Prime Day 2025 performance report: consumers spent $24.1 billion online in the US across four days. Here is what the data shows about brand performance, ad spend, and what changed this year.
July 21, 2025
Prime Day 2025 didn’t just break records. It rewrote the rules. For brands advertising on Amazon, this event continues to be one of the most powerful sales moments of the year, with Adobe Analytics reporting that consumers spent $24.1 billion online in the US.
While Prime Day itself has been a summer staple event since 2015, this year marked a turning point, and not just because it spanned four days. Across the board, brands leaned into performance, and the results delivered. But the real breakout story was AI which proved its value beyond efficiency and became a driver of real revenue growth.
This report pulls insights from Xnurta customers to uncover how brands performed across Sponsored Ads and DSP, highlights key trends in AI adoption, and outlines what winning brands did differently — so you can apply those lessons to Q4 and beyond.
Prime Day ad performance saw explosive year-over-year growth across the Xnurta platform, with ad sales and GMV growing faster than ad spend:
This year, traffic patterns were unpredictable. For the first time, we saw a “saddle-shaped” spending curve — a huge spike on day one, a mid-event dip, then a second surge. Xnurta’s AI adapted in real-time:
The result? Smarter budget allocation and sustained return across all four days.
Category growth wasn’t just reserved for the obvious winners. Brands across every vertical found opportunity — especially those that came prepared with targeted campaigns, full-funnel coverage, and AI-optimized offers. These brands were able to seize moment-by-moment shifts in demand and convert attention into revenue, faster.
Growth varied sharply by category. Xnurta AI dynamically adapted bidding strategies based on each category’s behavior:
1. Essentials with Early Peaks (e.g., Kitchen & Bath):
33% of Prime Day sales happened on day one. AI pre-heated keywords 72 hours prior to the start of Prime Day to maximize the burst, then shifted pacing as price-sensitive shopping behavior emerged.
2. Gradual Climbers (e.g., Large Appliances):
Sales ramped steadily, with day four making up 30% of total revenue. AI scaled budgets dynamically in the back half to meet demand, leading to +66.7% YoY growth.
3. Niche Breakouts (e.g., Small Appliances):
These products surged +140% YoY. Xnurta AI identified intent signals early and accelerated investments around them, turning momentum into volume.
Takeaway:
Top-performing categories were prepared, well-represented, and responsive to the Prime Day moment. Brands in every vertical can learn from these leaders: ramp early, align offers to category demand, and let AI adjust to consumer behavior in real-time to stay competitive.
AI wasn’t just a cost-saver this year — it became a growth engine. Here’s how it stacked up:
The key advantage? Speed. AI profiles reacted in real time to Prime Day surges, optimizing every few minutes to capture peak traffic windows and scale spend precisely when it mattered.
Winning Sponsored Ad strategies shared a few things in common:
Brands that used DSP to complement Sponsored Ads saw outsized impact. Top DSP tactics included:
DSP was especially effective when paired with Sponsored Ads to drive both reach and precision.
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) data reveals which audience segments delivered the highest return during Prime Day. Here’s what stood out:
Top-Performing Audiences:
With Amazon’s five-year purchase data for AMC audiences, brands can target more past-purchasers than ever before. This will especially help product categories with longer purchase cycles such as consumer electronics.
Performance Insights:
Takeaway:
Prime Day success was not just about reaching more shoppers, it was about reaching the right ones. Brands that layered AMC audience targeting into their Sponsored and DSP strategies saw stronger returns, especially when retargeting high-intent groups.
It’s too early to say whether Amazon will continue extending the length of their major events, but consumer behavior will continue to evolve as both shoppers and sellers adopt AI. To prepare for Q4, four truths have emerged:
No fluff. Just what's working.
