Amazon Boasts Record-Breaking Holiday Season Worldwide

Santa was very good to Jeff Bezos and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) this year. Yesterday, the retail giant reported that the 2018 holiday season was

Subscription News: Amazon Boasts Record-Breaking Holiday Season Worldwide

Source: Amazon

Santa was very good to Jeff Bezos and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) this year. Yesterday, the retail giant reported that the 2018 holiday season was record-breaking with more sales worldwide than at any other point in company history. Among the top sellers were Amazon devices including the all-new Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote and Echo.

Millions of items in the U.S. were shipped with Prime free same-day shipping, Prime free one-day shipping and Prime Now free two-hour delivery. The last Prime Now order was delivered on Christmas Eve at 11:30 p.m., just in time for Santa’s arrival. Overall, more than 1 billion items were shipped for free using Amazon Prime.

Subscription News: Amazon Boasts Record-Breaking Holiday Season Worldwide

Source: Amazon

In addition, this holiday season, tens of millions of customers started Prime free trials or started paid memberships. Small- and medium-sized businesses also enjoyed a stellar holiday season with more items ordered around the globe and across all categories. Along with Amazon devices, best sellers included L.O.L. Surprise! Glam Glitter Series Doll, Carhartt clothing items and Bose QuietComfort Wireless Headphones.

“This season was our best yet, and we look forward to continuing to bring our customers what they want, in ways most convenient for them in 2019. We are thrilled that in the U.S. alone, more than one billion items shipped for free this holiday with Prime,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer, in a December 26 news release.

“Thank you to our employees all around the world who are committed to bringing our customers the widest selection of products with low prices and fast and free delivery options throughout the holidays and all year long,” added Wilke.

Other highlights from the 2018 holiday shopping season include:

  • Other Amazon top sellers include the Amazon’s Kids Edition devices, including Echo Dot Kids Edition and Fire Kids Edition tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Fire Tablet and Kindle products.
  • Ring and Blink were top selling home security devices.
  • Customers were also interested in making their homes smarter with the Amazon Smart Plug, Ring Video Doorbell 2 and the iRobot Roomba 690.
  • Alexa helped Amazon customers play hundreds of millions more hours of songs, including subscription music services like Amazon Music, Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music.
  • Other popular Alexa skills included turning holiday lights on and off, sending reminders, setting more than 100 million timers, requesting recipes and cooking advice, listening to holiday stories and asking Alexa how many more days/nights/sleeps until Christmas.
  • The top-selling toys were the L.O.L. Surprise! Glam Glitter Series Doll with 7 Surprises, Nerf-n-Strike Elite Strongarm Blaster, Melissa & Doug Scratch Art Rainbow Mini Motes with Wooden Stylus, Crayola Inspiration Art Case and LEGO Creator Mighty Dinosaurs Toy.
  • In addition to Bose wireless headphones, top electronics sold include Samsung’s Flat 65″ 4K UHD 8 Series Smart LED TV, Apple iPad, Wemo Mini Smart Plug and HP Sprocket Photo Paper.
  • Clothes were also popular whether from one of Amazon’s brands (Amazon Essentials, Goodthreads, etc.) or brandslike Carhartt, Calvin Klein, Champion or UGG.

Subscription News: Amazon Boasts Record-Breaking Holiday Season Worldwide

Source: Amazon

Amazon reports that small- and medium-sized businesses had their best holiday season with items growing at a faster rate than retail sales. In fact, more than 50 percent of items sold in stores came from small- and medium-sized businesses.

It wasn’t all about the profit though. Amazon gave back during the holidays as well. Amazon launched a way for customers to donate toys to needy children through Alexa. Thousands of customers donated toys to Toys for Tots via Alexa and Amazon matched each donation, toy for toy. Also, through its #DeliveringSmiles program, Amazon made more than $1 million in donations across the U.S. to support homeless families and children during the December.

Insider Take:

Say what you will about Jeff Bezos and Corporate America, but Amazon has changed how we shop, whether it is day-to-day shopping for everyday items or holiday shopping for our nearest and dearest. Amazon and the many businesses it supports made holiday shopping easy, affordable and convenient for consumers around the globe, and they did it while giving back to some of the communities they serve. As a bonus, Amazon introduced Prime to a new group of potential members. I don’t know about you, but we’re smiling.

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