Amazon Claims Biggest Holiday Sales
We are about to get a lot of numbers from companies and groups making claims about holiday sales. No doubt that this year was a big one for eCommerce and it really isn’t over yet with millions still shopping after the holidays.
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Boxing Day sales, popular in the U.K., Canada, and Australia will add to the tally. And of course, in the U.S., we may not use that term, but surely your email box is getting bombarded with After Christmas sale offers.
But Amazon is already taking a tally on the success of its holiday sales and have released some early bits of information.
Prime Membership grew in one week by over 4 million members with shoppers wanting to take advantage of free two-day, one-day, and same-day shipping options. That includes trials and paid memberships.
Sales of Amazon devices topped most other categories this season, with more Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote leading the way. The company states that they sold more devices in 2017, then they did in 2016.
We’re excited that people continued to join Prime this holiday, to take advantage of more fast and free shipping options plus new convenient delivery like Amazon Key, as well as early access to Lightning Deals and unlimited streaming of TV shows and movies, including Prime Originals and more.
Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer
Highlights from Their Press Release
Here are a few interesting highlights from their press release. You can follow the link for the full release if you want to see them all.
On Amazon Marketplace Sales: Small businesses and entrepreneurs had a record-breaking season with more than one billion items ordered worldwide.
On Amazon Devices: Customers asked Alexa for cooking related advice more than 9x as much this year compared to last holiday season.
On Amazon Deliveries: Amazon’s peak day of customer fulfillment in 2017 was December 19, 2017, with the last Prime Now order in time for Christmas was delivered in 58 minutes at 11:58 p.m. on Christmas Eve in Baltimore, MD.
On Amazon Mobile Shopping: Customers worldwide shopping on the Amazon App increased nearly 70% this holiday season.
On Amazon Community Giving: Amazon’s Treasure Truck fleet and festively wrapped Amazon semi-trucks made special deliveries as part of Amazon’s “Delivering Smiles” holiday tour. Together, the trucks stopped in over 30 communities where Amazon employees live and work, donating thousands of items including STEM toys, books, devices, and household essentials to women, children, and families in immediate need. At the end of the tour, Amazon donated $1 for every mile the trucks traveled to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
On Amazon Digital Entertainment: Listeners in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Houston and San Diego streamed more holiday songs on Amazon Music via Alexa, than any other cities in the U.S.
On Amazon’s Best Selling List: The best-selling beauty and grooming items in the U.S. included the Finishing Touch Flawless Women’s Painless Hair Remover, the Philips Norelco Multigroom All-In-One Series 3000 and the Oral-B Black Pro 1000 Power Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush, while the best-selling item worldwide was the Philips Sonicare Diamond Clean Rechargeable Toothbrush.
On Amazon Fun Facts: Amazon customers purchased enough shoes on Amazon.com during the holiday season were lined up end-to-end, they would stretch from Alaska to Miami.
While we will have to wait until the next quarterly earnings report to learn how much money the company made during this holiday season, we shouldn’t be surprised to learn of some huge increases, even with competition from Walmart.
If you sell on Amazon’s marketplace, did you notice big increases in your sales? Drop us a line in the comments section below.
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Richard Meldner
Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.
To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.