For any of you who pounded keys instead of pavement this holiday season, it probably comes as no surprise that Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) already has merry tidings about the season. (And yes, Virginia, there is an iPod in this Santa Claus-related story.)
In a press release, Amazon dubbed the 2005 holiday season its "best ever," with its Delight-O-Meter hitting a new record at 108 million items ordered. Speaking of benchmarks, the Delight-O-Meter also struck a new one-day record, with 3.6 million items ordered, or a whopping 41 items per second, on Dec. 12.
The press release from Amazon included a lot of other fun and interesting facts -- for example, if you stacked up all the tents that it sold through Amazon's Sports & Outdoors store, apparently they would reach 30,000 feet, or higher than Mount Everest. Switching from great heights to the earth beneath one's feet, Amazon said that it sold enough running shoes for nearly every participant in the Boston Marathon. The most expensive piece of bling purchased through Amazon's Jewelry & Watches store was a pair of diamond earrings, which cost a cool $94,000. (Now that's one heck of a stocking stuffer.)
And, of course, we just can't get away from iPod mania, can we? Amazon said that Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) music players dominated the top of its Electronic charts, with the 2 GB black iPod nano, the 30 GB black video-enabled iPod, and the 513 MB shuffle owning the top three spots, respectively. Nobody can blink an eye at this news; just last week it was clear that Apple's been decking the halls -- and competitors. It wouldn't be a surprise to suspect that the popularity of Apple's devices have been a boon to Amazon.
As some of us return to work this week and venture closer to 2006 (and the end of this year's holiday cheer), one can hardly blame investors from trying to unravel the real winners and losers of the 2005 season -- we're all curious to find out how many of the names in retail were the biggest benefactors of holiday magic. Indications that Amazon and Apple have both definitely drilled deep into the American consumer's consciousness this year would come as no surprise to anyone.
Amazon.com is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick.
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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.
