Amazon Was Selling 306 Items Every Second At Its Peak This Year
Jay Yarow
Dec. 27, 2012, 9:49 AM
Every year Amazon puts out a press release with a bunch of goofy facts about its business.
It's free of hard facts about Amazon's business, so if you're trying to get a lead on its earnings, this is the wrong place to look. But, it's a fun read for some context about Amazon's sales.
This year it says it sold 27 million items on Cyber Monday, or 306 items per second, which is a record.
Here are some more bullets from Amazon's press release:
Kindle and Amazon Digital Facts:
Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle hold the top four spots on the Amazon worldwide best seller charts since launch.
Cyber Monday 2012 was the biggest day ever for Kindle sales worldwide.
Christmas Day was the biggest day ever for digital downloads across Amazon's selection of over 23 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games.
The most gifted Kindle book during the holiday season was "The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't," by Nate Silver.
Selection in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library in 2012 grew from 75,000 books to over 250,000 books—books that Kindle owners with a Prime membership can borrow for free with no due dates in the US, UK, Germany and France.
More than 175,000 exclusive books were added to the Kindle store in 2012.
23 Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) authors each sold over 250,000 copies of their books in 2012. Top sellers this year include Hugh Howey, author of the New York Times best seller "WOOL," Stephanie Bond, author of "Stop the Wedding!," the #2 best-selling book in the Kindle Store in December, and Barbara Freethy and CJ Lyons—both members of the Kindle Million Club.
Amazon's digital media selection grew to over 23 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games in 2012, an increase from 19 million in 2011.
Prime Instant Video selection increased from 12,000 to over 33,000 movies and TV episodes in 2012. Amazon Instant Video selection increased from 100,000 to 145,000 movies and TV episodes.
Amazon Appstore for Android selection nearly tripled in 2012 over 2011.
Sales of apps and games during the holiday period alone were up more than 250 percent over the same period last year.
Holiday Fun Facts:
Amazon customers took advantage of free shipping over the holidays, saving hundreds of millions of dollars with Amazon Prime and Free Super Saver Shipping.
On its peak day, Amazon's worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 15.6 million units across all product categories.
The last Prime One-Day Shipping order that was delivered in time for Christmas was placed on Dec. 22 at 11:52 p.m. PST and shipped to Fayetteville, GA. The item was Roxy Women's Hot Cocoa Slippers.
The last Local Express Delivery order that was delivered in time for Christmas went to Seattle, WA. It was a Case Logic 14.1-Inch Laptop Attaché that was ordered at 11:44 a.m. PST on Christmas Eve and delivered at 2:44 p.m. PST.
Customer Purchases:
On the peak day, Nov. 26, customers ordered more than 26.5 million items worldwide across all product categories, which is a record-breaking 306 items per second.
Amazon customers purchased more than one toy per second on mobile devices.
Amazon customers purchased enough copies of the "Fifty Shades" trilogy by E.L. James, including "Fifty Shades of Grey," "Fifty Shades Darker," "Fifty Shades Freed" and the trilogy box set, to create a stack 445 times taller than the Space Needle.
The cumulative weight of the "Bond 50" Blu-ray sets purchased by Amazon customers this holiday season would be 800 times the weight of Daniel Craig.
If each customer that purchased a copy of Just Dance 4 played the game for one hour, the total number of calories burned would equal half a million slices of fruitcake.
Amazon customers purchased enough TVs to cover the field of every NFL stadium.
Amazon customers purchased enough vinyl copies of The Beatles albums that if laid flat would extend 20 times the length of Abbey Road in London.
The Amazon MP3 store has sold enough music for everyone at Woodstock '69 to jam out to another three days of music for peace and love.
If you stacked every Christmas Story Leg Lamp purchased by Amazon customers this holiday season, the height would reach the top of Mt. Everest.
Amazon customers purchased enough sports team garden gnomes to fill every seat in Madison Square Garden.
Amazon customers purchased enough Angry Birds plush toys to stretch 285 times the height of the tallest tree in the world, located in California's Redwood Forest.
Amazon's third-party sellers sold enough Lindt truffles to serve one to every traveler passing through Chicago O'Hare Airport over a weekend.
Amazon's third-party sellers sold enough HDMI cables to make three round-trips to the International Space Station.
Amazon customers added more than 15 million toys to their Wish Lists this holiday season.
Holiday Best Sellers (Amazon.com only):
Electronics: Kindle Fire HD 7"; Kindle Fire; and Kindle Fire HD 8.9"
TVs: VIZIO 60-inch Razor LED Smart HDTV; Panasonic VIERA 55-Inch 3D Plasma TV; and Samsung 32-Inch LED HDTV
Cameras: Canon PowerShot A2300 Digital Camera; Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Camera; and Canon 55-250mm Telephoto Zoom Lens
Toys: Spot It; Perplexus Maze Game; and LEGO Ultimate Building Set
Baby: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes; Cloud b Twilight Turtle Constellation Night Light; and Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether
Video Games: Just Dance 4; Call of Duty: Black Ops II; and Assassin's Creed III
Books: "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James; "Fifty Shades Darker" by E.L. James; and "Fifty Shades Freed" by E.L. James
Kindle Books: "The Racketeer" by John Grisham; "Gone Girl: A Novel" by Gillian Flynn; and "The Edge of Never" by J.A. Redmerski
Music: "Red" by Taylor Swift; "Merry Christmas, Baby" by Rod Stewart; and "Babel" by Mumford & Sons
Amazon MP3: "The Essential NOW That's What I Call Christmas" by various artists; "Night Visions" by Imagine Dragons; and "Holidays Rule" by various artists
Movies & TV: "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" (DVD); "The Dark Knight Rises" (Blu-ray/DVD combo); and "The Dark Knight" Trilogy (Blu-ray)
Amazon Instant Video: "Brave"; "The Campaign"; and "The Dark Knight Rises"
Amazon Appstore for Android: Angry Birds Star Wars Premium HD (Kindle Tablet Edition); Minecraft - Pocket Edition; and HD Camera (Kindle Tablet Edition)
Sports & Outdoors: SKLZ Pro Mini Basketball Hoop; Mongoose BMX Bike Gel Knee and Elbow Pads; and Razor A Kick Scooter
Home: Swarovski 2012 Annual Edition Crystal Snowflake Ornament; Darice 80-Piece Deluxe Art Set; and Brother CS6000i Sewing Machine
Kitchen: Corkcicle Classic Wine Chiller; Cuisinart SmartStick Immersion Hand Blender; and Oster Wine Opener with Chiller
Watches: Timex Kids' My First Outdoor Black Fast Wrap Velcro Strap Watch; XOXO Women's Rhinestone Accent Gold-Tone Bracelet Watch; and Invicta Men's Pro Diver Collection Silver-Tone Watch
Jewelry: "You Hold My Heart Forever" Heart Pendant Necklace; "A Mother Holds Her Childs Hand For A Short While and Their Hearts Forever" Heart Pendant Necklace; and "My Sister My Friend" Open Circle Pendant Necklace
Clothing: Levi's Men's 501 Jean; Levi's Men's 505 Straight Fit Jean; and Levi's Men's 550 Relaxed Fit Jean
Shoes: UGG Australia Women's Classic Short Boot; Clarks Originals Men's Desert Boot; and TOMS Women's Canvas Slip-On
Beauty: HSI The Styler Ceramic Tourmaline Ionic Flat Iron Hair Straightener; Set of 10 Nail Tape Stripe Decoration Sticker Hologram; and SHANY Professional 13-Piece Cosmetic Brush Set with Pouch
Health & Personal Care: Panasonic Vortex Nose and Facial Hair Trimmer; Braun Series Pulsonic Shaver System; and Philips Norelco SensoTouch 2D Electric Razor
Tools & Home Improvement: Nest Thermostat; Streamlight Nano Light Miniature Keychain LED Flashlight; and DEWALT 18-Volt Drill/Driver Kit
Automotive: Swiss+Tech Micro-Max 19-in-1 Keychain; Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger; and Reindeer Car Costume
Grocery: Donut Shop K-Cup Packs; Unique Sampler K-Cup Portion Pack; and Ekobrew Cup
Wine: 2010 Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon Cabernet Sauvignon; 2010 Rolling Stones Forty Licks Merlot; and 2011 Parducci Small Lot Blend Pinot Noir
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