Amazon reports record Christmas sales
Online retail giant Amazon.com has sold a record 31 million products between 2 November and 23 December 2000, compared with sales of 20 million items in the same period in 1999.
Amazon.com has not disclosed the value of these sales, but it has already hinted that it would move into the black in the near future. Last year the company said it hoped to sell £1bn worth of products in the fourth quarter, trim its losses and move a step closer to profitability.
The most popular purchases in 2000 on Amazon.com were electronic goods, especially DVD players, mobile phones, and digital cameras.
Amazon’s improved performance was part of overall growth recorded in online retail sales. According to a study by Goldman Sachs and PC Data, spending on the Internet doubled in value in the weeks before Christmas compared with figures for the same period in 1999.
The research also found companies that offered both a real and virtual shopping experience were increasing their revenues at a far greater rate than those that only traded online.
Search engine Yahoo! reported that sales for internet-only retailers have doubled, while internet shopping at stores with High Street outlets have tripled.
Amazon.com started out life as an online book retailer in July 1995, going public in March 1997 labelled ‘the Earth’s biggest bookstore’. Since then it has undergone massive expansion and now sells an enormous ranging of products including toys, beauty products, electronic equipment and new cars.
Despite this growth, the company has yet to record a profit.
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