At the ebusiness blog, like to talk about Amazon.com because it is a company that has created the perfect marriage between e-business and content. Not only does Amazon has some interesting content on its websites, its affiliates use content as a tool to create demand for almost everything that it sells. No surprise that the model works.
Amazon.com has announced it has finished its busiest holiday season ever during which time it set a single-day record with more than 2.8 million units ordered, or 32 items per second, worldwide. Additionally, even while its books business set a new Thanksgiving Weekend record, consumer electronics sales surpassed book sales and was Amazon's largest sales category for the first time.
Below are some interesting facts that we are using to develop strategy in the eCreativa network of online media properties (which includes, among others, MYNIPPON Lifestyle, LuvCube: Find, live, and enjoy love, Lindisima Latina Lifestyle, Vioxx recall, and iProceed Management Consultant). You may want to read these to figure out what type of content should you be creating in coming months because these statistics tell a lot about the trends.
Amazon.com has announced it has finished its busiest holiday season ever during which time it set a single-day record with more than 2.8 million units ordered, or 32 items per second, worldwide. Additionally, even while its books business set a new Thanksgiving Weekend record, consumer electronics sales surpassed book sales and was Amazon's largest sales category for the first time.
Below are some interesting facts that we are using to develop strategy in the eCreativa network of online media properties (which includes, among others, MYNIPPON Lifestyle, LuvCube: Find, live, and enjoy love, Lindisima Latina Lifestyle, Vioxx recall, and iProceed Management Consultant). You may want to read these to figure out what type of content should you be creating in coming months because these statistics tell a lot about the trends.
- Amazon.com shipped to 217 countries and delivered over 100,000 shipments to overseas US military personnel at APO/FPO addresses.
- More than half a million gift certificates were ordered between November 25th and December 24th 2004.
- The Music store broke a new sales record, selling more than one million units per week for two consecutive weeks in December.
- The DVD category capped off the year by breaking the one week order record (for the week ending December 12), and by setting a single title one day order record of over 13,000 units of "Lord of the Rings, Return of the King Extended Edition" on December 14.
- In Home & Garden, kitchen items topped the list this year. The Black & Decker Lids Off Jar Opener, the Hamilton Beach Waffle Stix Waffle Maker and Riedel O Cabernet/Merlot Wine Tumblers were the three top sellers in the store. Cookware was also very popular, with classic pans from Calphalon, the Casa Moda "S'mores" Maker, and George Foreman grills being among the best sellers.
- In Gourmet Food, Harry & David's Christmas Classic Tower of Treats and the Ghirardelli Tower were again the most popular gift baskets. See's Candies Gold Truffle Box and Godiva's Holiday Gold Coin Bag were top selling chocolate gifts. Other popular items included the Kona Coffee Sampler and Cranberry Fool unique cranberry sauce.
- In Sports & Outdoors, flashlights, poker chips and exercise equipment (including full-sized treadmills, home gyms, yoga and pilates gear, and the Ab Lounge 2) were the hottest items this season. The Flybar 1200, a high-tech pogo stick sold exclusively on Amazon.com, was so popular that Amazon.com fulfillment centers scrambled to keep up with customer demand. Other areas that did exceedingly well were golf, fan gear for every sport, and, surprisingly, SCUBA and snorkel gear.
- Top sellers in Computer & Video Games were Halo 2 (Xbox), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Playstation 2) and the Incredibles (Gameboy Advance). The Sims 2 and Half-Life 2 were the top selling games for PCs.
- In Health & Personal Care, the ever popular nose hair groomers, shavers and electric toothbrushes were the top sellers. A surprising top seller this holiday was the new Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator, which is the first defibrillator cleared for over-the-counter sale.
- Tools & Hardware top sellers were the Black & Decker 25' Auto Tape Measure, the Strait-Line Intersect Laser Level, the Porter-Cable Finish & Brad Nailer Combo Kit, and the Toro Electric Power Shovel Plus.
- The top selling books this holiday season were "America (the book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" by Jon Stewart, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom - which also topped the list in 2003, and "Chronicles Vol. 1" by Bob Dylan.
- In Music, the hottest sellers were U2's "How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb," Clay Aiken's "Merry Christmas with Love," Nirvana's box set "With the Lights Out," Allison Krauss and Union Station's "Lonely Runs Both Ways," Rod Stewart's "Stardust...The Great American Songbook Volume III," Green Day's "American Idiot," Josh Groban's "Live at the Greek," and Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company."
- In the DVD/Video category, it was the season of multi-disc sets as the "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Extended Edition," "Seinfeld" Seasons 1-3 and the "Star Wars Trilogy" led the top sellers. This holiday season also proved that there is strength in sequels as "Shrek 2," "Spider-Man 2," and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" all finished in the top 10.
- In Beauty, the most popular products this season were samplers from Yves Rocher and Caswell Massey, Curious Britney Spears perfume, and Philosophy's The Gingerbread House. LUSH Bath Bombs have also been a regular favorite.
- The top selling electronics products this year were the Apple 20GB iPod, the Apple 4GB Silver Mini iPod, the Phillips DVP642 DivX Progressive Scan DVD player, the iTunes $15 prepaid Card and the Canon PowerShot SD 110 3MP Digital Elph camera.
- Diamonds of all sizes were popular in earrings, pendants and bracelets. Other top selling jewelry items include Sterling Silver Blue Topaz Earrings, Paris Hilton's Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Heart Pendant on a Satin Cord (16 inch), Paris Hilton's Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Star Hoop Earrings, and a Floating Heart Pendant with Diamond.
- In apparel, comfort was king. The Ugg® Australia Classic Short Boot, Land's End Women's Regular Flex Fleece Clog Slippers, and the Carole Hochman Fleece Pajama Set were all hot sellers.