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Amazon Lauds Its Holiday Sales

By TESS STYNES

Amazon Inc. called its 2008 holiday shopping season "the best ever," despite a series of predictions that even online sales would weaken as U.S. consumers cut back amid the recession.

The online retailer said Friday that on its peak day, Dec. 15, it received more than 6.3 million orders, at a record pace of 72.9 items per second.

With the economy struggling, online sales were expected to hold up relatively well, while traditional retailers saw a sharp falloff in customer traffic.

Amazon said top-sellers from Nov. 15 through Dec. 19 included Nintendo Co.'s Wii, which dominated the videogame category. Among toys, the best-sellers included Jakks Pacific Inc.'s Eyeclops night-vision goggles. In the electronics category, Samsung Electronics Inc.'s 52-inch LCD High-Definition television and Apple Inc.'s 8-gigabyte iPod Touch led the gains.

Also a strong seller was Acer Inc.'s Aspire One 8.9-inch netbook. The devices, which have little processing power, screens between nine and 12 inches wide diagonally and typically cost less than $500, have been rising in popularity, according to technology-research firm iSupply.

Among DVDs, Amazon said "Wall-E," "The Dark Knight" for Blu-ray and "The Dark Knight" sold well. Top sellers in books included "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling, and two works by Stephenie Meyer, "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn."

In its press release, Amazon didn't comment on its selling prices or margins for the 2008 holiday season.

Cortesía de The Wall Street Journal