Shop Smart, Save More: Amazon Prime data reveals the biggest discounted departments

Shoppers can save the most money on items priced between £50-£99.
Beauty products offer the biggest discount at 30.56%.
Climate pledge friendly products have the lowest discount offering -1.68% on items.

With nearly three in five (59%) adults planning to make a purchase during the upcoming Black Friday weekend , spending is estimated to reach £3.8 billion across both this sale and Cyber Monday.

But, with so many brands and shops offering a plethora of discounts, it can be easy to get swept up in the Black Friday madness and make purchases that may not actually be a bargain.

With this in mind, the experts at GIGAcalculator can reveal the departments with the biggest discounts on Amazon Prime day, and offer tips to help shoppers make informed choices before checking out their basket this Black Friday.

Top 10 highest discounted departments on Prime Day:

Rank	Department	Average discount one month before Prime Day (%)	Average discount on Prime Day (%)	Average discount one month after Prime Day (%)	Average Prime Day discount increase (%)
1	Beauty	-33.08	-64.65	-34.54	+30.56
2	Software	-60.83	-59.59	-65.22	+0.42
3	Books	-41.63	-42.39	-40.97	+3.00
4	Baby Products	-19.49	-38.13	-22.18	+15.71
5	Climate Pledge Friendly	-34.80	-31.66	-32.80	-1.68
6	Electronics & Photo	-26.80	-31.53	-29.22	+4.92
7	Health & Personal Care	-29.57	-30.87	-27.76	+2.54
8	DIY & Tools	-33.84	-30.20	-29.96	+0.98
9	PC & Video Games	-27.83	-29.77	-25.87	+4.50
10	Home & Kitchen	-26.09	-29.46	-24.15	+4.04

To access the entire dataset, view here.

Amazon’s beauty department boasted the biggest discounts on Prime Day, with an average price reduction of 64.65%.

The biggest discount increase on beauty products happens on items listed for £5 and under, and discounts increase by a whopping 30.56% during prime day vs non-prime day months.

Following closely behind, with an average discount of 59.59% on prime day is the software department.

Despite the discount, software items are cheaper to buy before and after the sales event, as there is just a 0.95% increase in average discount during the event. Unless the items range between £30-49, in which case there is a noticeably higher 17.17% increase on the day of the sale.

For literature fans, books are best bought during prime day as there is a small increase in discount of 3% compared to the usual day.

On average, books will receive a discount of 42.39% during the Prime Day event, with the sale benefitting items priced between £20-29 the most thanks to an average increased discount of 4.98%.

Departments with the smallest discounts on Prime Day:

Rank	Department	Average discount one month before Prime Day (%)	Average discount on Prime Day (%)	Average one month after Prime Day (%)	Average Prime day discount increase (%)
1	CDs & Vinyl	-15.50	-12.82	-11.00	-0.58
2	Handmade Products	-11.40	-15.77	-10.14	+2.21
3	Musical Instruments & DJ	-18.43	-19.89	-19.19	+0.95
4	Grocery	-20.44	-21.17	-19.70	-1.44
5	Large Appliances	-19.13	-21.94	-18.66	+3.76

To access the entire dataset, view here.

Amazon’s entertainment department selling CD’s and vinyls offers the lowest discounts on Prime Day, with an average price reduction of 12.82%.

The biggest discount increase on CD and vinyl products happens a month before Prime Day, however, items listed between £10 and £20 see the best discount at 1.33% after the sales event.

Handmade Products hosts an average discount of 15.77% during prime day, with all products being £10 and under, shoppers will have just a 2.21% discount increase.

For the musically gifted, Instruments and DJ products are slightly more worthwhile during Prime Day, offering a 19.89% discount - just a miniscule 0.95% higher than the average day.

Consumer finance expert and podcast host of ‘Spendology’, Victoria Leyton, commented: “To get the most out of Black Friday, consumers need to have a clear idea of what they need rather than just browsing, and be ready to shop around. Remember, it’s only a deal if it’s something you actually want to buy, so it is key to start your wish list now to quickly spot discounts.

“With many Black Friday sales starting earlier and earlier each year, retailers will be working to get ahead of competitors, and with smaller budgets, they will be pushing to secure consumer spending.

“Watch out for flashy discounts that may not be as good as they seem - knowing usual prices will help you avoid misleading leads. Beyond electricals, there are huge savings to be made across various departments from mobile contract plans to flights.”

Six tips to smarter shopping ahead of Black Friday:

Check out future models

Most products go through life cycles, whether that be with newly released models, or updated versions, this is especially common in the tech industry with items such as phones, laptops and gaming consoles. But when a new version is released, previous versions are often re-released at a discounted price making them become more budget-friendly, which is a great chance for savvy shoppers to spend less for the same quality product.

Many retailers also tend to create bundles for these out-dated items pairing older models with accessories to sell out their stock. By understanding the life cycle, consumers can make purchases strategically and save money.

Social Media shopping

Whilst many will be turning to social media to keep up to date with the latest trends and news, brands are now utilising platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to promote their Black Friday deals in advance.

Some retailers will be sending out newsletters offering early access to their sales, allowing shoppers to grab some of the most popular, in-demand products before they sell out this season.

Prepare a wish list

Amidst the excitement of new deals and whopping discounts, it can be extremely easy to impulse buy, so to prevent spending more than your allocated shopping budget, preparing a list of all the items you need - especially any gifts - is essential to stay on track and be ready for the holidays.

Research your purchase

Finding the item you want and buying it straight away seems to make the most sense, however, it is best to compare this item across various sites to secure the cheapest offer possible. Not only is this important but often shoppers forget things such as the hidden costs of shipping, VAT or service charges as well as checking the returns policy in case your mind is changed in the future.

You can also use price checking tools to compare prices across various sites that offer the same item you’re looking to buy, this can help save you money from splashing out on the more expensive sites.

Prioritise discount, rewards & cashback sites

Using reward and cashback programmes is one way to help maximise your savings while still making a profit on your purchases. Whilst there will be hundreds of discounts available during Black Friday, many sites will be offering a reward scheme to encourage spending.

Typically sites turn your spending into points which you can then use to put towards future purchases, saving you cash in the long run. Alternatively, cashback sites also take a percentage of your spending as cash which consumers are then able to claim.

Spot a scam

Every year around big sales events like Black Friday, a new wave of sale scams arrive perfectly in time to target avid shoppers looking for deals and discounts. With people being eager to maximise their savings, scammers are aware that shoppers will be vulnerable making these popular events a prime opportunity for fraud.

As social media can now be used as a shopping tool, it is key to stay vigilant by checking the reliability of communications, avoiding suspicious links and only making payments through secure websites and payment methods.

Whilst shopping for the latest deals and biggest bargain may seem exciting, often people overlook the negative impact sales can have on those who feel a high from buying something new. It’s estimated that between 8% and 16% of the UK population struggle with a shopping addiction that may be heightened during these sale events.

Methodology:

Gigacalculator wanted to reveal how big of a discount can shoppers have during Prime Day sales, and have provided expert tips on how consumers can shop smarter this Black Friday.
Products analysed are the top 100 best sellers in each department, and the top 100 best sellers on Prime Day 17th July 2024.
For each month, anywhere between 1300-2000+ discounted products were analysed.
All values were in GBP, and only discounted products were included.
Due to the structure of Amazon's site and the issues that it poses for scraping, some discount/price data may be lost. However, the data enclosed regarding products with both price and discount at time of scrape are accurate.
RRP has been closely estimated using price and discount at time of scrape, to increase the accuracy of the data (due to issues with scraping RRP).
Only departments and price buckets with at least five samples are displayed for each time snapshot to maintain good sample sizes.
All data is accurate as of November 2024.