ae is made possible thanks to Amazon’s operations network in the UAE which is powered by a combination of innovative technology, optimised transportation services, dedicated employees, and partners, powering Same-Day and One-Day deliveries to customers.

We recently opened a new facility in Dubai South, increasing our storage capacity by 70 pr cent, supporting a wider selection of products for customers. The facility enables us to delight customers with a wider selection of products across electronics, appliances, groceries, fashion, books and more.

With a strong fulfillment network, eight delivery stations and a network of Delivery Service Partners across the UAE, Amazon continues to build and scale this network in the UAE.

Tell us about plans for Amazon Prime Day in KSA and other markets in the region.

Prime Day currently runs across the region for members in the UAE on amazon.ae/primeday, in Saudi Arabia on amazon.sa/primeday, and in Egypt on amazon.eg/primeday with deals and savings exclusively for Prime members across all product categories.

Our teams across the region have worked to ensure Prime members across the Middle East enjoy the many saving opportunities planned for them during the 48-hour sale event, with hundreds of thousands of deals across Amazon.ae, Amazon.sa, and Amazon for example, in addition to even more saving opportunities through instant bank discounts and zero per cent interest installment plans with select local banks in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Anyone, across the region, can join Prime through a free 30-day trial to participate in Prime Day, get access to the full set of benefits including unlimited fast and free shipping benefits, and enjoy entertainment with Prime Video and Prime Gaming.

Amazon’s annual Prime Day event is set to return for its fourth edition with thousands of deals available for the e-commerce platform’s Prime members.

The annual online shopping festival will start at 00:01am (local UAE time) on July 11 for 48-hours until July 12 close of day.

Here’s what to expect during Prime Day

During Prime Day, members will be able to enjoy discounts while shopping for products from local and international brands. Prime members will also be able to shop for deals from Amazon US and UK through the e-tailer’s global store with free international shipping with no minimum purchase during the sale event.

New deals – from fashion to electronics, toys, and home – will go live throughout the two-day event, along with additional discounts available from select banks, allowing Prime members on Amazon.ae to save even more.

Stefano Martinelli, retail director of Amazon, GCC said, “Prime is the best way to enjoy all we have to offer, and we look forward to celebrating Prime members in the UAE in exciting ways this year as we show up with exclusive deals for them during Prime Day. This will always be the most compelling time to join Prime, and enjoy the many saving opportunities planned for them during the 48-hours sale event.”

Here’s what to expect during Prime Day

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