Amazon UK has published accounts for 2015 which show the online retailer breaking the £6 billion sales mark for the first time, despite issues in the wider market. This represents a growth of almost £500 million on 2014, an increase of 8% year-on-year.
Growth has slightly slowed in the UK for Amazon – the increase from 2013 to 2014 was almost £700 million – but the falling pound-dollar exchange rate from $1.65 to $1.53 has made Amazon’s accounts (published in $ where the company is based) look stronger.
The UK is the third largest market for Amazon sales, with Germany at number two behind the US. The sales made in Britain by Amazon represent around 8% of the global share, with total sales more than doubled in the past five years.
On the publishing of the full global Amazon results, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com said: “Twenty years ago, I was driving the packages to the Post Office myself and hoping we might one day afford a forklift. This year, we pass $100 billion in annual sales and serve 300 million customers. And still, measured by the dynamism we see everywhere in the marketplace and by the ever-expanding opportunities we see to invent on behalf of customers, it feels every bit like Day 1.â€
Costs have risen too during this period including advertising and promotional costs, which account for over £2.5 million. The Nielsen ratings show that spend on advertising in the UK by Amazon rose by around 40 per cent.
This is expected to grow significantly with the addition of new programming on the Amazon Prime service, driven by the new motoring show from Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. The expansion of Amazon Pantry is also expected to have an impact while the growth of PrimeNow and same day delivery services around the country could also result in further success, with a growth in the number of businesses setting up Amazon seller accounts also expected.
Amazon’s front door by Robert Scoble is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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