Amazon continues to make headlines.
The e-tail giant sold more than 13 million fashion products on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, with shoppers ordering a total of more than 180 million items throughout the five days that began on Thanksgiving.
“Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to break records on Amazon year over year, which tells us that customers love shopping for deals to kick off the holiday shopping season,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO of the company’s global consumer business.
On top of its record-breaking retail weekend, Cyber Monday once again earned top marks as the single biggest shopping day in Amazon’s history. The company did not release hard numbers but added that sales by small- and medium-size businesses climbed more than 20 percent over the previous year.
On Black Friday, the Seattle-based online retailer experienced a data breach that exposed customers’ names and email addresses — just as it was reporting “record levels” of shopping in the United Kingdom. “We have fixed the issue and informed customers who may have been impacted,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
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Separately, hundreds of Amazon employees across Europe had planned to protest “inhuman” working conditions at the company’s warehouses on Black Friday. The demonstrations, launched by off-shift workers and British trade union GMB, were set to take place at five fulfillment centers in the region.
Amazon responded with a statement to FN: “Amazon is a fair and responsible employer… We provide safe and positive working conditions and encourage anyone to come see for themselves by taking a tour at one of our fulfillment centers.”
Ahead of the holidays, the company raised the minimum wage to $15 for more than 250,000 full-time, part-time and temporary employees across the United States. Amazon also announced that, for the holidays, it would do away with its longstanding $25 minimum per order to qualify for free shipping. Instead, the company will extend free shipping to all U.S.-based customers for every one of the hundreds of millions of products scheduled to arrive in time for Christmas.
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