AMAZON SEES RECORD-BREAKING HOLIDAY SEASON

Online mega-retailer Amazon has announced a record-breaking holiday season thanks to its customers all around the world, with more items ordered worldwide than ever before. Amazon customers shopped at record levels from a wide selection of products across every department, discovering holiday gifts and trending products.

Some of the best-selling products this season included, all-new Echo Dot, L.O.L. Surprise! Glam Glitter Series Doll, fashion items from Carhartt (with over one million of its items ordered this season), and Bose QuietComfort Wireless Headphones, among others.

Some of the most popular brands bought with Prime Wardrobe during the holiday season were Amazon Essentials, Daily Ritual and Goodthreads, in addition to Calvin Klein, Champion, and Ugg.

As a top trend, athleisure was a holiday gifting favorite this season with a wide assortment available on Amazon from brands including Champion, Alo Yoga, Nike, Adidas and Monrow. Amazon Essentials and Simple Joys by Carter’s, along with Adidas, Columbia, and Nike were some of the most selected fashion brands added to Amazon Wish Lists this holiday season.

Prime membership continued to grow this holiday season, with tens of millions of people starting Prime free trials or paid memberships, to benefit from free same-day, one-day or two-day shipping, in addition to free two-hour delivery with Prime Now, and exclusive shopping and entertainment benefits.

Amazon says small and medium-sized businesses had their best season ever. In fact, more than 50 percent of items sold came from small and medium-sized businesses.

Of note, Amazon says the last Prime Now delivery was made at 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve in Berkeley, California. The cities that had the most last-minute Prime Now deliveries on Christmas Eve were San Francisco, Austin, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Springfield, Virginia.

In the U.S., more than one billion items shipped for free this holiday with Prime.

“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 of worldwide consumer at Amazon. “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.”