Amazon still dominates US online market

Amazon is still cleaning up in the US, two decades after its launch by Jeff Bezos in his Bellevue, Washington, garage.

Over the past year, the online sales company has captured 51 cents of every $1 spent online by Americans, according to research. It also grabbed $22 billion of the expected $94 billion growth in all retail sales (both stores and online) last year, Macquarie Research retail analyst Ben Schachter has calculated.

Topping off the year, Amazon has had a record-breaking holiday season, shipping 200 million more items through its Prime fast-shipping subscription service between November 1 and December 19, compared with the previous year, reports The New York Times. It is estimated that about a quarter of American households belong to the membership program.

But despite its dominance, Amazon’s actual profits, according to its October quarterly report, were just $79 million on $24.5 billion in total revenue. This follows years of heavy investment in infrastructure and logistics, during which Amazon has blanketed the US with more than 100 warehouses – and it is building more, speeding up shipping times.

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