Amazon Prime-Week Price War Cools Consumer Durables Price Growth in July

July CPI Report Summary

The July 2025 report of the OpenBrand Consumer Price Index (CPI) registers a 0.17% month-over-month (MoM)increase, down from June’s revised 0.75%.

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, August 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The U.S. durable and personal goods inflation slowed sharply in July. The July 2025 report of the OpenBrand Consumer Price Index (CPI) registers a 0.17% month-over-month (MoM) increase, down from June’s revised 0.75%.

“Retailers, not tariffs, did the heavy lifting in

July,” said Ralph McLaughlin, Chief Economist at OpenBrand. “Amazon Prime Week set off a wave of price competition. Merchants broadened the share of items on promotion while keeping markdown percentages steady, trimming inflation without eviscerating margins.”

Retailer and Discount Highlights:
- Discount frequency jumped to 23.1% of tracked SKUs, the highest since December, while the average markdown held at 20.2%.

- Walmart discounted nearly 60% of products during Amazon Prime Week, out-pacing Amazon (46.2%), BestBuy (29.1%), and Target (2.7%).

- Walmart’s promo share was almost triple its baseline (59 % vs. 21.5%).

- On discounted items, Walmart’s average cut reached 26.8%, ahead of Amazon (21.2%) and BestBuy (20.1%).


Category Pulse:
- Appliances +0.21%, Communication +0.16%, Recreation +0.23% – all markedly slower than June.

- Personal Care fell 0.32%on the back of a 4-percentage-point surge in discount frequency.

- Home-Improvement prices were flat at +0.45%, but discounting crept higher for the second month.


Why It Matters:
Retailers widened the promo aisle rather than deepening cuts, a tactic that tempers inflation while preserving margin. Competitive pressure from Walmart’s aggressive Prime Week stance is now a measurable counterweight to tariff-driven cost increases. Brands and merchants with real-time SKU-level visibility can pivot pricing and inventory strategies faster than rivals relying on delayed headline data.

Read the full report: openbrand.com/cpi

About the OpenBrand CPI
The OpenBrand CPI – Durable and Personal Goods tracks pricing, promotion, and availability for 200,000+ SKUs, more than double the coverage of the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI in these categories. The index delivers earlier, more granular insight into consumer-goods inflation for retailers, manufacturers, and policymakers.