Fulfillment By Amazon Delivered Over 2 Billion Items

Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon service delivered more than 2 billion items around the globe in 2016. In a press release issued Wednesday (Jan. 4), Amazon said Fulfillment By Amazon grew more than 50 percent during the holiday season. What’s more, it said Prime members placed orders for millions of products from Marketplace sellers in the Seller Fulfilled Prime program offering free two-day or next-day shipping.

“2016 was a record-breaking year in sales worldwide for sellers on Amazon. The Amazon Marketplace empowers brand owners and retailers of all sizes, many of them small businesses, to reach customers around the world,” said Peter Faricy, VP for Amazon Marketplace. “In fact, according to our economic studies, sellers have created over 600,000 new jobs outside of Amazon. Sellers are choosing Amazon because we help them build and grow their businesses with impactful programs like Seller Fulfilled Prime, and we’re proud of the fact that sellers are reinvesting their success into their local communities by creating jobs.”

The announcement on the part of Amazon comes at a time when the eCommerce giant is killing it in terms of sales. In a press release late last month, Amazon said the 2016 holiday season was the best ever for Amazon with the Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Fire Tablet and Amazon Echo, all on the top of the bestseller lists. What’s more, sales of the Amazon Echo family of devices were up nine times compared to the holiday season in the prior year.

“Echo and Echo Dot were the bestselling products across Amazon [in 2016], and we’re thrilled that millions of new customers will be introduced to Alexa as a result,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO worldwide consumer for Amazon. “Despite our best efforts and ramped-up production, we still had trouble keeping them in stock. From turning on Christmas lights and playing holiday music to shopping for gifts and asking for help with cookie recipes, Alexa continues to get smarter every day.”