New York (CNN) – America still loves good deals.
Consumers spent $12.7 billion on July 11 and 12 during Amazon’s Prime Day sales, up 6.1% from a year earlier, according to Adobe Analytics. Walmart, Target and other retailers also offered deals to customers.
Amazon said July 11 was the biggest day of sales in the company’s history, but declined to provide totals. People bought 375 million items over the two days, up from 300 million last year on Prime Day.
Adobe said it was a record two days for total online shopping.
Adobe said online sales were driven by home appliances and games. Other emerging categories included apparel and electronics.
“Prime Day has become one of the biggest e-commerce times of the year as consumers get deep discounts from a number of different retailers,” said Vivek Pandya, Principal Analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. “The record spending to date shows us that consumers are tapping into their bargain-hunting instincts.”
Elsewhere, curbside pickup accounted for 20% of online orders on July 11, according to Adobe, highlighting the service’s strength that has been gaining traction during the pandemic. This is a little more than last year.
Amazon celebrates Prime Day every July to boost sales figures during the lazy summer months. It also helps Amazon promote an early start to the back-to-school and university shopping season, according to JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth.
Since Prime Day began in 2015, other chains, including Walmart with its Walmart+ week and Best Buy with “Black Friday in July,” have jumped in to catch shoppers’ spending during the slow summer months.
Amazon shares were up about $2 Thursday morning, to $133.
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