Sales of Amazon’s Top 10 products were particularly interesting in August, thanks to a hangover from July’s Prime Day and brisk sales of solar eclipse glasses in the U.S. Combined U.S. sales of top 10 Amazon items were down 43 percent month-over-month (MoM) from July, about the same as following Prime Day 2016. But sales of the top 10  also improved 64 percent year-over-year (YoY) from 2016, thanks to sales of eclipse glasses.

While Amazon U.S. top 10 sales were up YoY in July, they fell 13 percent in the U.K., mainly from the comparison to 2016 sales of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. U.K. top 10 sales were down 41.6 percent MoM from July, suffering the same post-Prime Day slowdown and lacking an eclipse—the August 21 event was not visible in the U.K.—to boost sales.

Jumpshot prepares this report using tracking data from our 100-million member consumer panel. We analyze Amazon purchases in the U.S. and the U.K. and present a list of the top 10 products in each market.

August’s top Amazon items in the U.S.

We may have slightly underestimated sales of Amazon’s U.S. number 1 item for August. We combined three separate product IDs to determine that Solar Eclipse Glasses represented 32 percent of all top 10 items sold in the US last month.

Our estimate may be slightly low, since shoppers, had  more than just those three products to choose from, though the specific products we combined represented the majority of glasses sold.

Those do not include the unsafe “safety” glasses for which Amazon issued refunds and for which they could face exposure from a potential class-action lawsuit.

Half of this month’s U.S. top 10 were items not on July’s list, including gift cards, an HDMI cable, cat litter, and a Kindle software download for PCs. Every other item, including last month’s surprise, Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towels, was down in July. Amazon-brand electronics, namely the second-generation Echo Dot and the newest Fire TV Stick, suffered major buyer fatigue after big Prime Day discounts in July.

 

Rank Product Name Top 10 Share MoM Change
1 Solar Eclipse Glasses (3 Product IDs) 32% New
2 All-New Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote | Streaming Media Player 15% -13%
3 Amazon.com eGift Cards (2) 14% New
4 All-New Echo Dot (2nd Generation) 9% -75%
5 Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towels, White, Huge Roll, 12 Count 6% -6%
6 AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable – 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) – White 5% -8%
7 SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Card with Adapter, Grey/Red, Standard Packaging 5% -65%
8 AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable – 6 Feet (Latest Standard) 5% New
9 Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Ultra Cat Litter 5% New
10 Kindle for PC [Download] 5% New

 

August’s top Amazon items in the U.K.

There was a surge of memory card sales at Amazon U.K. during August, as SanDisk Memory Cards (five product IDs) were the top purchases made, accounting for a 36 percent share of the top 10. That was a 13 percent MoM increase from July.

There were five newcomers to August’s Amazon U.K. top 10 list. They included two PS4 games, each representing 8 percent of top 10 sales, as well as printer paper, a Lightning to USB cable, and an ultra high capacity power bank.

The July Prime Day hangover sent Fire TV Stick sales down 60 percent MoM while the second-generation Dot slid 83 percent over the same period.

 

Rank Product Name Top 10 Share MOM Change
1 SanDisk Memory Card 36% 13%
2 Fire TV Stick 13% -60%
3 Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4) 8% New
4 Call of Duty®: WWII + Animated Zombies Weapon Camo + Zombies Prima Strategy Guide 8% New
5 Amazon.co.uk Gift Card 7% -22%
6 AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable – 0.9 m (3 ft) – White 7% New
7 HP 301 Original Ink Cartridges – Black/Tri-Colour, Pack of 2 6% -2%
8 Xerox Performer Paper A4 80gsm White 003R90649 Pack of 5 Reams 5% New
9 Amazon Echo Dot (2nd Generation), Black 5% -83%
10 Anker PowerCore 20100 – Ultra High Capacity Power Bank 5% New

 

Bottom Line: In both the U.S. and U.K., we saw an event split between old and new,  with five newcomers to each list. We also witnessed an even split of the top 10 products purchased between the old “standard” cast of products (e.g. Gift Cards or Memory cards) to trending products (e.g. Solar Eclipse Glasses and new Video Games on the PS4).

Amazon brand products do well, but the increase in household and office items, such as paper towels, ink, printer paper, and even cat litter points in a new direction for the Amazon that began life as an online bookstore. September’s report will capture more back-to-school and  maybe the beginning of holiday shopping, but probably not eclipse glasses (we think) or fidget spinners (we hope). We are firm on that last prediction, so please come back and see how we do.

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