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Amazon's Record Holiday Shows Consumers Still Have Appetite for Spending

Alexa voice-activated speakers got overwhelmed, reports said
Best sellers included Bose headphones and Carhartt clothes

Steve Sadove, Mastercard senior advisor and former Saks CEO, says the holiday season was great for retailers.Daybreak: Americas." (Source: Bloomberg)

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By Molly Schuetz

December 26, 2018 at 3:03 PM UTC

Updated on

December 26, 2018 at 4:10 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Amazon.com Inc. reported a record-breaking holiday season as shoppers loaded their online baskets with items from Echo speakers to Calvin Klein clothes, suggesting consumer optimism isn’t being deterred by a tumbling stock market.

The internet retailer said “tens of millions of people worldwide” signed up for its Prime service, which offers free two-day shipping on millions of items as well as video and music streaming. In the U.S. alone, more than 1 billion items were shipped for free using Prime, Amazon said in a statement Wednesday.