2008: Amazon's Best Ever Christmas

Despite the credit crunch and some moaning staff , Amazon has had a VERY Merry Christmas.

Just a few figures to put this into perspective to start with:
December 15th saw sales jump from 5.4 million to 6.3 million items. That's roughly one item each, for the entire population of London or California, in one day!

The best sellers? Apple's IPod, Samsung's 52inch LCD HDTV and the Wii.

Analysts have said that this is good news for the company (well, duh!), but are divided whether it's good for online retailers or not.

Whilst the overall spending was down from 2007, there has been a strange surge in spending at specific times, possibly coinciding with the colder weather and the outbreak of the strange flu/cold that we've all been having.

One thing that wasn't apparent was whether the orders were worth more or less than last year. Amazon's discounted merchandise is likely to bring more customers in, but also lower the overall profit on those goods.

The real questions will be answered in about a month's time when Amazon's fourth quarter report is due out, but until then we just have Spokeswoman Sally Fouts' words:
"Best season ever."

Source: USA Today
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