Amazon.com Inc reported what it called its “best ever” holiday season this year. Despite the economic downturn, at least one retailer is enjoying some measure of success.

The AP reported that Amazon saw a 17 percent increase in orders. Purportedly Amazon customers made 6.3 million orders on Dec. 15, as compared to 5.4 million on its peak day the year before. More than 5.6 million products were shipped, an impressive 44 percent rise over 2007. That year saw only around 3.9 million shipped out.

No dollar figures were mentioned, and analysts were still cautious about online commerce in general. Forrester Research analyst, Sucharita Mulpuru, said that it was likely Amazon’s success was a reflection of the economy favoring discount retailers. Wal-Mart, a traditional discount retailer, also saw a big sales boost. Of course, Amazon’s stocks also saw a nice gain – 34 cents to close at $51.78 Friday, a 0.7 percent rise.

Not all online retailers will see Amazon’s gains – it’s also unseen how Amazon will fare over next year’s tough economic climate. Does this mean it will be a bad time to start an online storefront? Not necessarily. What an online store has going for it is the lower overhead as to operating costs, but the trend is that consumers are less likely to spend money on frivolous items.

Over the next few months, already ailing online retailers will probably be shutting down quickly, with their surviving competitors consolidating. The bigger retail outfits will likely weather it out better than most – like Apple’s iTunes, which will likely see more online music buyers choosing single tracks over albums.

So now the slump after the holiday season will likely occur as consumers will likely tighten their belts. RIAA will also be busier than ever, as more consumers will likely ‘acquire’ their tracks through non-RIAA sanctioned means.

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Entry was posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 10:42 pm under Amazon, Ecommerce.

Read more entries by Erna Mahyuni.
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