Amazon said independent businesses on its platform experienced 60% growth year-over-year over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend, surpassing $4.8 billion in worldwide sales. Nearly all of them were small and medium-sized businesses, Amazon said.
It shared the data in a post about holiday sales, where it also published additional statistics about Amazon merchants:
- More than 71,000 small- and medium-sized businesses worldwide have surpassed $100,000 in sales this holiday season to date.
- American small- and medium-sized businesses have sold an average of 9,500 products per minute this holiday season to date.
- Independent businesses selling on Amazon worldwide have created an estimated 2.2 million jobs.
Among the best-selling items this holiday shopping season were some of its own devices, including the new Echo Dot and the Amazon Smart Plug, but also included in the bestseller list were: “Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land,” the REVLON One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer Hot Air Brush, Lite-Brite Ultimate Classic, and 23andMe Health + Ancestry Service: Personal Genetic DNA Test.”
Amazon executive Jeff Wilke thanked customers, employees, and selling partners around the world “for making this our biggest holiday season to date, and for everything you’re doing to support our communities and each other now and throughout the year.”
You can find the full post on the AboutAmazon.com news site.
Growth won’t be for long, as we’re going to see increased postage and delivery costs from USPS and UPS practically kill our businesses.