UK shoppers say Prime Day traps retailers in discount cycle

Invent.ai has published research suggesting UK shoppers believe major discount events are trapping retailers in a cycle of price cutting. The study focused on Amazon Prime Day and surveyed more than 1,000 consumers.

The findings suggest retailers may win short bursts of sales during high-profile promotions while weakening customer loyalty and increasing pressure on margins. Some 62% of shoppers said they are now more promotionally driven in their purchasing behaviour than a year ago.

Prime Day is expected to generate £2.4 billion in UK sales. The annual Amazon event also boosts trade beyond Amazon's own marketplace, as other retailers run rival offers. That wider effect has made it a fixture on the broader eCommerce calendar rather than a promotion confined to a single platform.

The survey found that 55% of respondents said Prime Day discounting has "trained" them to seek out promotions from other retailers. Another 48% said they are actively planning targeted discount purchases around the event.

The data also points to growing use of artificial intelligence tools for price comparison and deal hunting. Almost half of respondents (47%) said discounts are easier to find because AI can compare prices for them, while 36% said they already use AI-powered tools, including Amazon's Rufus and platforms such as ChatGPT, to look for deals.

Price pressure

That behaviour appears to be driving a wider shift in how shoppers respond to retail brands during sales periods. Six in ten consumers said extensive promotions around events such as Prime Day have trapped retailers in an "unbreakable" cycle of discounting.

A further 58% agreed that major sales events have accelerated a "race to the bottom", with retailers under increasing pressure to offer deeper discounts to stay competitive. The figures suggest many shoppers now see blanket promotions less as isolated campaigns and more as a routine part of the retail model.

The survey also points to a cost for loyalty. Some 61% of consumers said getting good deals during discounting events delivered a short-term "price fix" but did not build loyalty to brands.

Half of the respondents said retailers' discounting strategies make them less loyal overall, as price takes precedence over brand affinity. That adds to a long-running concern among retailers that frequent promotions can reshape customer expectations in ways that are difficult to reverse.

Farid Mohsen, Vice President of Strategic Accounts at invent.ai, commented on the findings.

"As AI removes friction from bargain hunting, retailers risk driving short-term sales spikes at the expense of longer-term customer loyalty and margin protection," said Farid Mohsen, Vice President of Strategic Accounts at invent.ai. "Behind the surge in discount-driven sales, many retailers are realising that blanket discounting around Prime Day doesn't move the needle on building loyalty."

AI effect

The figures reflect how artificial intelligence is changing shopping behaviour and retail operations. Price comparison has long been part of online shopping, but AI tools are making the process faster and easier by scanning offers, highlighting discounts and narrowing searches with little effort.

For retailers, that could mean a sharper response to any pricing move made around major sales events. If customers can quickly identify the lowest available price across multiple outlets, competitors may come under pressure to match or beat offers in real time.

That creates a difficult balancing act for brands trying to take part in high-traffic events without undermining profitability. Promotional periods can help clear stock and draw in new shoppers, but repeated blanket markdowns may leave retailers competing largely on price.

Mohsen said retailers needed to be more precise in their approach to major promotional windows.

"Retailers need to find a balance between meeting demands for discounts without locking themselves into an unsustainable race to the bottom, where aggressive price cuts erode margins and loyalty over time," he said. "This requires greater precision in how brands plan inventory, forecast demand and execute pricing strategies around major promotional events to benefit from sales spikes whilst building more profitable customer relationships."

The consumer polling was conducted online in April and covered more than 1,000 UK shoppers. The findings underscore a broader tension in eCommerce: large sales events can boost market-wide sales volumes, but they may also reinforce the expectation that the best time to buy is only when prices fall.