Amazon sold 426 items per second during its ‘best ever’ holiday season

As if it could have ended any other way, Amazon managed to once again set sales records this holiday season. 

Amazon announced on Thursday that more than 1 million Amazon users became Prime members during the third week of December, and on the biggest shipping day of the...

year, more Prime items were shipped than any single day in the past.

Amazon customers also ordered more than 36.8 million items on Cyber Monday alone — a jaw-dropping 426 items per second — including more Kindles than ever before.

How many Kindles, exactly? We still have no idea since Amazon refuses to share any actual numbers. But speaking of tablets, Amazon says that more than half of its customers shopped using a mobile device this holiday season.

The company’s full press release follows below.

Record-Setting Holiday Season for Amazon Prime

December 26, 2013 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today announced a record-setting holiday season for Amazon Prime, the annual membership program offering unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items. More than one million customers around the world became new Prime members in the third week of December. On Amazon’s peak shipping day, more Prime items were shipped worldwide than ever before. The entire 2013 holiday season was the best ever for Amazon, with more than 36.8 million items ordered worldwide on Cyber Monday, which is a record-breaking 426 items per second, and millions of customers unwrapped Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire tablets this holiday season.

“Amazon Prime membership continues to grow, and we now have tens of millions of members worldwide. They benefit from all-you-can-eat free two-day shipping on millions of eligible items and our members have a voracious appetite,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We are extremely grateful to our customers around the world and wish everyone the very best for the coming year.”

Kindle and Amazon Digital Media Facts:

• Cyber Monday holiday shopping weekend was the best ever for Kindle Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers.
• With thousands of Tech Advisors on call Christmas Day, Amazon beat its goal for the Mayday button response time—the average response time was just 9 seconds.
• Amazon’s digital media selection grew to more than 27 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games in 2013.
• Prime Instant Video selection increased from 33,000 to more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes in 2013. Amazon Instant Video now includes more than 150,000 movies and TV episodes.
• Prime Instant Video is the exclusive online-only subscription home for hundreds of TV seasons including PBS series “Downton Abbey” and “Mr. Selfridge,” the CBS summer blockbuster series “Under the Dome” and other hit TV shows including “Justified,” “Falling Skies,” “Grimm,” “Vikings,” “Workaholics,” “Suits” and “Covert Affairs.” Prime Instant Video also offers an exclusive collection of kids shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. that customers won’t find on any other online-only subscription service, including favorites like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Team Umizoomi,” “Blue’s Clues,” and “The Bubble Guppies.”
• Amazon’s first original series “Alpha House” and “Betas” can also be found exclusively on Prime Instant Video.
• Selection in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library in 2013 grew from 250,000 books to more than 475,000 books—books that Kindle owners with a Prime membership can borrow for free with no due dates.
• More than 200,000 exclusive books were added to the Kindle store in 2013.
• The most gifted Kindle book during the holiday season was “Sycamore Row” by John Grisham.
• 150 Kindle Direct Publishing authors each sold more than 100,000 copies of their books in 2013. Top sellers this year include “Hopeless” by Colleen Hoover and “Wait for Me” by Elisabeth Naughton.
• The best-selling Kindle Direct Publishing author during the holiday season was H.M. Ward.
• Kindle Direct Publishing authors sold hundreds of thousands of books in November through the new Kindle Countdown Deals.
• Amazon Appstore selection worldwide more than doubled in 2013 – there are now more than 100,000 apps and games in the Amazon Appstore and on Kindle Fire devices.

Holiday Fun Facts:

Shipping:

• Amazon shipped to 185 countries this holiday.
• The last Prime One-Day Shipping order that was delivered in time for Christmas was placed on Dec. 23 at 10:22 p.m. PST and shipped to Carlsbad, California. The item was a Beautyrest Cotton Top Mattress Pad.
• The last Local Express Delivery order that was delivered in time for Christmas went to Everett, Washington. It was a Plantronics Audio 655 USB Multimedia Headset in Frustration Free Packaging ordered at 12:26 p.m. PST on Christmas Eve and delivered at 3:56 p.m. PST that same day.
• Amazon.com shipped enough items with Prime this holiday to deliver at least one gift to every household in America.
• Prime was so popular this holiday, that Amazon limited new Prime membership signups during peak periods to ensure service to current members was not impacted by the surge in new membership.

Customer Purchases:

• On Cyber Monday, customers ordered more than 36.8 million items worldwide, which is a record-breaking 426 items per second.
• More than half of Amazon customers shopped using a mobile device this holiday.
• Between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, Amazon customers ordered more than five toys per second from a mobile device.
• Amazon customers purchased enough Crayola Marker Makers to be able to draw a line around the world four times.
• The new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles were so popular that at the peak of sales for each console, customers bought more than 1,000 units per minute.
• Amazon customers purchased enough Rainbow Looms from third-party sellers that the bands can stretch around the circumference of the Earth.
• Amazon customers purchased enough Hot Wheels from third-party sellers to stretch around the Daytona International Speedway racetrack.
• Amazon customers purchased enough miniature flashlights to satisfactorily light four collegiate football fields in accordance with NCAA standards.
• Amazon customers purchased enough running shoes to provide a pair to every participant in the top 10 largest marathons in the world.
• Amazon customers purchased enough winter boots to keep everyone living in three of the coldest cities in America – Duluth, Minnesota, Butte, Montana, and Watertown, South Dakota – warm for the winter.
• Amazon customers purchased enough cross-body purses to outfit every attendee at a typical Taylor Swift concert.
• If you stacked every Himalayan Crystal Lamp purchased by Amazon customers this holiday season, the height would reach the top of Himalaya’s highest peak – Mt. Everest.
• Amazon customers bought enough books in the Divergent Series – “Divergent,” “Insurgent,” “Allegiant,” and the complete box set – to wrap around Chicago’s Pier Park Ferris Wheel 263 times.
• If you placed every upright vacuum purchased by Amazon customers end-to-end, they would reach 15 times the depth of the Marianas Trench, the deepest point in Earth’s oceans.
• If the Nylabone Dinosaur Chew Toys purchased during this holiday season were stacked on top of each other, they would be the height of more than 950 T-Rex dinosaurs.
• The number of “Star Trek Into Darkness” Blu-ray combo packs purchased would span the distance of 25 Star Trek Enterprise space ships.
• If you had a single plain M&M for each Eminem album purchased on the Amazon MP3 Store over the holidays, you’d have nearly 100 lbs. of candy-coated chocolate.
• Amazon customers purchased enough youth archery kits to outfit every resident of Katniss Everdeen’s hometown, District 12, four times over.
• Amazon customers purchased enough Tovolo Sphere Ice Molds to fill Don Draper’s (of “Mad Men”) whiskey glasses for 251 years.
• Amazon customers purchased enough Cuisinart Griddlers to place one in every McDonald’s restaurant in the world.

Holiday Best Sellers (Amazon.com only):

• Tablets: Kindle Fire HD; Kindle Fire HDX 7”; Kindle Fire HDX 8.9”
• TVs: Samsung 32” Smart LED HTDV; Samsung 40” LED HDTV; Samsung 22” Slim LED HDTV
• Laptops: Samsung Chromebook; ASUS Transformer Book; Acer Chromebook
• Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T3i; Canon PowerShot A2500; Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Film Camera
• Video Games: Call of Duty: Ghosts – Xbox 360; Just Dance 2014 – Nintendo Wii; Grand Theft Auto V – Xbox 360
• Toys: Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Kit; Spot It; LEGO Green Building Plate
• Baby: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes; Lamaze Cloth Book; Baby Einstein Bendy Ball
• Books: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, Book 8” by Jeff Kinney; “Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics” by Charles Krauthammer; “Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans” by Rush Limbaugh
• Kindle Books: “Sycamore Row” by John Grisham; “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak; “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt
• Music: “Artpop” by Lady Gaga; “Wrapped in Red” by Kelly Clarkson; “The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe)” by Eminem
• Amazon MP3: “The Marshall Mathers LP2” by Eminem; “Artpop” by Lady Gaga; “Pure Heroine” by Lorde
• Movies & TV: “Despicable Me 2” (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy); “Star Trek Into Darkness” (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy); “Man of Steel” (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)
• Amazon Instant Video: “We’re the Millers”; “Man of Steel”; “Monsters University”
• Prime Instant Video: “Alpha House” Season 1; “Downton Abbey” Season 3; “Falling Skies” Season 3
• Home: Darice 80-Piece Deluxe Art Set; Black & Decker Dustbuster 15.6-Volt Cordless Cyclonic Hand Vacuum; Swarovski 2013 Annual Edition Crystal Star Ornament
• Kitchen: Tovolo Ice Molds; Artisan Metal Works Silicone Non-Stick Baking Mat Sets; Cuisinart GR-4N 5-in-1 Griddle
• Jewelry: Sterling Silver and Amethyst Flower Earrings; Sterling Silver “I Love You To The Moon and Back” Two Piece Pendant Necklace; Alex and Ani Bangle Bar “Tree of Life” Russian-Silver Expandable Bracelet
• Women’s Clothing: Columbia Women’s Benton Springs Full-Zip Fleece Jacket; Carhartt Women’s Sandstone Duck Quilt Flannel Lined Active Jacket; Columbia Women’s Arcadia Rain Jacket
• Men’s Clothing: Levi’s Men’s 501 Jean; Levi’s Men’s 505 Straight Fit Jean; Levi’s Men’s 550 Relaxed Fit Jean
• Shoes: Clarks Originals Men’s Desert Boot; Tamarac Men’s Camper Moccasin; Bearpaw Women’s Emma 10″ Shearling Boot
• Beauty: Infiniti Pro by Conair Curl Secret; D & G Light Blue By Dolce & Gabbana For Women Eau De Toilette Spray; Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System
• Health & Personal Care: Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband; Philips Sonicare Essence 5600 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush; Braun Series Pulsonic Shaver System
• Tools & Home Improvement: Mini CREE Led Flashlight Torch Adjustable Zoom Light Lamp; O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Cream; WBM Himalayan Natural Crystal Salt Lamp with Bulb and Cord
• Pets: KONG Cozie Marvin the Moose Dog Toy; Nylabone Durable Dental Dinosaur Chew Toy; Greenies Treat-Pak for Dogs, Original
• Sports & Outdoors: LifeStraw Personal Water Filter; Magnesium Fire Starter; SKLZ Pro Mini Basketball Hoop
• Grocery: Miracle-Gro AeroGarden 7-Pod Indoor Garden by AeroGrow; Donut Shop K-Cup for Keurig Brewers; Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter Set

Source:http://bgr.com/2013/12/26/amazon-holiday-season-sales-2013/