Podean's Global Amazon Media Report Q2 2026: Prime Day Reshaped the Quarter, Here's What the Data Shows.

Every year, brands build their Amazon strategy around a set calendar. Q4 for the holiday season. Q1 for reset and calibration. Q2 for steady, incremental growth. This year, that calendar shifted, and so did the results.

Amazon moved Prime Day to June for the first time since 2021, placing its largest shopping event within the Q2 window. Spend followed suit, with advertisers scaling investment to meet the moment. What stands out isn't the increase itself, but what else happened alongside it.

Podean's Global Amazon Media Report for Q2 2026 is out now, and it captures how a single calendar shift rippled across every market we track.

Spend rose, but so did efficiency

Prime Day landing in Q2 naturally pushed investment forward. Sponsored Ads saw the highest quarterly spend we've recorded, even surpassing Q4 2025, traditionally Amazon's biggest spending quarter. Amazon DSP followed a similar trajectory: it reached record highs for spend and clicks while cost per click (CPC) fell to its lowest point. Brands weren't simply buying more this quarter; they were buying it more efficiently.

The global market leaderboard reshuffled

For several quarters, the UK led every market we track on conversion rate. That changed this quarter. Australia took the top spot, and the UK settled into a strong second. It's a reminder that market leadership isn't permanent on Amazon, and brands that rely on historical performance alone risk missing where opportunity is emerging next.

Not every market experienced Prime Day the same way

The U.S., Canada, and the UK largely held their efficiency steady while scaling activity around the event. Spain, Brazil, and Mexico saw meaningful sales growth, but it came at the cost of much higher investment. Australia and Saudi Arabia broke from both groups entirely, posting strong sales growth without a proportional rise in spend.

That divergence matters beyond Q2, as it sets up very different expectations for how each market will look in the quarter ahead.

Looking ahead to Q3

The effects of this calendar shift won't end with Q2. As Prime Day moves out of Q3, many brands should expect softer year-over-year comparisons across advertising spend, traffic, and attributed sales. It’s not because demand has disappeared, but because a significant portion of it has already occurred. Quarter-over-quarter declines are also expected, as advertisers return to more typical seasonal spending patterns.

Get the full report

The full report goes deeper on all of this, with market-by-market benchmarks and trends across Amazon’s key categories. It also recaps every major Amazon Ads release and update from the quarter, from Alexa+ Agentic Ads and Dynamic TV Creative for Prime Video to its new B2B targeting partnership with LinkedIn.

Download the Global Amazon Media Report for Q2 2026 now to explore the complete findings.

If you'd like to discuss what the data means for your business, our team is always happy to help identify opportunities, refine strategy, and support growth across Amazon marketplaces.

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Podean Intelligence is our dedicated research division focused on helping brands navigate a fast-changing ecommerce landscape with clarity and confidence. Through market analysis, proprietary data, and strategic insight, we help brands identify where the opportunities are and how to act on them.