Turkey 5: What to Expect in 2023?

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The findings from the November 2023 “Turkey 5” event on Amazon reveal significant insights into consumer behavior and sales performance.

Here’s a concise summary of our findings:

1. Extended Sales Period: Amazon expanded the traditional “Turkey 5” (T5), which includes Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, to “Turkey 11” (T11), aiming to compete with early sales events. Despite this extension, we expect sales spikes to remain on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
2. Advertising Spend: Brands invested more in advertising during T5 of 2022 compared to the Fall Prime Day, with the expectation that this trend would continue. T11 presented an extended opportunity for brands to increase product consideration leading into the core sales days.
3. Revenue and Margins: There was a slight increase in revenues during T5 of 2022 compared to Fall Prime Day, but the unit margin percentages were considerably lower than Amazon’s other major sales events.
4. Consumer Traffic: The traffic increases were mainly concentrated on Black Friday and Cyber Monday but were less compared to all Amazon tentpole sales events.
5. Profitability Across Categories: The report provides detailed data on various product categories, indicating varied impacts on revenues and profitability. For instance, the Baby and Electronics categories saw a larger impact on revenues versus the October sales event, similar to July events. Conversely, the Grocery category had a much lower impact on revenues compared to all other tentpole events.
6. Ad Spend Efficiency: In terms of Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), the best performance was seen on non-weekend days, suggesting that brands should concentrate their ad spend on these days for better efficiency.
7. Strategic Implications: The data suggests that while extending the sales period provides a larger window for potential sales, consumer spending is still heavily skewed towards the traditional peak days. Brands may need to calibrate their strategies to capitalize on the heightened traffic during these peak times while also navigating the lower margins.

In conclusion, the “Turkey 5” event remains a critical period for Amazon and participating brands. While the extension to “Turkey 11” broadens the scope for consumer engagement, the core of sales activity remains around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Brands must continue to adapt their advertising and pricing strategies to optimize their presence and profitability during these key sales days.

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