Prime Day Shuffle: Foot Traffic Rises as Rivals Run “Counter” Deals, Placer.ai Finds

Prime Day may be Amazon’s marquee retail event, but new location analytics suggest shoppers still showed up in stores when other retailers rolled out their own discount countermeasures., a firm that tracks consumer movement using location data, said promotions designed to offset Prime Day helped drive “meaningful traffic gains” for Amazon retail rivals during the shopping period. The findings, reported by WWD, focused on large U.S. chains that ran deal activity around Amazon’s Prime Day in late June. According to ’s analysis, Kohl’s posted the strongest improvement in foot traffic on Prime Day’s first day, with an 18.4% gain compared with its year-to-date, day-of-week average. Best Buy followed closely with an 18.1% increase, while Target reported a 16.3% uptick. Walmart’s gain was smaller at 4.7%, but still reflected positive momentum versus baseline. framed the results as evidence that deal-driven consumer behavior can remain resilient even when broader sentiment is subdued. The report tied that argument to University of Michigan consumer sentiment data, which said showed a 49.5 reading in June, described as the second-lowest level in records going back to the 1970s. also pointed to Deloitte research indicating that about four in 10 Americans now exhibit deal-driven, cost-conscious shopping habits, and that close to seven in 10 retail executives view value-seeking as a structural shift rather than a temporary reaction to current conditions. In comments attributed to Elizabeth Lafontaine, director of research, the firm said the performance aligned with ongoing 2026 retail trends. Lafontaine highlighted the continued strength of “superstore and warehouse club channels,” describing how shoppers are looking for one-stop shopping options and for discretionary purchases that can be justified by price. While Prime Day is known primarily for online promotions, the results underscore how physical retail can be affected by, and respond to, digital sales events. The analysis described the rival retailers’ strategies as promotion “counterprogramming,” essentially running their own value messaging and discounts to keep shoppers moving toward store visits rather than away from local retail. WWD’s report did not describe the specific mechanics of each retailer’s counter-deals beyond their overall purpose, nor did it quantify how much of the traffic change converted into purchases. It also did not attribute the results to any single product category, store format, or timing detail beyond identifying the first day of Prime Day for the top-line foot traffic comparisons. For Amazon, the data is notable not because it measures Amazon’s own store traffic, but because it charts how aggressively competitors appeared to defend discretionary spending during a period typically associated with deep discounting. For the broader market, it suggests that even in a low-consumer-sentiment environment, retailers may be able to capture demand by using event-style promotion and by meeting shoppers where they are, including in physical locations. Looking ahead, the key question is whether the traffic gains translate into durable sales improvements, and whether retailers can sustain that approach beyond a single event window. Additional disclosure from the retailers on campaign outcomes, such as conversion rates or comparable sales, would help determine whether the lift was largely a short-term traffic effect or the beginning of a longer-term shift in how consumers choose where to spend during promotional peaks.