Amazon eBook Sales Explode In September

Amazon saw a 71 percent increase in eBook sales in September.

Amazon saw massive growth in its eBook sales in the month of September, with sales growing by $32 million (or 73 percent) over August’s sales.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The information comes from the pricing vendor One Click Retail that tracks pricing on millions of Amazon products daily.

    “The gap between physical and digital books narrowed significantly in September,” One Click Retail wrote in a blog post.

    While eBooks soared, fueled by digital sales of “The Girl on the Train: A Novel” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” sales of paper books dropped by more than half during the same month.

    Shoe sales were second on Amazon’s marketplace for product growth in September, with sales rising by 15 percent, or $10 million. Athletic shoes alone accounted for $28 million in sales on Amazon in the month of September.

    Toy sales also rose 15 percent, or $10 million, on Amazon for the month of September, fueled by sales of Lego products. Lego’s top three selling items — a model Porsche, a Millennium Falcon and a Mindstorms EV3 robot — accounted for more than $1 million in sales alone in September.

    Advertisement: Scroll to Continue

    Pet care and health and personal care products also each rose by about 5 percent in September.

    Growth fluctuates greatly month over month and can be heavily skewed by promos and holiday shopping, so it’s important to take external factors into account when measuring the value of product groups,” One Click Retail wrote in its blog post. “That being said, it’s times like these, the periods between formal shopping seasons, that reveal most accurately what consumers really buy.”