Editorial
The Gist
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Shipping still sells. Free, fast shipping continues to drive conversions and reduce cart abandonment, especially when unexpected fees are avoided.
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Returns build trust. Simplified, no-hassle returns directly influence customer loyalty and spending behavior, especially in high-return categories like fashion.
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Prime day practice. July’s Prime Day serves as a live testbed for brands to refine logistics and CX ahead of the year-end holiday surge.
Shopping and spending outside of the traditional holiday season just keeps getting bigger, and this year’s July 8-11 Prime Day continued to prove that point. According to Amazon-provided figures, brands who participated in Prime Day activities experienced, on average, a more than 150% increase in daily Buy with Prime orders and resulting revenue during the event versus May 2025.
This surge aligns with ongoing trends showing increased off-season ecommerce volume. Adobe estimates that U.S. shoppers spent $24.1 billion between July 8 and 11, making Prime Day 2025 the biggest yet with two Black Fridays’ worth of spending in just four days. It’s becoming clearer that consumers are treating the event as an ecommerce holiday, and DTC brands would do well to take note.
Table of Contents
- Free Shipping Still Translates to Conversions
- Easy Returns Are a Competitive Advantage
- Prime Day as a Stress Test for CX
- Turning Cost Centers Into Growth Levers
- What Prime Day Signals About Customer Expectations
- Core Questions About Shipping, Returns and Prime Day CX
Free Shipping Still Translates to Conversions
Beyond events like Prime Day, shipping speed and cost are primary buying considerations. Two-thirds of shoppers now expect free shipping on every online order, and when that expectation isn’t met, nearly half will abandon their carts when unexpected fees appear. Free shipping is no longer a clever promotion; it’s the cover charge for admission to a customer’s wallet.
Despite Amazon.com being a key destination for many shoppers, there are still countless retailers selling on their own sites, and they need to compete with the bar that has been set by Amazon. Thus, Amazon introduced Buy with Prime to allow retailers to white-label Amazon’s shipping and returns services while selling on their own websites. This promises Amazon-level customer experience directly from a retailer’s website.
Peter Larsen, VP of Amazon MCCF, points to that expectation as the anchor of Buy with Prime. “We built Buy with Prime to help businesses succeed by connecting them with millions of U.S. Prime members. It’s about giving merchants the powerful tools to grow their business while delighting their customers with the fast, free delivery they’ve come to expect,” he said.
Using the Amazon fulfillment network, even smaller and mid-size brands can meet these customer expectations without needing to build extensive fulfillment infrastructure. They also don’t need to cobble together a set of partners handling different tasks, which can be costly and come with operational challenges of their own.
Related Article: Amazon's Customer Experience Playbook: CEO Andy Jassy Reveals Secrets
Easy Returns Are a Competitive Advantage
If free delivery is one half of the promise, simplified returns are the other. According to a UPS study, 40% of retailers believe that upgrading their returns experience directly improves customer spending. This can take several forms, from eliminating boxing, printing or other methods. Regardless of the approach, a simple returns policy eases consumer purchase anxiety.
This approach benefited many brands during Prime Day 2025 through the Buy with Prime feature, which allows brands to use Amazon’s shipping and returns services while selling on their own websites.
Josh Krepon, president of Direct-to-Consumer at Steve Madden, shared the company’s experience. “We’re taking the Prime shopping benefits that our customers already love, like fast, free shipping and easy returns, and extending them directly to our own brand website with Buy with Prime,” he said.
If the shoe brand sounds like an edge case, remember that fashion also faces some of the highest online return rates. Krepon’s team wouldn’t double-down unless the math worked.
Prime Day as a Stress Test for CX
Prime Day provides brands with a live environment to identify the maximum amount of friction they can remove from checkout before the holidays. Krepon noted the halo effect. “In the past, we’ve seen an indirect lift in traffic to our site during Prime Day, so we jumped at the chance to enhance our customer experience even further by offering these deals on SteveMadden.com,” he said.
In other words, people browse Amazon, then tab over to brand sites for styles or sizes that sold out on the marketplace. If the brand site offers the same shipping and return perks as Amazon.com, shoppers no longer have a reason to hesitate with their purchase. Looking to the December holiday shopping season, Krepon sees faster shipping as a competitive advantage in this critical time period. “Looking ahead, we see real value in being able to offer faster shipping during peak holiday periods, extending the online shopping window for customers and ensuring their gifts will be delivered in time, thanks to Buy with Prime,” he said.
His takeaway could apply to any DTC brand looking for an edge. Prime Day can serve as a rehearsal to nail the fulfillment promise now, then scale it when Q4 and the ensuing surge hits.
Related Article: How the 'Amazon Effect' Has Impacted Ecommerce
Turning Cost Centers Into Growth Levers
Free shipping and painless returns can sound like cost centers to many, especially when carrier rates are climbing. Yet the numbers keep proving that the revenue lift offsets these costs when approached strategically.
First, set thresholds; conditional free shipping (i.e., $75 and up) has the potential to increase basket size while protecting margin. You can also localize inventory; micro-fulfillment nodes simultaneously reduce last-mile costs and transit times.
Finally, triage returns. Resellable items are returned to stock, and damaged goods are sent directly to liquidation or refurbishment, which eliminates the need for double handling.
Related Article: Why We Need to Evolve From Customer Experience to Customer Obsession
Prime Day 2025: Key Statistics
This table summarizes the most impactful data points around shipping, returns, and ecommerce performance during Prime Day 2025.
| Statistic | Insight | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 66% of shoppers expect free shipping | Free shipping is now a baseline expectation, not a perk, and its absence drives cart abandonment. | ClickPost |
| Nearly 50% abandon cart over unexpected fees | Unexpected shipping costs are a top driver of checkout abandonment. | ClickPost |
| 40% of retailers say better returns increase spending | Retailers view improved return policies as a direct driver of customer loyalty and revenue. | UPS |
| $24.1 billion in Prime Day 2025 sales | Prime Day 2025 set a new record, matching two Black Fridays’ worth of sales in just four days. | Ecommerce North America |
| 150%+ jump in Buy with Prime orders and revenue | Participating merchants saw Buy with Prime daily orders more than double compared to May 2025. | Amazon (via internal performance data) |
What Prime Day Signals About Customer Expectations
Prime Day 2025 reinforced an uncomfortable reality for struggling retailers. Customers now grade every ecommerce checkout against Amazon’s. DTC brands that can deliver on the speed, cost transparency and no-headache returns can earn conversion increases in quiet months and blockbuster gains during shopping holidays.
Prime Day may only run for four days, but the customer expectations it sets persist throughout the year. Brands that treat shipping and returns as strategic levers, rather than sunk costs, won’t just benefit from Amazon’s July fireworks. They’ll carry that momentum straight through the holidays and beyond — making holiday ecommerce strategy a year-round priority.
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Core Questions About Shipping, Returns and Prime Day CX
Editor's note: Key questions surrounding how Prime Day 2025 reshaped ecommerce strategy, shipping expectations and returns policies for DTC brands.
Buy with Prime lets brands offer Amazon-level fulfillment and returns on their own sites, leveling the CX playing field without costly infrastructure buildouts.
Strategies like conditional free shipping, micro-fulfillment and return triage help protect margins while improving conversion and loyalty.
Adobe reports $24.1 billion in U.S. ecommerce spending during Prime Day 2025, marking the biggest Prime Day ever with two Black Fridays’ worth of activity.
According to UPS, 40% of retailers say improved returns directly impact spending. A simple, no-hassle return policy reduces purchase friction and builds trust.
66% of shoppers expect free shipping on all orders, and unexpected fees cause nearly half to abandon their carts. It’s become a conversion necessity, not a perk.
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