The global boom in e-commerce sales has been reflected in Amazon’s 2020 results. For Q4-20 Amazon’s net sales rose by 44% to $125.6bn in the fourth quarter, compared with $87.4bn in the same quarter of 2019. Operating income increased to $6.9bn in Q4, compared with operating income of $3.9bn in the same quarter of 2019. The company’s net income reached $7.2bn in the fourth quarter compared with net income of $3.3 bn in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The company reported net sales increased by 37.6% to $386.1bn for the year ending December 31, 2020, compared with $280.5bn in 2019. Operating income increased to $22.9bn, compared with operating income of $14.5bn in 2019. Net income also rose to $21.3bn compared with net income of $11.6bn in 2019.
In terms of business segments all but one experienced growth over 2020. Physical stores saw net sales decrease by 5.6% y-o-y likely as a result of the Coronavirus crisis and lockdown measures. However, Online stores, Third-party seller services, Subscription services, AWS and Other all saw net sales increase significantly, by 39.7%, 49.6%, 31.2%, 29.5% and 52.5%, respectively.
The continued growth in e-retail sales, boosted by the pandemic led to Amazon investing in logistics facilities over the year. In 2020, Amazon increased square footage across its fulfilment and logistics network by 50% and dedicated 60% of fulfilment centre capacity to seller products.
Amazon also announced that Jeff Bezos will transition to the role of Executive Chair in the third quarter of 2021 and Andy Jassy will become Chief Executive Officer at that time.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO commented, “If you do it right, a few years after a surprising invention, the new thing has become normal. People yawn. That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive. When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention. Right now, I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.”
Source: Amazon
