Amazon's summary and numbers for the year 2020

That's it, we're attacking the month of February and we can say it officially: 2020 is behind us! Did you see it go by? Between confinements, Brexit, American elections and the vaccine race, at Bizon we preferred to focus on a subject we know well. Let's talk about the year 2020 in the fantastic world of Amazon!

The least we can say is that the marketplaces also had an intense year. So much so that it can be complex to see clearly. What if we took the time to go over everything point by point? In this article, we offer you a summary of Amazon's year 2020: sales and numbers you have to know, we tell you everything.

CA, 2020 profits… Amazon's figures for the year in review

While Amazon served as a refuge for many consumers when the physical outlets were closed, its warehouses were also forced to close in April 2020. In the end, they will have been at a complete standstill for a period of 1 month and 4 days, during which Amazon's activity had been 100% stopped in France. At Bizon, we experienced this interruption on the front line: no more packages could leave our stores and those of our customers. Given this particular context, it was complex to predict Amazon's financial results this year!

So what happened on the marketplaces in 2020?

Increasing sales, to infinity and beyond

Source : marketplacepulse.com

Despite the closure of some warehouses during the year, sales on Amazon did not stop. They continued to grow globally, reaching an estimated $475 billion in sales volumes for 2020 by our colleagues at Marketplace Pulse Research.

There was an overall 41.79% increase in sales volumes on Amazon. The "first party" versus marketplace breakdown remains more or less the same, with an increase in the share of marketplaces sales (62.1% in 2020 compared to 59% the previous year). In terms of record days, in total, the combined sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday exceeded 4.8 billion dollars (+60% compared to 2019). In one weekend, therefore.

💡 Reminder: "First party" sales refer to all sales made via a Vendor model. Amazon and the brand whose product you buy work as if they were in a supplier-retailer relationship. The brand negotiates a wholesale purchase price from Amazon and supplies it, and then Amazon takes care of marketing the products.

Otherwise, when the brand takes care of selling its own products on Amazon, this configuration is called the Seller or "third party" model: it's selling on the marketplace.

Since the Vendor model concerns a smaller sample of brands (often on mass-market products), it is not surprising that in the end it totals fewer sales volumes. But the gap between Vendor and Seller is widening, simply because more and more sellers are populating the marketplace. No wonder, in a year in which many merchants have found refuge there.

➡️ In short: sales that continue to rise, more sellers and days that break records every year. 2020 has been a banner year for Amazon marketplaces, despite a very special context.

Amazon 2020 revenues: 386 billion dollars

As we have just said, Amazon's sales volumes exploded in 2020. But how does this translate into value, dollars, and sales? If you're reading this, that's probably the question you've been asking yourself: what is Amazon's turnover in 2020?

It's very simple.

To get this data, you have to look at the quarterly reports published by Amazon. In these lengthy documents,you will find the key accounting data that we are interested in... if you know where to look. Bizon has done it for you. 😉

• Amazon’s Q1 2020 revenue: $75.5 billion (+26% compared to Q1 2019)

• Amazon’s Q2 revenue: $88.9 billion (+40%)

• Amazon’s Q3 revenue: $96.1 billion (+37%)

• Amazon’s Q4 revenue: $125.6 billion (+42%)

➡️ Total 2020: approximately $386.1 billion.

$21.3 billion in net income, and +83% in profits

Amazon already ended 2019 triumphant: the $11.6 billion in net income that was recorded was already a good progression compared to 2018.

2020 also ended in the best possible way for Amazon. With $21.3 billion in net income announced, Amazon almost doubled its profits. The rate of evolution compared to last year is +83%.

What is Amazon's market share in France in 2020?

With such financial results, the next logical question is: how does Amazon compare to other players in the market? Is its market share really too high, as we sometimes hear? Let's take a look at the french market.

➡️ Figures are coming out at the end of 2020 : Amazon is said to account for 22% of online spending of the French market.

So we can not talk about a monopolistic situation (far from it), but we must recognize that 2020 was indeed a year in which Amazon was ahead of its competitors.

In second place on the podium, we find CDiscount with 8.1% of online purchases, then Veepee with 3.4%.

In addition to sales and the financial aspect, it should be remembered that Amazon is playing on another level, where it is also ahead of its traditional e-commerce competitors. We like to remind this at Bizon: in 2021, Amazon is as much a medium as it is a marketplace. With 63% of searches products according to studies, Amazon is ahead of Google when it comes to consumption.

Amazon passes the 1,000,000 employee mark with 400,000 new hires

To conclude this already rather long series of figures, let's look back at the year's hirings. The number of employees at Amazon is a question that often comes up, this is our opportunity to address it!

Since sales were record this year, Amazon logically had to hire. And not just a little! Over the year, 400,000 hires were made, allowing Amazon to exceed one million employees and to become the 3rd largest employer in the world by the way.

For our non-french readers: "Amazon pass the 1,000,000 employees milestone"

Over the last 5 years, we have seen the number of employees explode at Amazon, in parallel with an ever-increasing demand and traffic on the marketplace.

In summary, Amazon in 2020,it is...

• 386 billion dollars in revenues

• 21 billion dollars in profits

• 22% market share in France

• 1,125,300 employees worldwide in Q3 2020

Do you think Amazon's numbers in 2020 are high? Wait until 2021! Maybe it's time to launch your brands and seize your chance while there's still time… 👉 we know a very good expert to help you.