London, UK — While Prime Day is expected to drive a surge in revenues, retailers risk fuelling a ‘race to the bottom’ as shoppers become increasingly conditioned by promotional events to only buy on discount, with AI accelerating instant price comparisons, new data from invent.ai, the AI-native retail planning and inventory decisioning platform, warns.
Moving back to a June date for the first time since 2021, Prime Day 2026, which starts today (23 Jun), is predicted to drive £2.4billion in UK sales and is expected to be one of Amazon’s biggest ever Prime events to date, surpassing the record-breaking revenues generated last year.
As the event has grown, so too has Prime Day’s wider influence, which now extends beyond the digital walls of Amazon’s own platform. Last year, its “halo effect” saw overall ecommerce revenues rise by +9%, as retailers also launched competing promotional campaigns to capitalise on demand during the event window.
At the same time, Prime Day’s growing influence is conditioning consumers to shop around major discounting events, opting for tactical, one-off and price-led purchases rather than engaging with brands long-term.
Original research of over 1,000 UK shoppers by invent.ai found that six in ten (62%) are now more promotionally driven in their purchasing behaviours compared to a year ago. Over half (55%) said Prime Day discounting has “trained” them to seek out wider promotions from other retailers, with a further 48% now actively planning targeted discount purchasing around the sales event.
AI agents are further accelerating this behaviour, with almost half (47%) saying that discounts are easier to find because AI can compare pricing for them, while one in three (36%) already use AI-powered tools, from Amazon’s Rufus to wider platforms like ChatGPT, to actively hunt for deals.
“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, VP 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.”
61% consumers said securing good deals during discounting events delivered a short-term “price fix”, but didn’t contribute to brand loyalty, while 50% said retailers’ discounting strategies make them less loyal overall, as they increasingly focus on price over brand affinity.
Through extensive promotions around events like Prime Day, six in ten shoppers believe retailers have trapped themselves in an “unbreakable” cycle of discounting. 58% also agreed that sales events have accelerated a “race to the bottom” where retailers have put themselves under growing pressure to offer ever-deeper discounts to remain competitive.
“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,” Mohsen added. “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.”