Best Selling Products of 2004 at Amazon--Direct Marketing, Mail Order, E-commerce News

Direct Marketing, Mail Order, and E-commerce News from the National Mail Order Association

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Amazon.com Releases ''Best Of 2004 List''

Amazon.com released its "Best Of 2004 List" that includes the best selling, most positively reviewed,

most wished for, and most favorite gift products as determined by Amazon.com customers in 2004.

Best Selling Products

The following is a list of the best selling products on Amazon.com in 2004 by total units sold:

-- Books: "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book)" by Jon Stewart

-- Music: "Feels Like Home" (Norah Jones)

-- DVD/Video: "Star Wars Trilogy" (Widescreen Edition)

-- Electronics: Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player

-- Home & Garden: Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Everyday Pan with Lid

-- Health & Personal Care: Panasonic ER411NC Nose and Ear Hair Groomer

-- Computer & Video Games: Grand Theft Auto -- San Andreas (PlayStation2)

-- Tools & Hardware: Porter-Cable CFFN250N Finish & Brad Nailer Combo Kit

-- Apparel & Accessories: UGG(R) Australia 'Classic Short' Boot (Women)

-- Sports & Outdoors: Plastic Curve Baseball (EA)

-- Jewelry & Watches: Sterling Silver Blue Topaz Earrings

-- Beauty: 15-Piece Sampler by Yves Rocher

-- Gourmet Food: Ghirardelli Tower from Wine Country Gift Baskets

Most Loved Products

The following is a list of products on Amazon.com that were reviewed most positively by customers in 2004:

-- Books: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon

-- Music: "The Way/Solitaire" (Clay Aiken)

-- DVD/Video: "Firefly: The Complete Series"

-- Electronics: Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player

-- Home & Garden: Dyson DC-07 Cyclone Animal Upright Vacuum (Purple)

-- Health & Personal Care: Phillips HeartStart Home Automated External Defibrillator

-- Computer & Video Games: Grand Theft Auto -- San Andreas (PlayStation2)

-- Tools & Hardware: Porter-Cable CFFN250N Finish & Brad Nailer Combo Kit

-- Apparel & Accessories: UGG(R) Australia 'Classic Short' Boot (Women)

-- Sports & Outdoors: The Firm Body Sculpting System

-- Jewelry & Watches: 18k White Gold Certified Round Diamond 4-Prong Stud Earrings

-- Beauty: MiN Solution2

-- Gourmet Food: Dark Low Carb Chocolate from Ross Chocolates

Most Wished For Products

The following is a list of products that appeared most often on the Wish Lists of Amazon.com customers in 2004:

-- Books: "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book)" by Jon Stewart

-- Music: "Feels Like Home" (Norah Jones)

-- DVD/Video: "Star Wars Trilogy" (Widescreen Edition)

-- Electronics: Apple 4 GB iPod Mini (Silver)

-- Home & Garden: KitchenAid KSM150PSWH Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer (White)

-- Health & Personal Care: Panasonic ER411NC Nose and Ear Hair Groomer

-- Computer & Video Games: Grand Theft Auto -- San Andreas (PlayStation2)

-- Tools & Hardware: Bessey KBK2440 Cabinet Door Clamp Kit

-- Apparel & Accessories: UGG(R) Australia 'Classic Short' Boot (Women)

-- Sports & Outdoors: Flybar Model 1200

-- Jewelry & Watches: Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Heart Pendant on Satin Cord, 16" by Paris Hilton

-- Beauty: DuWop Lip Venom

-- Gourmet Food: Fireworks Popcorn, 11" Bowl Gift Set

Most Popular Gift Products

The following is a list of products most frequently purchased as gifts by Amazon.com customers in 2004:

-- Books: "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

-- Music: "Feels Like Home" (Norah Jones)

-- DVD/Video: "Pirates of the Caribbean -- The Curse of the Black Pearl"

-- Electronics: Apple 4 GB iPod Mini (Silver)

-- Home & Garden: Black & Decker JW200 Lids Off Jar Opener (White)

-- Health & Personal Care: Panasonic ER411NC Nose and Ear Hair Groomer

-- Computer & Video Games: Super Mario Advance 4 -- Super Mario Bros. 3

-- Tools & Hardware: Strait-Line 64030 Laser Tape

-- Apparel & Accessories: Hue Furry Sock

-- Sports & Outdoors: Eddie Bauer Performance Horseshoe Set

-- Jewelry & Watches: Sterling Silver Blue Topaz Earrings

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In a related Amazon.com story.

Amazon.com's Tenth Holiday Season is Best Ever; Consumer Electronics is

Biggest Category for the First Time in Company's History

Amazon.com, Inc.announced it has finished its busiest holiday season ever during

which time it set a single-day record with more than 2.8 million units ordered, or 32

items per second, worldwide. Additionally, even while its books business set a new

Thanksgiving Weekend record, consumer electronics sales surpassed book sales on

www.amazon.com that weekend and was Amazon's largest sales category for the first time.

Worldwide 2004 Holiday Facts

(includes www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr,

www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com).

-- On the peak day this season, Amazon's worldwide fulfillment network shipped over two million units.

-- Amazon.com shipped to 217 countries and delivered over 100,000 shipments to overseas US military personnel at APO/FPO addresses.

-- More than half a million gift certificates were ordered between November 25th and December 24th 2004.

-- Amazon.com shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to meet holiday deadlines worldwide.

-- One of Amazon.com's most remote shipments was the CD "The Mountain" (Del McCoury and Steve Earle) to Arctic Village, Alaska.

Amazon.com 2004 Holiday Facts (www.amazon.com only)

-- The "Holiday Shoppers" feature, which tracked the estimated number of visitors at Amazon.com during the prior 60 minutes, topped 700,000.

-- The Jewelry & Watches store sold more than one watch per minute since November 25.

-- The Music store broke a new sales record, selling more than one million units per week for two consecutive weeks in December.

-- The DVD category capped off the year by breaking the one week order record (for the week ending December 12), and by setting a single title one day order record of over 13,000 units of "Lord of the Rings, Return of the King Extended Edition" on December 14.

-- The last order placed on December 23rd in time for Christmas delivery contained "Is This It" by The Strokes and Yu-Gi-Oh!-The Movie. It was delivered to Sammamish, Washington on December 24th.

-- Compared with 2003, the standard shipping deadline was extended two days from December 18 to December 20.

Amazon.com's hot holiday sellers November 25, 2004 through December 23, 2004 (based on units ordered)

-- In Home & Garden, kitchen items topped the list this year. The Black & Decker Lids Off Jar Opener, the Hamilton Beach Waffle Stix Waffle Maker and Riedel O Cabernet/Merlot Wine Tumblers were the three top sellers in the store. Cookware was also very popular, with classic pans from Calphalon, the Casa Moda "S'mores" Maker, and George Foreman grills being among the best sellers.

-- In Gourmet Food, Harry & David's Christmas Classic Tower of Treats and the Ghirardelli Tower were again the most popular gift baskets. See's Candies Gold Truffle Box and Godiva's Holiday Gold Coin Bag were top selling chocolate gifts. Other popular items included the Kona Coffee Sampler and Cranberry Fool unique cranberry sauce.

-- In Sports & Outdoors, flashlights, poker chips and exercise equipment (including full-sized treadmills, home gyms, yoga and pilates gear, and the Ab Lounge 2) were the hottest items this season. The Flybar 1200, a high-tech pogo stick sold exclusively on Amazon.com, was so popular that Amazon.com fulfillment centers scrambled to keep up with customer demand. Other areas that did exceedingly well were golf, fan gear for every sport, and, surprisingly, SCUBA and snorkel gear.

-- Top sellers in Computer & Video Games were Halo 2 (Xbox), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Playstation 2) and the Incredibles (Gameboy Advance). The Sims 2 and Half-Life 2 were the top selling games for PCs.

-- In Health & Personal Care, the ever popular nose hair groomers, shavers and electric toothbrushes were the top sellers. A surprising top seller this holiday was the new Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator, which is the first defibrillator cleared for over-the-counter sale.

-- Tools & Hardware top sellers were the Black & Decker 25' Auto Tape Measure, the Strait-Line Intersect Laser Level, the Porter-Cable Finish & Brad Nailer Combo Kit, and the Toro Electric Power Shovel Plus.

-- The top selling books this holiday season were "America (the book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" by Jon Stewart, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom - which also topped the list in 2003, and "Chronicles Vol. 1" by Bob Dylan.

-- In Music, the hottest sellers were U2's "How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb," Clay Aiken's "Merry Christmas with Love," Nirvana's box set "With the Lights Out," Allison Krauss and Union Station's "Lonely Runs Both Ways," Rod Stewart's "Stardust...The Great American Songbook Volume III," Green Day's "American Idiot," Josh Groban's "Live at the Greek," and Ray Charles' "Genius Loves Company."

-- In the DVD/Video category, it was the season of multi-disc sets as the "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Extended Edition," "Seinfeld" Seasons 1-3 and the "Star Wars Trilogy" led the top sellers. This holiday season also proved that there is strength in sequels as "Shrek 2," "Spider-Man 2," and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" all finished in the top 10.

-- In Beauty, the most popular products this season were samplers from Yves Rocher and Caswell Massey, Curious Britney Spears perfume, and Philosophy's The Gingerbread House. LUSH Bath Bombs have also been a regular favorite.

-- The top selling electronics products this year were the Apple 20GB iPod, the Apple 4GB Silver Mini iPod, the Phillips DVP642 DivX Progressive Scan DVD player, the iTunes $15 prepaid Card and the Canon PowerShot SD 110 3MP Digital Elph camera.

-- Diamonds of all sizes were popular in earrings, pendants and bracelets. Other top selling jewelry items include Sterling Silver Blue Topaz Earrings, Paris Hilton's Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Heart Pendant on a Satin Cord (16 inch), Paris Hilton's Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Star Hoop Earrings, and a Floating Heart Pendant with Diamond.

-- In apparel, comfort was king. The Ugg(R) Australia Classic Short Boot, Land's End Women's Regular Flex Fleece Clog Slippers, and the Carole Hochman Fleece Pajama Set were all hot sellers.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven Web sites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

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