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Amazon.com today reported strong fourth quarter profits that beat Wall Street analyst’s estimates.

The online retailer said its net income increased 71 percent to $384 million in the fourth quarter, or 85 cents per share, compared with $225 million, or 52 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Net sales increased 42 percent to $9.5 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $ 6.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Millions of people now own Kindles," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

"And Kindle owners read, a lot. When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books. This is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It’s been an exciting 27 months."

Amazon said it expects its operating profit for the first quarter of 2010 to be between $275 million to $365 million, on revenue of $6.4 billion to $7 billion, for growth between 32 percent and 43 percent.

Shares rose 3.7 percent in after hours trading to $130.41 signaling investors were pleased with Amazon’s Q4 results.
 

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Online shoppers experience more website slow downs and other problems completing transactions during popular shopping periods when traffic to retail websites peaks, according to a new survey by Equation Research conducted on behalf of web performance firm Gomez.

At stake is the $1,050 that each online shopper spends annually, according to the survey, with a significant amount of spending done during these peak times.

"This survey confirms that consumers expect retail Web sites to perform well for them, regardless of how many other shoppers are also visiting the site," said Matt Poepsel, Vice President, Performance Strategies, Gomez Division.

"It’s also clear that when shoppers encounter Web performance problems, their patience and loyalty run thin. Once a customer has left your site, chances are they are not going to give you a second chance–and few retailers can afford to lose business this way."

Highlights of the survey include:

•  A third of online shoppers had a bad experience on a retail Web site during the 2009 Holiday shopping season and 15 percent found the problem to be "unacceptable."
• These bad online experiences caused nearly one in five online shoppers to shop at another site.
• In general, 41 percent of online shoppers will only tolerate one or two bad online experiences before abandoning a retailer’s Web site.
   

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An increasing number of shoppers in the U.K. are going online to buy groceries according to new research by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).

The research found 13 percent of adults shopped online for groceries in 2009, an increase of 63 percent over the last three years.

Although shopping online for groceries has become increasingly popular over the last few years, this section of shoppers represents less than one in four of those who buy goods and services online. This means there is a significant opportunity for grocery retailers to expand their online sales.

"People are increasingly mixing the channels they use for their weekly or monthly shop. Many are choosing to visit their local store on a regular basis, while purchasing a number of bulk items, like tinned foods and toiletries, online less frequently," said Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive, IGD.

Online shopping for groceries in the U.K. is set to double to $ 11.7 billion by 2014. More demanding shoppers leading busier lifestyles will encourage greater online usage, while the development of online shopping from mobile devices should attract new shoppers and create new purchasing opportunities. Improvements in website capability and capacity, including enhanced search functionality and increased tailoring, will also drive growth.

The research concluded online grocery shopping will not overtake the dominance of the in-store environment and that the number of shoppers using supermarkets will actually increase over the next five years.
 

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Consumers want online retailers to be more interactive and offer more personalization features according to a new a survey from IBM.

The changing economy has led to a smarter consumer who uses technology to make more informed buying decisions, exchange information with others, make purchases on-the-go and shop multiple channels.

More than three-quarters (79%) of consumers want to use websites to access and print coupons, while 75 percent want to use mobile phones to find out where the nearest store is located and 66 percent want to see what items are in stock before going to a store.

"We are in a shopper’s market today, because consumer access to technology and information gives them all the power," said Jill Puleri, IBM Global Industry Retail Executive, IBM Global Business Services.

"Retailers cannot afford to sit still as this digital revolution happens. They must engage plugged-in consumers in new and different ways, on their terms, and with more bi-directional feedback and dialogue."

From the consumer’s point of view, the top areas of improvement for online retailers were around offering customized promotions and ensuring product availability. More than half (61%) of respondents said they would spend more with a retailer if they got these two areas right.

While IBM’s analysis found that consumers are increasingly ready to use technologies to interact with retailers and with other consumers, this trend is even more pronounced in growth markets. Consumers in India, China and Brazil, are almost twice as willing to use multiple technologies for shopping and making purchases. This is mainly because the adoption of new technologies is often faster in emerging countries.
 

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Online holiday spending during 2009 reached $29.1 billion, representing a four percent increase over the same period last year, according to a new report from comScore.

"The 2009 online holiday shopping season was a positive one as its growth rate slightly surpassed our forecast and returned to solidly positive rates after nearly a full year of marginally negative growth," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

"Among the highlights of the season was the first $900 million online spending day and a strong late season spending surge, propelled by effective retailer promotions, guaranteed shipping and a major snowstorm on the eastern seaboard that convinced many to shop from the comfort of home."

Tuesday, December 15 was the heaviest online spending day of the year and of all time, at $913 million, one of nine individual spending days to surpass $800 million during the 2009 holiday season.

Cyber Monday ranked as the second heaviest spending day of the season, the highest it has ever ranked, with $887 million in spending. The third heaviest spending day of the year was Tuesday, December 1, with $886 million in spending, followed by Wednesday, December 16 with $874 million and Monday December 14 with $854 million.

Jewelry & watches rank as the top performing online retail category for the holiday season growing 20 percent over 2008. Consumer electronics ranked second with 15 percent sales growth, driven by strong sales of flat panel TVs, mobile devices and e-readers. Other categories performing well included event tickets (up 8%), computer hardware (up 7%) and books & magazine (up 6%).
 

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Amazon.com has announced that for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books on Christmas Day.

In addition, Amazon said its Kindle reader has become the most gifted item in the company’s history. The Kindle Store boasts more than 390,000 electronic books.

"We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

"On behalf of Amazon.com employees around the world, we wish everyone happy holidays and happy reading!"

Amazon has not released sales figures for the Kindle, but Forrester Research estimated in October that the Kindle has close to 60 percent of the U.S. market share, followed by the Sony Reader with 35 percent.

Amazon said its peak day was December 14, with customers ordering over 9.5 million items globally, which is a record breaking 110 items per second.

Amazon Worldwide 2009 Holiday Facts:

•     Amazon shipped to over 178 countries.
•     One of our most remote shipments contained the EMU Australia Toddler Boot and was delivered to   Atqasuk, Alaska.
•     On the peak day this season, Amazon’s worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 7 million units.
•     Amazon shipped over 200,000 units to APO/FPO addresses.
•     Amazon shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to meet holiday deadlines worldwide.

Online holiday shoppers have spent a total of $24.8 billion so far this season, representing a 4 percent increase over last year, according to the latest report from comScore.

The most recent week got off to a slightly sluggish start, with sales of $854 million on Green Monday (Dec.14) down 1 percent compared to a year ago, but was followed by three strong spending days that each surpassed $800 million. Tuesday, December 15 was a record spending day reaching $913 million, the first such day to surpass the $900 million mark.

"Going into this most recent week, we had anticipated that Monday or Tuesday would post the highest online spending total of the season and perhaps be the first day on record to surpass $900 million," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "Despite a disappointing start to the week, with sales on Monday of $854 million down 1 percent versus 2008, we were encouraged to see spending continue strongly throughout the balance of the work week, led by Tuesday’s record $913 million."

"In fact, each day through Thursday December 17 – the last day that many online retailers would guarantee free shipping in time for Christmas – saw at least $800 million in spending, which suggests that savvy consumers may have been waiting for those last-minute deals."

The second heaviest spending day was Cyber Monday (Nov.30) with $887 million, the highest it has ever ranked, followed by Tuesday, December 1, with $866 million in spending.

"In a typical year, Cyber Monday tends to be the eighth to tenth heaviest spending day, but this year it moved higher up the list than ever before," added. Mr. Fulgoni.

"In part, this is due to the fact that the day fell fairly late in the season, so that pent up consumer demand likely boosted its performance, but also because of the increasing marketing hoopla and promotional activity that surround the day."

Free shipping has remained a key driver of online shopping throughout the holiday season. During each week, at least 45 percent of all transactions included free shipping. The peak occurred during the week ending December 6, with 50 percent of all transactions including free shipping.

The average order value for online transactions peaked at $117 during the week ending November 29, and the week ending December 6, outpacing the corresponding weeks in 2008. For the week ending November 29, the average order value for transactions including free shipping was $124 while the average order for those without free shipping was $111. For the week ending December 6, the average order value for transactions including free shipping was $134 while the average order for those without free shipping was a much lower $103.
 

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Some Google users have had a mysterious link appear in their accounts when they visit Google’s product page. The link is for "Google Guru", and is accompanied by the text, "Ask questions and get answers from online users." Its icon is a question mark.

If it is showing up for you, it is located between Groups and Knol on Google’s "More Google Products" page:

According to Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Land, Google Guru is a product that was launched in Russia back in 2007. While here in the U.S., the link pointing to Google Guru goes nowhere, the Russian link Schwartz provides goes to something that looks like this:

It’s basically a question and answers site. "What is interesting is that Google closed down their Google Answers site back in November 2006, yes over three years ago," says Schwartz. "Is Google Guru their way of getting back into the social Q&A space? Yahoo is dominate right now with Yahoo Answers, maybe Google feels they can make a run at that as well?"

Apparently not everyone is seeing the link to Google Guru at this point, and Google hasn’t at this time made any announcements about it that we are aware of. I expect that will change soon enough. Are you seeing the link?

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Amazon has released an iPhone app for the Kindle to over 60 countries. Now users in a total of 64 countries can read Kindle books on their iPhones and iPod Touch devices.

"We are excited to make the Kindle for iPhone App available to iPhone and iPod touch users in more than 60 countries, allowing them to access the vast selection of the most popular books, all available wirelessly from the Kindle Store," said Ian Freed, vice president, Amazon Kindle. "The Kindle for iPhone App is the perfect companion for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX, and a great way for customers around the world to download and read books even if they don’t yet have a Kindle."

Amazon says that with the app, customers in over 60 countries will be able to: 

- Purchase, download and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store.

- Read the beginning of books for free before they buy them.

- Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read.

- Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free.

- Choose from six different font sizes and adjust words per line.

- Add and view notes and highlights marked on Kindle and Kindle DX.

- Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books, textbooks and graphic novels.

Countries where the app is available include: The United States, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finaland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Malta, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Amazon says that in the coming months, they will be releasing Kindle for Mac and Kindle for Blackberry. Amazon’s Kindle reached record sales in the month of November.
 

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Online holiday spending reached $19.9 billion in the first 41 days of the shopping season, marking a 3 percent increase over the same time period last year, according to the latest report from comScore.

The most recent week saw above average online spending growth of 4 percent versus a year ago, two days shattered the $800 million mark in spending, led by Thursday, December 10, with $852 million.

"Although this most recent week of holiday shopping did not produce the first $900 million spending day, we saw above average growth rates including a strong end to the week," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

"Monday, December 14 – otherwise known as Green Monday – is likely to produce our heaviest online spending total for the season and represents our best opportunity to finally surpass that elusive $900 million spending threshold. The early part of this upcoming week should bring us the heaviest online spending days of the season before consumers refocus their attention on brick-and-mortar retail locations to finish up their holiday shopping."

Since comScore began tracking ecommerce spending in 2001, it has recorded thirteen spending days over $800 million, each has occurred in the past three holiday seasons. The heaviest online spending day on record was Wednesday, December 9, 2008. Of the top ten spending days on record, four happened in 2009, four in 2008, and two in 2007.
 

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