Amazon.com shipped 50% more items this Christmas season than last for third-party vendors and doubled the amount for 2016 overall, the retail giant said today.
The news offers new data points for investors who are hoping Amazon will post a profit for the fourth quarter when it announces results in the coming weeks.
Seattle-based Amazon, known for its roller coaster results in years past, has forecast that operating income would range from nothing to $1.25 billion.
Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has said the 2016 Christmas was its best-ever shopping season. But high spending on warehouses and video production are expected to drag on profits.
More sellers are paying the company to store, pack and ship their goods through the Fulfillment by Amazon service.
Amazon more than doubled the items it delivered for other sellers in 2016 from the year previous to exceed two billion, a spokesman said.
Active sellers using the fulfillment service rose more than 70% in the year, Amazon said today. It did not specify the total number of vendors.
Third-party sales were "record-breaking" in 2016, Peter Faricy, vice president for Amazon Marketplace, said in the statement. Amazon takes a cut of the proceeds.
Cyber Monday, a shopping spree four days after Thanksgiving, is another indicator. Shoppers ordered more than 28 million items from third-party sellers this year, compared to more than 23 million items on Cyber Monday in 2015, Amazon said.
Amazon is building its own fleet of planes to handle the rise in orders and supplement shipping that it contracts out to companies like FedEx and United Parcel Service.
Data reviewed by Reuters and interviews with airport officials show that Amazon has loaded these aircraft with big but lightweight boxes, helping it dodge fees from cargo carriers increasingly pricing based on volume rather than weight.
The company does not disclose the revenue it generates from its Fulfillment by Amazon service.
Its chief executive Jeff Bezos has said that close to 50% of the units purchased on Amazon come from third-party vendors.
Clicks on product advertisements paid for by third-party sellers grew 150%, Amazon said.
