Amazon.com Customers Order over 108 Million Items

BUSINESS WIRE)-- ^ | Dec. 26, 2005

[BenLurkin]

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 26, 2005--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that the 2005 holiday season finished as its best ever, with the company's Holiday Delight-O-Meter surpassing 108 million items ordered for the first time. The 2005 holiday season also brought another single-day record with the Delight-O-Meter tracking more than 3.6 million items ordered, or 41 items per second, on Dec. 12th.

"To our customers around the world--thank you," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We are grateful to our customers for shopping with us this holiday season and we wish everyone a happy new year."

Worldwide 2005 Holiday Facts

(Includes www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca)

-- Amazon.com shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to meet holiday deadlines worldwide.

-- On the peak day this season, Amazon's worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 2.7 million units.

-- More than 600,000 gift certificates were ordered between Nov. 25th and Dec. 22nd 2005.

-- Amazon.com shipped to over 200 countries.

-- One of Amazon.com's most remote shipments was the Panasonic PVL552H VHS-C Camcorder with 4.0" LCD shipped to Napaskiak, Alaska.

Amazon.com 2005 Holiday Facts (www.amazon.com only)

-- If all of the tents sold in Amazon.com's Sports & Outdoors store were stacked on top of each other, they would top 30,000 feet, which is higher than Mt. Everest.

-- The most expensive item purchased in Amazon.com's Jewelry & Watches store was a $94,000 pair of diamond earrings.

-- Amazon.com sold enough running shoes to outfit nearly every participant in this year's Boston Marathon.

-- The last order placed on Dec. 22nd in time for Christmas delivery contained 14K Yellow Gold Four Prong 4mm Square Sapphire Stud Earrings. The earrings were delivered to Albany, Oregon on Dec. 23rd.

Amazon.com's hot holiday sellers (Nov. 25 through Dec. 22 based on units ordered)

-- Video games were popular this year, and topping the list were Mario Party 7 for Gamecube, Sid Meier's Civilization IV for PCs, and Microsoft's Age of Empires 3 for PCs.

-- Tops in video game hardware were the Game Boy Advance SP in Pearl Blue, the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Value Pack, and the Electric Blue Nintendo DS.

-- iPods ruled the holiday season in Electronics, owning the top three slots- the Apple 3 GB iPod Nano (Black), the Apple 30 GB iPod with Video Playback (Black), and the Apple 512 MB iPod Shuffle were the top sellers.

-- In music, the top sellers included Amarantine by Enya, Christmas Songs by Diana Krall, and Born to Run: 30th Anniversary 3-disc set by Bruce Springsteen.

-- The top-selling Sports & Outdoors items were the Diamond Gen IV- Rechargeable No Battery Forever LED Shake Flashlight, the Wenzel Nova Sport 6'x5' 2 person Dome Tent, and the Halex 64302 Alpha LCD Dartboard.

-- The top-selling books were The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set (paperback) by C.S. Lewis, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas L. Friedman, and Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook) by Rachael Ray.

-- In the Tools store, the Black and Decker SS925 Storm Station All-in-one Rechargeable Power Source/Radio/Light, the Black and Decker ATM100 25' Auto Tape Measure and the Sheffield WH58009 Folding Lock Back Utility Knife were the top sellers.

-- Top Software titles included QuickBooks Pro 2006 Financial Software for Small Business, TurboTax Total Tax Solution Deluxe 2005 with State (Win/Mac), and Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 (Windows).

-- Top sellers in the Beauty store were philosophy candy cane shower and bubble bath, philosophy holiday rescue hot cocoa & marshmallow gift set, and the Caswell-Massey 10 Product Sampler.

-- Jewelry was popular and the top sellers included a 20" Sterling Silver Eternity Cross Pendant, a Diamond Circle Pendant, and a Floating Heart Pendant with Diamond.

-- Watches were also popular with the Invicta Men's Automatic Pro Diver S2, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Movado Women's Amarosa watches among the top sellers.

-- In DVD, top sellers were Star Wars, Episode III- Revenge of the Sith, March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition) and Madagascar (Widescreen Edition).

-- The top-selling Kitchen items included the Calphaon Commercial Hard-Anodized 8 1/2 Quart Saucier with Lid, the George Foreman GR10AWHT Champ Grill, and Riedel O Cabernet/Merlot Wine Tumblers.

-- In Health and Personal Care, the Panasonic ER411NC Nose and Ear Hair Groomer, the Rayovac Sportsman LED Headlight, and Sonicare Elite 7500 Power Toothbrush were top sellers.

-- Coats were the popular apparel item this year, with the Weatherproof Men's Microfiber Bomber Jacket and the Pritti Women's 10 Button Solid Short Peacoat topping the list, along with the Hue Women's Long Muk Luk Slippers.

-- In shoes, the Adidas Men's a3 Megaride Running Shoe, Unlisted A Kenneth Cole Production Men's Groovy Nights, and Adidas Men's a3 Ultimate Power Training Shoe were top sellers.

-- In Gourmet Foods, 2 pounds of Imported Chocolate Truffles from Winning Gifts and Flowers was the top seller, followed by a Ghirardelli Chocolate Holiday Tower from Amazon.com Gift Baskets and a Tower of Sweet Treats from Harry and David.

About the Delight-O-Meter(TM)

The Delight-O-Meter tracks the approximate number of items ordered from Amazon.com and third-party sellers at www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, as well as Amazon.com owned items, such as books, music and DVD/video products, ordered at Syndicated Stores domains (such as www.borders.com) and from Amazon.com's stores at www.target.com.

The Delight-O-Meter excludes certain items, including items ordered from www.joyo.com, Amazon gift certificates, items ordered through catalogs and items not owned by Amazon.com ordered through non-Amazon.com domains - such as www.target.com. The Delight-O-Meter is not adjusted for items ordered that are subsequently canceled or returned.

This year's Delight-O-Meter launched on Nov.23, 2005 with a count of over 33 million items ordered since Nov. 1, 2005. The Delight-O-Meter is updated continually, but lags actual items ordered depending on the item. The Delight-O-Meter should not be viewed or used as a predictor or indicator of revenue or other financial information relating to Amazon.com.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc., (Nasdaq: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as beauty, health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven retail Web sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, consumer trends, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, and all subsequent filings.

[BenLurkin]

Little Miss Lurkin just came back from the mall.

She reports that it is packed, long lines, empty shelves. Even the mannequins have been stripped and the clothes on them sold.

The Anti-American crowd will be deeply saddened tomorrow.

[clee1]

I noticed that too. I needed a new pair of shoes to start nursing school next week. I found every store packede and the selection available abyssmal.

OTOH, I'll be placing an order on Amazon tomorrow for my school books.

Who says the economy sucks?

[zerosix]

I, and at least three people in my family, will not be relying on Amazon next year for any of our Christmas presents, as less than half of my presents arrived before Christmas even though I paid for 2nd day delivery (more than one week before Christmas.)

Other members of my family state that between one-half of all orders to none of their orders were delivered, while all paid for expedited delivery.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

I ordered 10 calendars from Amazon. They were several dollars less than at the local mall with no tax and free shipping.

[BenLurkin]

Yikes!

I don't shop online at all if I can help it. Something about sending that much info into cyber space makes me shudder.

[clee1]

If you're shopping online, shop EARLY!

I had this happen several Christmas's ago.

[clee1]

Do you pay cash when you shop at a "real" store.

If not, you run a bigger risk with your confidential info there than you ever will online.

[BenLurkin]

Yes I pay cash whenever I can -- but you are right about the risk of using a card these days. Even worse at restaurants I have heard.

[Mad_as_heck]

Nothing I've shipped via USPS lately has arrived without outrageous delays. Several things I shipped on December 8th have still not arrived and a COD payment from November 25 remains lost in mists. My eBay customers are (understandably) moving into lynch mob mode.

Worst economy since Hoover? I don't think so. Somebody is clogging up the postal system with shipments.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"OTOH, I'll be placing an order on Amazon tomorrow for my school books. Who says the economy sucks?"

Thank you for your support! As a seller of new & used books on Amazon.com, I can attest that people ordered TONS of stuff this Christmas. It wasn't my best year, but I didn't put the normal amount of effort into it this year due to getting another business off the ground these past six months.

All I can say is, God Bless the US Postal Service because so far it looks like they've only misplaced ONE order that didn't arrive in time for Christmas...and that was going from WI to Hawaii! (Yes, I know. Government Workers. We must hate them. Blah, Blah, Blah. But they do a good job for me.)

And again, sales today and yesterday were great. People LOVE a bargain (me included!) and they're already spending Gift Certificates and Christmas Cash on books. Wa-Hoo!

[sageb1]

"Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats--A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook) by Rachael Ray."

OMG! lol! I have to tell my daughter this. She worked for Rachel's mom when she was a teenager. The last time I talked to Elsie Ray, she had called me wondering why my daughter wasn't at work. Thankfully, those acting up days are over. That was 16 years ago. Time heals all?

[Obadiah]

Funny. I don't know what's happening to "Brown" (UPS) but they have gotten REALLY slow! Are they growing too fast?

[clee1]

Yup.

I used my card at a Mexican restaurant one night; the first time I had used that card at all in months. The next day I got a call from my CC company asking if I had placed $800 worth of calls to Mexico City on it.

I have never, EVER, had a problem with online purchases - 99.99% of the time, the info moves from database to database w/o a human ever laying eyes on it.

[kenth]

I've sent a priority mail, and had one shipped to me, over a week ago. I'll be lucky if I see them delivered tomorrow.

Part of the problem is that the USPS switched to an online auction for their holiday mail bids. Instead of using the companies that have proven to deliver on time and on budget, they decided to try to make it "more fair" for all trucking companies.

[lowbridge]

One of Amazon.com's most remote shipments was the Panasonic PVL552H VHS-C Camcorder with 4.0" LCD shipped to Napaskiak, Alaska.

Ah, so that's where it went, dammit. :-)

[skaterboy]

AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS

[sageb1]

I'm chuckling. I just sent this to one of my twin daughters who said, Yeah...well, one of these days, my book is going to beat Rachel's. I asked what my daughter was writing. She said "Meals in 29 Minutes."

Btw, I have never had a problem with Amazon. Although, the Clancy Splinter Cell Chaos Theory video game I bought was $8 cheaper at our mall, so I bought it there instead of from Amazon.

Amazon did get about $300 from me this Christmas. Unfortunately, we don't have any good bookstores in our area, which is a real thorn in my side.

[Your Nightmare]

AMAZON CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS

They have customer service?

[anniegetyourgun]

It's widespread this year I think. We relied on FedEx (with 5 biz days) and item (not Amazon) didn't make it. In fact, they haven't entered any "tracking" data since Friday.