More than two decades old and still in its Prime!
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN is witnessing a record holiday season this year.
Yesterday, the e-Commerce giant announced that during the week before Christmas more than 3 million subscribers were added to Prime.
This is not all.
Between Nov 1 and Dec 19 — holiday season according to Amazon — it shipped more than 200 million items for free to Prime subscribers. Also, more than double of its own branded devices were sold during this holiday season than the last.
Interesting Numbers
Though Amazon does not divulge the exact number of Prime subscribers, it said "there are tens of millions of members." According to CNET, there are around 47 million U.S. accounts for the $99-per-annum service that provides free two-day and same-day deliveries for some items.
The superstar? Amazon Fire 7-inch tablet.
Top-selling tech-related items on the e-Commerce site were smart TVs by Samsung and Roku; GoPro Hero4 silver cameras and laptops by Toshiba.
What struck the most this holiday season was that 70% of the orders came via mobile phones.
In fact, compared with the last year, the number of U.S. Prime members who purchased holiday items through a smartphone and the number of customers using Amazon's mobile app doubled.
Our Take
In the e-Commerce space, Amazon is currently the most loved stock and for good reasons too. The company has witnessed 117.56% year-to-date surge in value.
Amazon was one of the first companies to start selling goods online and so it enjoyed a first mover’s advantage. So much so, that we cannot think of e-Commerce without it. According to Slice Intelligence, Amazon accounted for 35.7% of all Black Friday Sales with Best Buy and Macy’s claiming distant second and third positions with a respective 8.2% and 3.4%.
Additionally, the major trends restructuring holiday shopping in the U.S. are helping Amazon.
People are increasingly using mobile devices like tablets and smartphones to buy items more conveniently. The amazing deals available online are the cherry on top.
However, one thing to keep in mind is that Amazon hasn’t clarified whether the number of new subscribers includes free trials.
Overall, though it is Amazon Web Services that brought in the lion’s share of the company’s profit, Amazon Prime is a force to reckon with.
And Amazon intends to keep it that way with the ever increasing benefits of the Prime Subscription.
Amazon currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Investors may consider stocks like Stamps.com Inc. STMP, Mercadolibre, Inc. MELI and Autobytel Inc. ABTL. While Stamps.com and Mercadolibre sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Autobytel carries a Zacks Rank #2.
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