Amazon Sits Atop S&P 500 With Record Holiday Season Sales

by
Tolu Ajiboye
My articles My books
Follow on:

As far as the S&P 500 index is concerned, Amazon seems to have hit a new record this holiday season. According to a Bloomberg report, the e-commerce giant’s sale of “tens of millions” of Amazon products, cemented a “record-breaking” end of the year.

Amazon S&P 500 Record

Amazon’s low-volume trading, shortly after Christmas, ensured its top spot on the S&P 500 as it jumped by 3.4%. As holiday shopping continued to increase, other stores including J.C. Penney Co., Macy’s Inc. and Nordstrom Inc., also jumped on the S&P 500.

The report further said that the number of products ordered and delivered with either same-day or one-day shipping surged significantly. The company said the number shot up by 400%, in comparison with numbers from the same period, last year. Third-party Amazon vendors were also not left out as they successfully sold over one billion products.

Apart from the millions of shipped products, Amazon also bagged at least five million new customers. This number includes customers that registered for paid memberships worldwide, and also those who began the company’s Prime free trials. All of these factors ensured a new Amazon S&P 500 record, towering above other companies.

Amazon’s sales almost directly confirm that e-commerce purchases in 2019 have done better than 2018, especially during the holiday. Bloomberg reports that Mastercard’s Spending Pulse shows that holiday spending jumped by 19%, compared to 2018. The data took into consideration, online Mastercard expenditure starting from Nov. 1 to Christmas Eve. As Mastercard senior adviser Steve Sadove put it:

“E-commerce has become a critical piece of any retailer’s operations. You have to be an omnichannel retailer.”

Possible Customer Returns

All of the figures for e-commerce trading, especially with holiday sales, seem really great. However, there is a really good chance that there might be an uncomfortable amount of returns sometime in the coming weeks. According to CBRE Group data, returns could total more than $41 billion. Sadove goes further saying:

“You’re going to have a lot of returns coming in and gift cards are going to be redeemed. Turning those returns into sales is going to be extremely important. It’s one ting to get the sales, and another thing to get the profit.”

The S&P 500 Under Trump

As U.S. President Donald Trump struggles to remain president, there might be a small feather to his hat. Research from the Bespoke Investment Group says that since Trump became president, the S&P 500 has pulled in over 50% in returns.

It’s important to consider that this feat was achieved regardless of the heat from the biting U.S.-China trade war. This year saw both countries slamming themselves with tariffs that normally would stifle growth. In many cases, investments dropped considerably as there was a little too much apprehension because of the war. Somehow, both countries have been able to rise above long-term effects of the war.

Now that tensions have eased up and a deal phase one has been reached, stocks might continue to soar in 2020.

Author: Tolu Ajiboye

Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge. When he's not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.