Amazon 'Prime Day' breaks sales record with 60% growth
This year’s edition of Amazon’s (NYSE:AMZN) “Prime Day” promotion generated the biggest shopping day in the Seattle-based ecommerce giant’s history, eclipsing Cyber Monday and Black Friday, the company said Wednesday.
Amazon said sales grew 60% in the 30-hour “Prime Day” window, which began Monday night and ran through early Wednesday morning, compared to last year. The event generated the largest single-day jump in paid subscribers to Amazon’s “Prime” service in company history.
Amazon did not provide specifics on the total number of new “Prime” users, or the amount of revenue the event generated. The Amazon “Echo Dot” smart home device was the best-selling product on “Prime Day.”
The company said “tens of millions” of Prime users participated in the 30-hour event, representing a 50% jump year-over-year. Prime Day marked the best-selling day for Amazon devices globally in company history.
“To those customers who tried Prime for the first time and our long time members, thank you for a great Prime Day,” Greg Greeley, Vice President, Amazon Prime, said in a statement. “Our teams around the world will keep working to add more and more to your membership, so Prime continues to make your life better every day. We are already looking forward to our Prime Day celebration next year.”
Amazon Prime provides free two-day shipping and sales promotions to paid subscribers. The service costs $99 annually.
Last year's edition of “Prime Day” generated between $500 million and $600 million in revenue, according to USA Today. This year’s version marked the first time in the event’s three-year history that Amazon collected sales tax nationwide on purchases.
