SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 27, 2004--Amazon.com, Inc.
(NASDAQ:AMZN) today 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 on
www.amazon.com that weekend and was Amazon's largest sales category
for the first time.
"We are extremely grateful to our customers," said Jeff Bezos,
founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "On behalf of Amazon.com employees
around the globe, we wish everyone happy holidays and best wishes for
the coming year."
Worldwide 2004 Holiday Facts
(includes www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com).
-- On the peak day this season, Amazon's worldwide fulfillment
network shipped over two million units.
-- 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.
-- Amazon.com shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to
meet holiday deadlines worldwide.
-- One of Amazon.com's most remote shipments was the CD "The
Mountain" (Del McCoury and Steve Earle) to Arctic Village,
Alaska.
Amazon.com 2004 Holiday Facts (www.amazon.com only)
-- The "Holiday Shoppers" feature, which tracked the estimated
number of visitors at Amazon.com during the prior 60 minutes,
topped 700,000.
-- The Jewelry & Watches store sold more than one watch per
minute since November 25.
-- 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.
-- The last order placed on December 23rd in time for Christmas
delivery contained "Is This It" by The Strokes and
Yu-Gi-Oh!-The Movie. It was delivered to Sammamish, Washington
on December 24th.
-- Compared with 2003, the standard shipping deadline was
extended two days from December 18 to December 20.
Amazon.com's hot holiday sellers November 25, 2004 through
December 23, 2004 (based on units ordered)
-- 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(R) 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.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's
Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover
anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its
customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers
offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories
such as health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food,
sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs,
electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.
Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven Web sites:
www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.
As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms
include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context
indicates otherwise.
Forward Looking Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ
significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others,
risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of
indebtedness, competition, management of growth, potential
fluctuations in operating results, fulfillment center optimization,
seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategic
transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
international expansion, consumer trends, inventory, limited operating
history, government regulation and taxation, fraud, and new business
areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect
Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003, and all
subsequent filings.
CONTACT: Amazon.com
Craig Berman, 206-266-7180
SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc.
