From InternetRetailer
Amazon Q3 revenue increases 20%
BY THAD RUETER Senior Editor | October 23, 2014
The e-retailer heads into the holiday shopping season behind a 30% increase in fulfillment spending and a widening net loss. North American sales increased 25% in the third quarter.
Amazon.com Inc., No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, today posted a third quarter revenue gain of 20.4%. The e-retailer’s net loss widened due to increased spending on fulfillment, marketing and other areas.
The big news for North American retailers that compete with Amazon is that the leading web retailer continues to take market share. And that’s particularly true in general merchandise and consumer electronics, as North American sales in that category increased 30.6% in the third quarter, following 29.1% growth in the second quarter. Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer says the Q3 growth in this category marked the fourth consecutive quarter of acceleration, and "shows massive market share gains continue in U.S. retail.” Online retail sales in the United States increased 15.7% in the second quarter compared with the prior-year quarter, far slower than Amazon’s growth.
Sales of media products—books, videos and music—increased only 4.8% in North America in the third quarter, which Amazon attributed to more college students renting instead of buying textbooks, and heavy discounting of other books.
International sales were much weaker, growing only 13.6%. Analysts say that reflects weak economic growth in Europe and Japan.
The Q3 report highlighted Amazon’s big stumble on its Fire smartphone, which has failed to catch on since its introduction in June. Amazon wrote off $170 million worth of Fire phone inventory in the third quarter, contributing to its net loss of $437 million in the quarter. Heavy investments in new fulfillment centers and to license TV shows and movies for its streaming video service also factored into the loss.
As it normally does, Amazon’s press release announcing its Q3 results included an upbeat comment from the company’s founder.
"As we get ready for this upcoming holiday season, we are focused on making the customer experience easier and more stress-free than ever," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "In addition to our already low prices, we will offer more than 15,000 lightning deals with early access to select deals for Prime members, hundreds of millions of products across dozens of categories, curated gift lists like Holiday Toy List and Electronics Holiday Gift Guide, new features like #AmazonWishList, and a great new lineup of products like Kindle Voyage and Fire HD Kids Edition.”
Read more from InternetRetailer >>
Amazon Q3 revenue increases 20%
BY THAD RUETER Senior Editor | October 23, 2014
The e-retailer heads into the holiday shopping season behind a 30% increase in fulfillment spending and a widening net loss. North American sales increased 25% in the third quarter.
Amazon.com Inc., No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, today posted a third quarter revenue gain of 20.4%. The e-retailer’s net loss widened due to increased spending on fulfillment, marketing and other areas.
The big news for North American retailers that compete with Amazon is that the leading web retailer continues to take market share. And that’s particularly true in general merchandise and consumer electronics, as North American sales in that category increased 30.6% in the third quarter, following 29.1% growth in the second quarter. Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer says the Q3 growth in this category marked the fourth consecutive quarter of acceleration, and "shows massive market share gains continue in U.S. retail.” Online retail sales in the United States increased 15.7% in the second quarter compared with the prior-year quarter, far slower than Amazon’s growth.
Sales of media products—books, videos and music—increased only 4.8% in North America in the third quarter, which Amazon attributed to more college students renting instead of buying textbooks, and heavy discounting of other books.
International sales were much weaker, growing only 13.6%. Analysts say that reflects weak economic growth in Europe and Japan.
The Q3 report highlighted Amazon’s big stumble on its Fire smartphone, which has failed to catch on since its introduction in June. Amazon wrote off $170 million worth of Fire phone inventory in the third quarter, contributing to its net loss of $437 million in the quarter. Heavy investments in new fulfillment centers and to license TV shows and movies for its streaming video service also factored into the loss.
As it normally does, Amazon’s press release announcing its Q3 results included an upbeat comment from the company’s founder.
"As we get ready for this upcoming holiday season, we are focused on making the customer experience easier and more stress-free than ever," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "In addition to our already low prices, we will offer more than 15,000 lightning deals with early access to select deals for Prime members, hundreds of millions of products across dozens of categories, curated gift lists like Holiday Toy List and Electronics Holiday Gift Guide, new features like #AmazonWishList, and a great new lineup of products like Kindle Voyage and Fire HD Kids Edition.”
Read more from InternetRetailer >>
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