How Beauty Brands Can Win Prime Day: Insights from CEW x Front Row

Amazon Prime Day is a strategic inflection point for beauty, wellness, and CPG brands on Amazon.

In a recent CEW webinar, Front Row’s Director of Insights, Emily Safian-Demers, and SVP of Performance Marketing, Alexandra Carmody, unpacked what brands need to know (and do) heading into Prime Day 2025. From shifting search trends to full-funnel activation, here are the key takeaways from their conversation.

1. Prime Day Distorts Demand. Plan Beyond the Spike

As Emily shared, Prime Day creates a halo effect, inflating demand before and during the event, but often leads to a post-event slump in August. Brands should anticipate the full arc of Prime momentum:

• Pre-Event Buildup: Traffic and search volume often start spiking 1–2 weeks out.
• Post-Event Dip: Be ready to re-engage customers who purchased with replenishment offers or new launches.

“Prime Day can drive big wins, but it distorts demand. Brands need to plan for the whiplash—what goes up often comes down in August.” – Emily Safian-Demers

2. Treat Prime Day as a Springboard, Not a Spike

Carms emphasized that the best-performing brands think beyond the two-day event. Instead of chasing short-term volume, they map a full-funnel customer journey—from awareness to conversion to retention.

“We think of Prime Day as a springboard. That means your paid media, your PDPs, your post-event flows—all of it needs to be connected.” – Carmen Saltalamacchia

Pro tips:

• Invest early in upper-funnel awareness to warm audiences.
• Optimize PDPs with reviews, video, and mobile-first creative.
• Build remarketing strategies for post-event upsell or subscription offers.

3. Clean Beauty & Wellness Are Leading the Charge

Across the board, Emily pointed to the continued rise of clean ingredients, stress-relief claims, and skinification of traditionally non-skincare categories.

Front Row’s proprietary tools, Catapult and Perpetua Prism, help clients spot demand shifts in real time, which is especially critical during tentpole moments like Prime Day.

4. Success Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All

The conversation made one thing clear: winning Prime Day depends on your category, audience, and growth maturity.

• Established brands may focus on defensive ad spend and loyalty.
• Emerging brands can use Prime Day to earn reviews, test bundles, or drive trial.
• Luxury brands should be selective. Using Prime Day to spotlight hero SKUs, not dilute prestige.

Final Word: Align Internally Before You Activate Externally

Prime Day success starts with internal alignment. Make sure brand, marketing, and retail teams are all rowing in the same direction, from messaging to margin expectations.

“Prime Day isn’t a plug-and-play event. The brands who win are the ones who align strategy, media, and experience—before the customer ever lands on the page.” – Alexandra Carmody 

Need a partner to help you navigate Prime Day?

Front Row works with beauty and wellness brands to create Amazon strategies that go beyond the sale. Let’s talk.