Amazon grew North American sales 10% in the third quarter year-over-year. It grew International sales 16% in the quarter for a total sales growth of 12% (not including its AWS technology division, which grew 39% and now comprises 15% of Amazon’s total sales, up from 12% in the third quarter of 2020).
Third-party sellers accounted for 56% of worldwide paid units (excluding the impact of Whole Foods Market.)
Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy, who took over from founder Jeff Bezos in July, said Amazon had nearly doubled the size of its fulfillment network since the pandemic began.
He also said Amazon expects to incur several billion dollars of additional costs in its consumer business in the fourth quarter as it manages through labor supply shortages, increased wage costs, global supply chain issues, and increased freight and shipping costs.
Here are a few excerpts from Amazon’s third-quarter earnings press release:
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy:
““We’ve always said that when confronted with the choice between optimizing for short-term profits versus what’s best for customers over the long term, we will choose the latter—and you can see that during every phase of this pandemic,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO.
“In the first several months of COVID-19, Amazonians played an essential role to help people secure the requisite PPE, food, and other in-demand items needed, and we worked closely with businesses and governments to leverage AWS to maintain business continuity as they responded to the pandemic. Customers have appreciated this commitment, which is part of what’s driving this past quarter’s AWS growth acceleration to 39% year over year; but, it’s also driven extraordinary investments across our businesses to satisfy customer needs—just one example is that we’ve nearly doubled the size of our fulfillment network since the pandemic began. In the fourth quarter, we expect to incur several billion dollars of additional costs in our Consumer business as we manage through labor supply shortages, increased wage costs, global supply chain issues, and increased freight and shipping costs—all while doing whatever it takes to minimize the impact on customers and selling partners this holiday season. It’ll be expensive for us in the short term, but it’s the right prioritization for our customers and partners.”
Amazon’s air cargo operations:
“Amazon began operations at its state-of-the-art U.S. air cargo hub in Northern Kentucky. The $1.5 billion investment at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport will create more than 2,000 new Amazon jobs over the next several years with industry-leading pay and comprehensive benefits. The Amazon Air Hub will serve as the primary hub for Amazon Air’s U.S. cargo network—enabling Amazon to process millions of customer packages per week.”
Third-party Sellers:
“In the 12 months ending August 31, U.S. sellers sold 3.8 billion products in Amazon’s store―approximately 7,400 products per minute.”
See the full press release including charts and guidance on the About Amazon Investor Relations website.
