Retail: Amazon’s No. 1 holiday gift was ...
Speaker sales 9 times higher than last season
Amazon’s Echo Dot was the online retailer’s most popular gift this holiday season.
The $49.99 voice-enabled hockey-puck-shaped speaker led the way in what the Seattle-headquartered company says was its bestever holiday season. Sales of all Amazon Echo products — including the portable Tap speaker ($129.99) and taller Echo speaker ($179.99) — were nine times higher than last season, Amazon said Tuesday.
Amazon launched the voice-enabled Bluetooth speakers last year with the Echo. All of the speakers incorporate Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa, which can answer questions, order pizza or control your smart home.
“Echo and Echo Dot were the best-selling products across Amazon this year, and we’re thrilled that millions of new customers will be introduced to Alexa as a result,” Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon’s worldwide consumer division, said in a statement. “Despite our best efforts and ramped-up production, we still had trouble keeping them in stock. From turning on Christmas lights and playing holiday music to shopping for gifts and asking for help with cookie recipes, Alexa continues to get smarter every day.”
The Echo speaker appears to be out of stock on Amazon.com until Jan. 26, 2017. The other speakers look to be in supply.
Some other interesting facts from Amazon’s holiday sales season include:
More than 72% of Amazon holiday shoppers used a mobile device.
Amazon shipped more than 1 billion items worldwide with Prime and Fulfillment by Amazon this holiday season.
Dec. 19 was the peak worldwide shipping day this holiday season.
Dec. 23 was the biggest day worldwide for Prime Now deliveries. Echo Dot, Amazon Echo, Fire TV Stick and Oreo Cookies were among the most popular items ordered in the U.S. that day.
Prime members in Dallas ordered more items with Prime Now than any other U.S. city this holiday season.
More than 200,000 full-time and seasonal Amazon workers in the U.S. helped fill orders.
Amazon now has 45,000 robotics units working in its more than 20 fulfillment centers.