In brief: With economic worries, tariff uncertainties, and job concerns, there was plenty of interest around online spending habits during the start of the Amazon Prime Day event. According to the latest data, the first day saw $7.9 billion spent online, a 9.9% year-over-year increase.

Adobe Analytics reports that the start of the newly extended four-day Prime Day on Tuesday marked the single biggest e-commerce day so far this year. It has surpassed the total online spending during Thanksgiving last year, when sales reached $6.1 billion.

Other retailers often launch sales events that coincide with Amazon’s. Walmart, Target, and Best Buy are just some of the companies holding events this week, meaning it’s a busy period of online shoppers.

Tech deals on Prime Day 2025: Our selection of discounted tech gear, PC hardware, and then some

Kashif Zafar, CEO of Xnurta, an advertising platform that serves more than 20,000 online businesses, told CNBC that home and outdoor goods showed signs of strong demand on Tuesday. Beauty and household had a slow start but picked up later.

Momentum Commerce, a company that manages online sales for 50 brands, including Beats, Crocs, and Therabody, told Bloomberg that first day sales on Amazon were down 41% compared to last year.

However, both Momentum and Zafar say that doubling the number of Prime Days to four means that buyers are taking more time to hunt down bargains on the site, rather than making impulse buys on the first day.

John Shea, Momentum’s founder and CEO, said there could be a last-minute push by Amazon shoppers to make purchases as the event draws to a close. If people shop more during the last two days, his company expects a 9.1% sales increase compared to last year.

Adobe predicts that online sales across all retailers during the 96 hours of Amazon’s sale will hit $23.8 billion, an amount equivalent to two Black Fridays. US online shopping reached $14.2 billion across the two-day Prime Day last year. It’s news that will be welcomed by those who feared a significant downturn in spending this year.

In May, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy assured the company’s shareholders that Trump’s tariffs have neither increased average selling prices of items on the site nor affected consumer demand. This happened a few weeks after Amazon was blasted by the White House over a plan to show exactly how much the tariffs will increase the cost of items on its Amazon Haul site.