Amazon is staring down the holiday quarter with a bigger workforce, faster delivery, and a retail assortment that continues to widen.
Third-quarter net sales rose 12% to $201.9 billion. North American sales increased 6% to $112.9 billion, and operating income jumped to $28.1 billion from $17.4 billion a year ago.
There is one big wrinkle in the year-over-year comparison: Prime Day moved into Q2 this year across most major markets. The event fell entirely in Q3 last year, and Amazon says quarterly growth would have been about four percentage points higher without the shift.
For toy industry watchers, FAO Schwarz popped up among a group of brands getting a larger presence on Amazon. The retailer says selection from brands, including FAO, increased by more than 20% year over year.
Now comes the holiday rush.
Amazon is hiring more than 300,000 seasonal, part-time, and full-time workers across its U.S. operations network.
The company is also moving packages faster. More than 1.5 billion items reached Prime customers the same day or overnight during Q3, Amazon’s fastest third quarter for delivery speeds.
There’s a licensing angle here, too. Amazon Ads recently teamed with Warner Bros. Pictures Animation on an “Open to Fun” campaign for The Cat in the Hat. The promotion stretches across Amazon, Prime Video, IMDb, Twitch, and Alexa, with a playable mobile experience and two Alexa activations featuring Bill Hader as the Cat. In case you missed it, Just Play is handling the toys for the latest Dr. Seuss-inspired film.
It’s another example of Amazon tying entertainment IP to shopping, advertising, and interactive play — something toy and licensing companies will likely be watching as those worlds continue to overlap (see: Masters of the Universe, Fallout, and next year’s Voltron).
For Q4, Amazon expects sales between $240 billion and $247 billion, up 12-16% from last year.
