The State of Amazon in 2023

Amid economic uncertainty, Amazon has remained a dominant force in the ecommerce world. Maintaining a 37.8% market share in 2022, Amazon has continued its streak of dominating the online retail market for over a decade as new technologies such as AI and AR have emerged.

In 2023, Amazon is expected to grow even further in size and scope. The company continues to invest heavily in research and development to create cutting-edge technologies and services to better serve customers.

This includes the use of AI for product recommendations, logistics tracking, and augmented reality (AR) applications that allow users to visualize products in their space before purchase. Amazon’s continued focus on customer service has also resulted in a more personalized shopping experience with advanced search capabilities and faster delivery times.

The company will continue to innovate, offering customers the latest products and services at competitive prices. With Amazon expanding further into brick-and-mortar retail stores, the future of Amazon looks brighter than ever.

But what does this mean for ecommerce businesses? How does the advance of Amazon shape an increasingly crowded market? Keep reading to find out how the world's largest online retailer continues to shape the future of ecommerce and what you can do as an ecommerce seller to keep up.

A Closer Look at the Amazon Funnel

At the center of Amazon’s success is its ability to capture and convert customers. 67% of sessions on Amazon will lead to a product page visit and of those visits - 12% lead to cart adds which in turn leads to an average of 8% in complete purchases.

These numbers show the strength of Amazon’s funnel, which has been carefully crafted and optimized over the years to help drive sales. By leveraging data-driven insights, Amazon is able to create highly personalized experiences for customers across different channels such as desktop, mobile and even offline stores.

Compared to the average ecommerce conversion rate of 2-3%, this data is certainly impressive and goes to show what is possible in terms of retaining and acquiring converting customers.

Capitalizing on Events/Holidays

Amazon is also well-known for its ability to leverage holidays and events to boost sales. During the holiday season, Amazon’s promotions are front and center on its website, often giving customers extra incentive to purchase items from the store.

If we have a look at how the number of sessions and transactions was changing daily through the year, we can clearly see the spikes on July 12-13 (Amazon Prime Day), October 11-12 (Prime Early Access Sale), and, of course, November 25-28 (Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the weekend in between).

Also, there’s an increase in the number of sessions in December, which is happening most likely due to Christmas preparations. Then there’s a significant drop (December 25-26), after which the number of sessions starts slowly going down.

During these times, Amazon's ability to funnel customers to products is second to none. For instance, during Amazon's very own Prime Day - clicks per session typically go to an average of 18.8%, ahead of even Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales which average around 16.3%.

Amazon.com “Special Occasions” Funnel, Global 2022

Understanding Product Trends Over Time

Not every product is in high demand all the time. To succeed in ecommerce, a company must be able to identify and capitalize on the trends of each month and cater to these needs. We can easily deduce which products are trending each month using the Keyword Wizard app for Amazon.

Here is a look at what keywords were trending the most for each month between  February 2022 - March 2023.

Amazon.com’s Top Trending Products, Global 2022-2023

While seasonal items such as Valentine’s Day gifts in January and beach bags in May may seem obvious - trendy items such as the Rain Cloud Diffuser product are possibly influenced by social media trends which require sellers to be more agile regarding product marketing, collaborate with influencers or celebrities.

Additionally, while 2021 may have seen a wide demand for pandemic masks and face shields - the market for these items has dwindled as the pandemic has receded. Instead, a wide variety of products appear with a few important categories including electronics, clothing, and office furniture.

Analyzing Ecommerce Behavior Patterns

The Amazon funnel is very effective for capturing and converting customers, but it’s important to understand how customer shopping behavior patterns can be used to improve conversion rates. To do this, businesses must first identify the various points of customer interaction within the sales funnel such as browsing, product page visits, cart adds and checkout completions.

By monitoring how customers move through each of these steps, businesses can better understand where and how to optimize their funnel for maximum performance. For example, suppose a company notices that customers tend to drop off on the product page. In that case, they may decide to add more detailed product descriptions or create more engaging visuals to capture potential buyers' attention and keep them engaged.

To gain insight, we've analyzed raw Amazon click-stream data from December 2021 to November 2022 with the goal of understanding customer shopping behavior patterns. Over the course of 22.7M sessions, we discovered a few interesting trends that may be useful for understanding and optimizing ecommerce funnels.

General Takeaways

• Average session has 15 clicks;
• Average session has 2 Search Result Page visits;
• Average session has 3.3 clicks leading to Product Pages;
• During an average session user makes 1.7 add-to-cart clicks before each transaction (from the cart);
• During an average session user makes 3 searches and visits 6 product pages before completing a transaction (either form the cart or via Buy Now button);
• During an average session user makes 2 searches and visits 4 product pages before adding something to the cart.

In addition, we noticed that certain “special” days like Prime Day, Prime Early Access Sale, Black Friday & Cyber Monday, and Christmas/New Year Season saw higher conversion rates than average days. For example, on Prime Day the conversion rate increased by about 5% compared to the Daily Average.

These insights can be used for better understanding and optimizing ecommerce funnels. For example, businesses should focus on increasing the number of product page visits as it has a direct impact on conversions; or they may consider adjusting their marketing campaigns around “special” days in order to take advantage of the higher conversion rates.

The analysis of customer behavior has become an integral part of any ecommerce business's success, and understanding their customers' shopping behaviors can provide valuable insights that can help them increase conversions and ROI. By monitoring data and making adjustments based on customer feedback, businesses can ensure they are offering a better experience for their customers, which leads to increased conversions and brand loyalty.

Use Semrush Ecommerce Apps to Stay On Top of Customer Behavior

Did you know that all of the data from this article was acquired by using Semrush for Ecommerce?

• The Amazon Accelerator bundle helps businesses gather competitive intelligence, benchmark against the competition, choose the right keywords, pricing, descriptions, and more.
• The Ecommerce .Trends bundle allows businesses to ather Amazon insights, conduct market and competitive research, and track trends across the ecommerce market.

Semrush tools for Ecommerce, including Ecommerce Booster, can be a powerful suite that can help you grow and succeed in the ever-changing world of online retail. By leveraging this data and implementing the right strategies, you can boost your conversions and improve overall ROI.