How does Amazon’s record weekend compare with Singles’ Day?

Amazon has said that yesterday’s Cyber Monday sale was the “biggest” shopping day in the company’s history.

Amazon judged its success using the metric of “items ordered worldwide”, saying that independent sellers were particular beneficiaries having sold more items on the day than in any other 24-hour period.

The manufactured “holiday” was specifically created to promote online shopping as opposed to Black Friday. With the rise of ecommerce that distinction has largely been lost, with both days inevitably leading to online shopping bonanzas.

Particular successful were Amazon’s own stable of devices, such as its Echo Dot smart speaker and Fire TV Stick 4K, highlighting the company’s actual strength as a technology rather than ecommerce firm. Amazon also revealed a broader trend for the purchase of smart devices from any manufacturer. Clearly the appetite for AI has well and truly filtered into the general populace.

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“We’re focused on making this holiday season more convenient than ever for our customers, especially given how short this holiday shopping season will be,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “We are thrilled that customers continue to come to Amazon in record numbers to discover what they need and want for the holidays.”

While Amazon has not released sales figures, the event is likely not on the scale of Alibaba’s bumper Singles’ Day last month. In many ways comparable to Cyber Monday, the constructed Chinese phenomenon of Singles’ Day has been capitalised upon by the ecommerce giant to drive huge amounts of sales. One hour after going live, $12bn was generated by the occasion. By the end, over $38bn had been raised, prompting Fan Jiang, President of Alibaba subsidiaries Taobao and Tmall to say: “Today we showed the world what the future of consumption looks like for brands and consumers,” said Fan Jiang, President of Taobao and Tmall. “We are meeting the growing demand of Chinese consumers and helping them upgrade their lifestyles, while introducing new users to our digital economy from across China and around the world.”

(Image: Amazon)