Amid a strong showing for retail this holiday season, Amazon once again gleamed just a little more brightly than the rest. The retailer boasted that holiday 2017 was a record-setting season, with its Prime service continuing to add new members. In fact, more than four million people started Prime free trials or began paid memberships during a one-week period, according to Amazon.
While Amazon does not release specific figures, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated in Oct. 2017 that there were 90 million Prime memberships in the U.S., according to reporting in USA Today.
Complete figures for holiday 2017 are still being compiled, but Amazon is expected to grab more than 50% of all new digital sales, according to CNBC.
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The e-Commerce giant also labeled 2017 a record holiday shopping season for Amazon Devices. The Echo Dot was the number-one selling Amazon Device, and customers purchased more than twice as many Amazon Fire TV Sticks this year compared to holiday 2016. Additionally, millions of Prime members used Amazon Alexa to shop by voice for holiday gifts.
More than one billion items were ordered from small businesses and entrepreneurs this season, according to Amazon, with 140 million ordered over the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.
