Amazon’s UK sales surge to £20bn thanks to lockdown boom
Amazon’s UK revenue jumped more than 50 per cent to hit $26.5bn (£20bn) last year as coronavirus lockdown sparked bumper demand for online shopping.
The US tech giant last night reported full-year sales of $280.5bn, with revenue surpassing $125bn in the final three months of the year alone.
But in-depth documents filed with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) today revealed that the UK was Amazon’s fastest growing region in 2020, with sales up from $17.5bn the previous year.
The US still accounts for the vast majority of the ecommerce group’s sales, with total revenue of $263.5bn last year. Germany is its second largest market, followed closely by the UK.
Amazon has been one of the major winners of the pandemic, as repeated lockdowns have driven more people to online shopping at the expense of the high street.
“Higher net sales in the North America and international segments reflect increased demand, particularly as people are staying at home, including for household staples and other essential and home products,” Amazon said in its filing.
In a shock announcement last night Amazon also said Jeff Bezos will step down as chief executive in the third quarter and take up the role of executive chairman.
He will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon Web Services.