Amazon Reports Best Holiday Season: More Than 1 Billion Items Shipped, Echo Speakers Top Sellers

Alexandra Burlacu, Tech Times 28 December 2016, 05:12 am

Amazon had a very lucrative holiday season so far, shipping more than 1 billion devices already and the year is not even over yet.

According to the company, the Amazon Echo line of smart speakers sold by the millions, at a whopping rate nine times greater than the 2015 holiday season. Amazon says the 2016 holiday was its best season ever, and the Echo voice-controlled speakers were among the brightest stars.

"Echo and Echo Dot were the best-selling products across Amazon this year, and we're thrilled that millions of new customers will be introduced to Alexa as a result," says Jeff Wilke, Amazon's Worldwide Consumer CEO.

Wilke admits that Amazon had trouble keeping up with demand, but we already knew that. The Amazon Echo was completely sold out online last week, clearly indicating that Amazon was struggling to keep it in stock.

Amazon Echo Success, Powered By Alexa

The Amazon Echo smart speakers enjoy great popularity worldwide due to their versatility and usefulness, with the Alexa virtual assistant playing a huge role. Alexa currently offers a wide range of options from shopping on Amazon to helping out in the kitchen or reading bedtime stories, and it's constantly getting smarter and gaining new skills.

If you just purchased or received an Amazon Echo device this holiday season, check out our guide for the best Alexa skills to help you get started.

Amazon's impressive sales achievement comes amid increased competition from Google, which recently launched its own a smart speaker called Google Home, gunning for the Amazon Echo.

1 Billion Items Shipped Worldwide: Interesting Stats

Aside from the resounding Echo success (pun intended), Amazon also offers some interesting stats related to its holiday success. The company says it shipped more than 1 billion items worldwide via its Amazon Prime program and its Prime Now ultra-fast delivery service was at its busiest on Dec. 23. Amazon Prime Now offers speedy deliveries in one or two hours worldwide and this year, it saw three times more purchases than last year.

Amazon further reveals that more than 72 percent of holiday shoppers placed their orders from a mobile device. The company also notes that this holiday season, its worldwide shipping hit its peak on Dec. 19.

On Dec. 23, the busiest day for Prime Now deliveries, the most-purchased items were the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, and Oreo Cookies. Amazon Prime members in Dallas were the most active, ordering more items with Prime Now than any other city in the United States this holiday season. Amazon managed to fulfill its holiday orders in the United States with the help of more than 200,000 full-time and seasonal workers.