One reason Amazon has survived as an enduring Internet brand is that during downturns it takes market share, and this holiday season looks like it will be no different. Amazon announced its 14th record holiday season, with 72.9 items ordered every second, up from 62.5 last year. What really counts is its revenues and profits, which Amazon does not get into, but the holiday stats do provide some sense of how much shopping occurred on it site.
The day that orders peaked was on December 15th, when 6.3 million items were placed into Amazon’s checkout carts. That number was up 17 percent from the peak order day in 2007 (December 10). With five fewer shopping days this season, orders shipped peaked at 5.6 million on a single day, up 44 percent from last year. Some of the best-selling items this year included Eyeclops night vision stealth goggles, the Nintendo Wii, Razor scooters, Samsung 52-inch LCD HDTVs, The Dark Knight DVD, and the Twilight Saga books by Stephanie Meyer. Amazon says it was able to ship 99 percent of all holiday items in time for Christmas.
How does this year compare to seasons past? Barclays analyst Doug Anmuth provides the following comparisons:
Peak items ordered on a single day
2008: 6.3M
2007: 5.4M
2006: 4.0M
2005: 3.6M
2004: 3.6M
Items ordered per second
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2008: 72.9
2007: 62.5
2006: 46.3
2005: 41
2004: 32
Peak items shipped on a single day
2008: 5.6M
2007: 3.9M
2006: 3.4M
2005: 2.7M
2004: 2M+
