July 25 2007

Amazon turnover up a third

Amazon.com's Q2 turnover is up 35% year-on-year to $2.89 billion, a figure which has surprised US analysts and added 20 cents to the company's share price.

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com put the strong revenue growth down to low prices and the added convenience of the company's membership program Amazon Prime. "More and more customers are taking advantage of Amazon Prime and we're pleased with the acceleration in subscriber growth this quarter," he commented.

International segment sales, representing the company's UK, German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites, were $1.28 billion (up 31% from Q2 2006). Worldwide Media grew 27% to $1.83 billion, while worldwide Electronics & Other General Merchandise grew 55% to $970 million (an increase to 34% of worldwide net sales compared with 29% in Q2 2006).

Included in the company's highlights for the quarter are the introduction of its jewellery and watches store on the UK site and the launch, by Amazon Enterprise Solutions, of a multi-channel ecommerce solution for lacoste which includes website, phone ordering, customer service and fulfilment.

Emma Herrod