Amazon Reports Record Sales During Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday

Amazon saw record sales and a record number of items sold during its Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday holiday shopping event.

The company’s event ran from Nov. 21 through Monday (Dec. 2) and was bigger than any previous 12-day period ending on Cyber Monday, Amazon said in a Tuesday (Dec. 3) press release.

The shopping event was also the largest ever for independent sellers in Amazon’s store, with these sellers accounting for more than 60% of sales during this 12-day period, according to the release.

The event’s best-selling products included Amazon’s Echo and Fire TV devices, and the best-selling product categories in the U.S. included electronics, toys and beauty, per the release.

“We know how much our customers appreciate saving money, and our customers saved billions with us during this year’s holiday shopping event,” Doug Herrington, CEO, Worldwide Amazon Stores, said in the release. “And we have many more fun and exciting ways for them to continue to save this holiday season.”

This news from Amazon follows some other reports of higher sales during this year’s Black Friday.

Adobe Analytics data showed that Black Friday shoppers spent a record $10.8 billion this year, a figure that was 10% higher than last year’s total and double the amount spent in 2017, NPR reported Sunday (Dec. 1).

“Crossing the $10 billion mark is a big eCommerce milestone for Black Friday, for a day that in the past was more anchored towards in-store shopping,” Vivek Pandya, a lead analyst with Adobe Digital Insights, said in the report.

Mastercard SpendingPulse data said that this year’s Black Friday saw a 14.6% increase in online retail sales and a 0.7% increase in in-store sales.

This report found that jewelry, electronics and apparel remained the top holiday gift sectors.

“Over the last several years, Black Friday has become more than just one day, but instead a window of time for shoppers to find value,” Mastercard said in a press release. “While consumers were enticed by early deals in the days leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, Black Friday continued to reign as one of the biggest days of the season.”