Amazon announced that sellers sold a record-setting more than 2 billion items worldwide in 2014. The number of sellers on Amazon adopting the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service to help scale their businesses and delight customers with Amazon’s award-winning fulfillment and customer service also grew more than 65% year-over-year worldwide. There are currently more than 2 million sellers on Amazon worldwide that account for over 40% of the total units sold on Amazon.
“It’s been a record-setting year for selling on Amazon. We’re seeing strong growth from sellers listing their items across our global marketplaces. In fact, there are now more than a billion offers for customers to browse from sellers who are listing items for sale outside their home country,” said Peter Faricy, VP for Amazon Marketplace. “The growth of mobile and the introduction of the Amazon Seller App have also been a big win for sellers this year. Sellers are constantly telling us they value the flexibility of managing their businesses on-the-go from their tablets and mobile devices.”
Sellers on Amazon around the world continue to adopt FBA, a service that enables sellers to have Amazon store and ship their products directly to customers while offering Amazon Prime benefits, free shipping, simple exporting to customers around the world, streamlined cross-border trade, easy returns and award-winning Amazon customer service. For small and medium businesses, Amazon Payments has expanded the availability of Login and Pay with Amazon, providing hundreds of millions of customers a fast, easy and secure way to pay on thousands of websites, using the information already stored in their Amazon accounts.
2014 Amazon Services Growth
- In 2014, more than 2 billion units worldwide were ordered on Amazon from sellers with businesses of all sizes.
- In 2014, active sellers worldwide using the FBA service grew more than 65% year-over-year.
- FBA units shipped worldwide grew more than 50% year-over-year during the 2014 holiday season.
- Sellers on Amazon from more than 100 different countries around the world fulfilled orders to customers in 185 countries using the FBA service.
- China and Hong Kong-based sellers with international sales grew 80% year-over-year.
- Product selection available through FBA on the Amazon.in (India) marketplace more than tripled year-over-year.
- Holiday deals offered by sellers on Amazon worldwide grew more than 250% year-over-year during the 2014 holiday season.
- Units sold by sellers on Amazon worldwide offering holiday deals grew more than 400% year-over-year during the 2014 holiday season.
- On Cyber Monday, more than 16 million units were ordered worldwide from sellers on Amazon.
- On Cyber Monday, orders processed by businesses using Amazon Payments grew by more than 60% year-over-year.
- More than 25% of Login and Pay with Amazon payments were made using a mobile device.
- Orders processed by businesses using Login and Pay with Amazon grew by more than 200% year-over-year during the 2014 holiday season.
Highlights
- Amazon introduced the Amazon Seller App to help on-the-go sellers manage their businesses on Amazon direct from their mobile devices. The Amazon Seller App, available for Android, iOS and Fire phone, makes it easier than ever for sellers on Amazon to quickly manage inventory, source and list new items on Amazon, and quickly respond to customer inquiries.
- Top brands and vertical retailers became sellers on Amazon including Aeropostale, Claire’s, Quiksilver, Hanna Andersson, Roxy, Wilson’s Leather, Warner Bros. Shop, HBO Shop, The History Channel, Cardinal Health, Owens & Minor, and Ducati.
- Amazon continued to remove barriers for cross-border sellers to help reach customers worldwide. Amazon expanded recruitment for new sellers and selection from emerging regions including Australia, South Korea and Singapore.
- Amazon expanded Sunday delivery through the U.S. Postal Service to thousands of cities across the U.S., enabling FBA items from sellers to reach customers on Sundays.
- Many FBA offers from sellers are now available with same-day delivery in 12 metro areas across the U.S.
- Amazon improved the delivery experience for customers in Europe with the introduction of Borderless Fulfillment. Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr Prime members now have access to free two-day delivery for items from sellers using the FBA service stored in Amazon’s European fulfillment centers located outside their respective countries.
- Amazon launched multi-country inventory in the EU, an international fulfillment program that has enabled cross-border FBA sellers to place millions of high-demand items closer to customers. Products are stored in Amazon’s fulfillment centers across Europe so they ship faster to local customers.
- FBA introduced Amazon Partnered Carrier services for sellers in Italy and Spain to access discounted rates with select carriers when shipping inventory to Amazon.
- Amazon unveiled the ‘Make an Offer’ experience (www.amazon.com/makeanoffer) that allows customers to negotiate prices on more than 150,000 items across Sports and Entertainment Collectibles, Collectible Coins, and Fine Art from sellers on Amazon. The new feature allows customers to offer to buy items at even lower prices, and if agreed upon, customers can then purchase the items at a savings from the listed price.
- Amazon Payments (http://payments.amazon.com) launched Pay with Amazon in India and expanded the availability of Login and Pay with Amazon in Europe. The payment services give hundreds of millions of Amazon shoppers worldwide a secure way to pay on thousands of websites using the information already stored in their Amazon accounts.
- Amazon Payments launched a Growth Guarantee (https://payments.amazon.com/guarantee) for businesses that adopt Login and Pay with Amazon. With the Growth Guarantee, businesses can trial the service and if after 30 days of launching Login and Pay with Amazon they have not seen an increase in sales, Amazon will refund their fees on up to $100,000 in transactions.
- Amazon Local Register (http://localregister.amazon.com), a mobile app and secure credit card reader, launched in the U.S. enabling individuals and small businesses to accept credit and debit cards from a smartphone or tablet at an industry-leading low, flat rate with no hidden fees or long-term contracts. Local Register customers also benefit from access to the Amazon.com award-winning, fully-dedicated customer support team, and in-app reporting tools.
- Amazon Payments enabled select businesses that use Login and Pay with Amazon as an online checkout option to offer Amazon Prime members special benefits from their sites. AllSaints.com (https://payments.amazon.com/casestudy/allsaints) is now offering Prime members free shipping when they shop on AllSaints.com and checkout using Login and Pay with Amazon.
- Amazon expanded its Amazon Currency Converter for Sellers (ACCS) service to cover eight currencies. International sellers can be paid directly into their local bank accounts in local currencies including the Euro, British Pound, U.S. Dollar, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Indian Rupee and New Zealand Dollar.
- Amazon launched North America Unified Accounts to simplify international selling in North America. Now, when a seller signs up to sell on either Amazon.com or Amazon.ca, they have access to both marketplaces and can more easily create and manage their offers in both the U.S. and Canada.
- Amazon launched the Build International Listings tool in North America, enabling sellers on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca to automatically create offers and manage prices in both marketplaces.
- Sponsored Products, an advertising program for sellers, introduced six new placements for sellers including product detail pages and mobile search pages to attract customers to their offers.
- Product Ads, an advertising program for sellers, re-opened in the U.S. the Apparel, Shoes and Luggage categories to Product Ads from sellers. Globally, Product Ads opened nine categories across Germany, France and the UK, including Shoes & Bags, Clothing, Sports & Outdoors, Beauty, Health & Personal Care, Watches, Pet Supplies, Luggage, and Jewelry.
- Amazon launched the 3D Printed Products store (www.amazon.com/3dp) that now gives customers access to more than 6,000 unique print-on-demand products, many that can be customized by material, size, style, and color, and personalized with text. The store includes convenient search tools, interactive 3D preview functionality and a product personalization widget. Since launch, the number of items listed in the store has grown by 500 percent.
- Amazon opened the Collectible Coins store (www.amazon.com/collectiblecoins) that now gives customers direct access to more than 25,000 unique U.S. coins from over 160 industry-leading dealers showcasing a wide variety of professionally graded and authenticated coins. The new store is one of the largest online destinations to discover and purchase graded U.S. coins, featuring easy-to-use search tools. Historical collections are available including buried treasure coins recovered in the Saddle Ridge Hoard and 57th Street Hoard.
- Sellers on Amazon added thousands of “Certified Refurbished” offers (www.amazon.com/used) from leading electronics manufacturers by focusing on high quality used selection.
- Amazon Wine (www.amazon.com/wine) expanded its reach and now offers direct-to-consumer shipping from wine sellers to 27 states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.