Amazon’s Mobile Payments-Backed Shopping Season Proves a Record-Breaker

Call it a foregone conclusion, or call it not as much news as you might think. No matter what you call it, however, the news has come in, and it’s clear: Amazon just had a record-breaking shopping season. In fact, Amazon noted that more items were ordered from everywhere on the planet than in any prior year.

Every department saw record levels, the reports note, including not only Amazon’s own products—the Echo Dot particularly—but also several others. The LOL Surprise Glam Glitter doll, the Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones, and Carhartt clothing proved to be big sellers as well. Purchases made through Alexa Voice proved popular as well

It wasn’t just shopping, either; Prime memberships were also on the rise, as “tens of millions” of new arrivals started up on free trials or by paying for memberships. Millions of items had been shipped with Prime during the holidays thanks to free shipping promotions offered in the interval.

Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke noted “This season was our best yet, and we look forward to continuing to bring our customers what they want, in ways most convenient for them in 2019. We are thrilled that in the U.S. alone, more than one billion items shipped for free this holiday with Prime. Thank you to our employees all around the world who are committed to bringing our customers the widest selection of products with low prices and fast and free delivery options throughout the holidays and all year long.”

It’s hard to be surprised by this development; after all, we knew a lot of people would be shopping on Amazon this year, because they’d been shopping on Amazon last year too. Even I wasn’t immune; I certainly shopped Amazon fairly extensively for my family’s gifts. The convenience, the prices, the lack of crowds and the fact that most of my packages were shipped pre-boxed—next year, I’m tempted to try pre-wrapped too—and delivered to my very door was hard to pass up. With this in mind, it becomes pretty easy to tell why Amazon had an explosive holiday shopping season; keeping people out of store lines, and offering more selection and decent prices, was likely a draw.

The nature of Christmas shopping has fundamentally changed, and we’re seeing as much with Amazon’s latest record-breaker.