Widlitz says Amazon Prime Day is ‘not only about selling stuff’

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) is in focus this morning as the eCommerce giant kicked off its much-awaited Prime Day sale.

Prime Day is about gaining subscribers

The annual event typically results in a jump in revenue for Amazon.

But Stacey Widlitz – President of SW Retail Advisors says the Prime Day is primarily about subscriber growth, even more so than sales.

I think the big deal is that this is not only about selling stuff. It’s actually more about subscriptions. Amazon wants you to sign up and become a Prime member.

Note that Amazon.com Inc is scheduled to report its Q2 financial results on July 27^th. Consensus is for it to earn 34 cents a share in the current quarter versus 10 cents per share a year ago.

Is Prime Day a net positive for Amazon?

Widlitz also said the Prime Day is a net positive for Amazon even in terms of profit despite it being focused on discounts. On CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange”, she noted:

It’s a positive to get people [spending] because everybody is incredibly price sensitive. And when they’re spending on discounts, occasionally, they get inspired and pick up full price things.

Last month, the FTC filed a lawsuit against Amazon for tricking people into signing up for Prime as Invezz reported here. Shares of the multinational are up roughly 50% for the year at writing.

Also on Tuesday, Mastercard SpendingPulse showed online sales were up 7.0% year-on-year in June, suggesting eCommerce continue to be strong.