NEW YORK, June 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Impact Analytics, a leading AI company specializing in end-to-end planning, forecasting, merchandising, pricing, and inventory optimization, today released new research identifying what may become the defining promotional strategy of Holiday 2026: broader promotional reach paired with disciplined discounting.
The report, Broader Reach, Disciplined Depth: How Amazon Widened the Net, analyzes promotional activity across the top 1,000 products spanning 13 retail categories during Prime Day 2026 and compares it against Prime Day 2025. The findings reveal a fundamental shift in promotional strategy as retailers navigate rising tariffs, elevated costs, margin pressure, and increasingly selective consumer spending.
According to the research, promotional breadth more than doubled year over year, increasing from approximately 14% of tracked assortment during Prime Day 2025 to approximately 30% in 2026, while average discount depth remained steady at roughly 30%. Rather than relying on deeper markdowns to drive demand, retailers are increasingly expanding promotional coverage while maintaining pricing discipline.
The report suggests this shift is being driven by economic realities. With tariffs on some imported goods approaching 50%, retailers have less flexibility to fund deeper discounts without sacrificing profitability. As a result, broader promotional reach is emerging as a more sustainable lever for driving customer engagement and conversion.
“Prime Day has become one of retail’s most important indicators of how merchants will approach the holiday season,” said Prashant Agrawal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Impact Analytics. “This year’s data shows retailers adapting to a new reality where margin pressure limits how deeply they can discount. The answer is not necessarily deeper promotions; it is smarter promotions. Leaders are expanding reach, applying depth selectively, and using AI to identify where every promotional dollar generates the greatest return. We expect this playbook to define Holiday 2026.”
Key findings in the report include:
• Promotional breadth more than doubled, increasing from approximately 14% to 30% of tracked assortment year over year.
• Average promotional depth held steady at approximately 30%, despite ongoing tariff and cost pressures.
• Within-event promotional depth increased 17 percentage points compared to the pre-Prime Day period, more than double the eight-point increase observed during Prime Day 2025.
• Beauty & Personal Care led all categories, increasing promotional depth by 19 percentage points and reaching the broadest promotional coverage at 45% of SKUs.
• Grocery & Gourmet Food, Health & Household, and Pet Supplies each increased promotional depth by 18 percentage points, reflecting a focus on replenishment-driven categories.
• Electronics promoted 37% of tracked SKUs while reducing discount depth by seven percentage points year over year, demonstrating how retailers can expand reach while protecting margin on flagship products.
• Sports & Outdoors was the only category to increase both promotional breadth and promotional depth compared to Prime Day 2025.
Beyond the headline numbers, the research found retailers are moving away from one-size-fits-all promotional strategies. Categories such as Electronics, Home & Kitchen, and Tools & Home Improvement combined broad coverage with disciplined discounting to maximize visibility and conversion. Meanwhile, Apparel, Sports & Outdoors, and Patio categories deployed deeper discounts across narrower assortments to clear seasonal inventory. Appliances remained the most restrained category overall, reflecting continued cost pressure and consumer price sensitivity.
The findings underscore a broader industry shift toward AI-driven merchandising decisions. As retailers prepare for back-to-school and holiday selling seasons, the ability to determine where to expand promotional reach, where to increase discount depth, and where to preserve margin will become a critical competitive advantage.
The full report, Broader Reach, Disciplined Depth: How Amazon Widened the Net, is available at www.impactanalytics.ai.
About Impact Analytics
Impact Analytics delivers AI-native SaaS solutions and consulting services that help companies maximize profitability and customer satisfaction through deeper data insights and predictive analytics leveraging agentic AI. With a fully integrated, end-to-end platform for planning, forecasting, merchandising, pricing and promotions, Impact Analytics empowers companies to make smarter decisions based on real-time insights, rather than relying on last year’s inputs to forecast and plan this year’s business. Powered by over one million machine learning models, Impact Analytics has been at the forefront of AI innovation for a decade, setting new benchmarks in forecasting, planning, and operational excellence across the retail, grocery, manufacturing, and CPG sectors. Recognized for innovation and growth by Fortune, Financial Times, Inc. 5000, and the RIS Leaderboard, Impact Analytics continues to lead the way in shaping the future of business intelligence. To think differently about agentic AI and autonomous merchandising, learn more at www.impactanalytics.ai.
For media inquiries: Maggie Williams Dryden Vice President, Global Head of Marketing maggie.dryden@impactanalytics.ai
