Amazon may have been the clear winner this holiday shopping season, but that doesn’t mean everyone wants to shop on the eCommerce giant’s websites.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited data from Kantar Retail ShopperScape, 17 percent of households in the U.S. do not use Amazon for their shopping needs, which amounts to around 22 million U.S. households. The ones boycotting Amazon for whatever reason tend to be older, with an average age of 57, and earn less than all shoppers. What’s more, they are less likely to have or share a household with children.
WSJ conducted interviews with shoppers who have shunned Amazon and found there are a host of reasons why they choose not to use the eCommerce giant for their purchases. For some, it was because of their income or current living situations, while, for others, it was either a preference or they avoided Amazon on principle. But, either way, even with 22 million Amazon holdouts, the eCommerce giant’s dominance can’t be dismissed. Consider this: Amazon’s sales around the world are more than the combined online sales of the next 20 retailers in the U.S., the paper reported, citing eMarketer data. What’s more, Amazon is expected to lodge revenue of $137 billion in 2016, up 28 percent compared to a year ago.
While many retailers are benefiting from strong holiday spending this year, Amazon has been a standout, reporting earlier this week that it had record sales of the Amazon Echo family of devices. In a press release, Amazon said the 2016 holiday season was the best ever for Amazon with the Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Fire Tablet and Amazon Echo on the top of the bestseller lists. What’s more, sales of the Amazon Echo family of devices were up nine times compared to the holiday season last year.