What's the Deal on Amazon Lightning Deals? 

amazon lightning deal

Last updated on July 18th, 2023

Written by Mohamed Aden

As a seller on Amazon, the ultimate goal is to capture the attention of potential buyers and convert their interest into sales. One of the strategies savvy sellers use to increase their sales is leveraging Amazon Lightning Deals. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore what an Amazon Lightning Deal is and its benefits and downsides for sellers like you. 

The Amazon Lightning Deal Explained

Lightning Deals is Amazon’s promotional discounts program with a time limit. Amazon runs these deals with specific promotional discounts for a short period of time. Usually, a Lightning Deal lasts between 2–6 hours. 

If you want to find Lightning Deals on Amazon, you only have to look for them on the following pages: Today’s Deals and Prime.

Today’s Deals Page 

The Today’s Deals page on Amazon offers Amazon sellers an opportunity to offer their products at a discounted price. Your promotional discount can run anywhere between 2–6 hours. This means you can sell more as it overlaps with peak shopping hours. Amazon’s Today’s Deals page also shows upcoming Lightning Deals. 

Prime Day Lightning Deals Page

Aside from the Today’s Deals page, Amazon offers Prime Day Lightning Deals on the platform. This Lightning Deal is exclusively available to Prime members only during Prime Day. Prime Day is Amazon’s annual two-day retail holiday, which usually happens every July. 

screenshot of amazon today’s deals page showing discounted products and live deals

Benefits of Amazon Lightning Deals

As an Amazon seller, you’re probably wondering if Lightning Deals are worth it. Remember that a good deal is music to every shopper’s ears. Because Amazon is a customer-centric company, they offer Lightning Deals from time to time to delight potential buyers. 

For sellers, the benefit comes from having an influx of customers visit their stores. It increases traffic, as shoppers will be enticed to frequent the stores to grab a good deal.

However, the percentage of shoppers tends to diminish on the days following the deal. Generally, a product’s average daily sale can get a boost of up to 65%. 

Aside from directly increasing sales, this Amazon deal provides other benefits. Although indirect, these advantages promote the increase of sales in the long run.

  1. Improves Online Presence

Amazon’s Lightning Deals alert browsers when it appears on the Today’s Deals page. As one of the most frequented pages on the platform, it automatically makes your products more visible to your target market. This advantage equates to strengthening your brand’s overall online presence.

  1. Strengthens Brand Awareness

Lightning Deals create a halo effect. Their ability to help customers learn about your brand while improving sales does not only work while the Lightning Deal is running. Its advantages go beyond generating positive results on the days following the deal’s scheduled onset.

  1. Clears Overstocked Inventory

Offering deals is an excellent way of disposing of and profiting from overstock or unsold seasonal products. Plus, a Lightning Deal also contributes to your product visibility.

: a graphic showing the benefits and drawbacks of amazon lightning deals, from the benefits column: Improves Online Presence, Strengthens Brand Awareness, Clears Overstocked Inventor; from the drawbacks column: Amazon Decides the Date and Time for Running the Deals, Amazon May Cancel Proposed Lightning Deals, Deal Fee.

Downsides of an Amazon Lightning Deal

Like all other programs, the benefits sellers get from running Lightning Deals also come with challenges. They are as follows:

  1. Amazon Decides the Date and Time for Running the Deals

Sellers are free to propose a specific week for staging the deal. But in the end, it is Amazon that decides on the exact promotion period. Although Lightning Deals have the possibility of covering peak shopping hours, they can fall at any given time—and if you’re unlucky, even during the dead hours of the early morning.

  1. Amazon May Cancel Proposed Lightning Deals

All deals sellers submit to Amazon must be backed up by sufficient inventory. If the latter falls below the platform’s desired level within 7 or fewer days before the deal, Amazon may cancel it. Sellers should logically resort to stocking up products to keep this from happening.

This move is advantageous if sales meet expectations. If not, you will end up having too much inventory in the warehouse.

  1. Deal Fee

Running a Lightning Deal on Amazon doesn’t come for free. Amazon charges $150 up to $500 per deal. The deal fee can increase depending on the week you choose to run your promotional discount.

a hand putting a small shopping cart on stacked coins in increasing order

How To Run an Amazon Lightning Deal

Amazon’s Lightning Deals are close to buyers’ hearts. These limited-time sales enable customers to save a significant amount on Amazon items, while increasing your sales in the process. Now that you know the benefits and challenges of running a Lightning Deal, let’s dive into the actual process of running deals on Amazon.

  1. Make Sure You’re Eligible

Amazon sellers must meet the following criteria to be eligible to create lightning deals:

  • A seller should have a Professional Seller account on Seller Central.
  • A seller should have at least five seller feedback ratings per month.
  • A seller should hold an overall rating of at least 3.5 stars.
  • Eligible Amazon products should be “new.”
  • Products should have at least a 3-star rating.
  • Products should be Prime-eligible.
  • Products don’t have a high return rate.
  1. Create a Lightning Deal

Once you’re eligible to run a Lightning Deal, you can start creating one. Below are the steps to create a lightning deal:

  • Select “Create a Deal” in your Deals Dashboard.
  • Choose the product that you’d like to create a deal for.
  • Choose a schedule when you’d want your Lightning Deal to run.
  • Choose a deal price from the suggestions.
  • Click and submit your deal.
  1. Amazon Sets the Price, Discount and Quantity

Wait for Amazon to set the maximum price and the minimum discount and quantity for the deal. 

Once a Lightning Deal is on, expect to see:

  • The featured product.
  • The final price and amount for the promotional discount (excluding tax).
  • A status bar showing the percentage of claimed deals.
  • A timer indicating the time left before the deal expires.
  • A button for “Add to Cart” if there are promotional discounts on hand.

Turn the Tables to Your Brand’s Advantage

Amazon’s Lightning Deals are effective because they are designed to complement the functions of Amazon’s A10 algorithm. The system is designed to consider a variety of integral factors. Among the essential elements are conversion rate, sales velocity, and pricing.

Besides Lightning Deals, working with an Amazon SEO consultant like Seller Interactive can help you boost your sales and conversion rates. We can help you increase the conversions of a specific search term so your products gain higher rankings in search results.

Contact us today!

Go from surviving to thriving on Amazon.

Use the power and influence of advertising to increase sales. Learn more about how you can benefit from our management expertise.
Book a Call

Read More

Landing Page for Amazon Products: A Professional Guide

Last updated on December 18th, 2023 Written by Mohamed Aden For Amazon sellers, having a strong marketing strategy is crucial for boosting sales. Having a landing page for Amazon products is a strategy many successful sellers apply, and you can also do. This article will explain what a landing page is and how it can […]

Amazon Best Seller Rank: A Concise Guide to Boosting Sales

Last updated on December 13th, 2023 Written by Mohamed Aden The Amazon Best Seller Rank (BSR) is a crucial metric sellers like you should understand to maximize your success on the platform. This ranking system reflects a product's popularity and sales performance against other products in the same category. By grasping the intricacies of BSR, […]

Amazon Seller Names: Essential Guide for Choosing a Winning Identity

Last updated on December 11th, 2023 Written by Himanshi Raj In a bustling marketplace like Amazon, every aspect of your online presence matters, and thoughtfully chosen Amazon seller names can be one of the first steps toward building a solid brand. However, coming up with an Amazon seller name is considered trivial for most sellers. […]

crossmenuchevron-down