Amazon.com Book Store Continues to be the Best Place for Book Lovers, as Fourth Quarter 1999 Results Strengthen Retailer's No. 1 Ranking.Books/Publishing and Business Writers SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2000 Leading online retailer Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN AMZN Amazon.com (NASDAQ symbol) ) (www.amazon.com) today announced that its U.S. Book Store revenue growth reached $317 million in the fourth quarter of 1999, up more than 66 percent from the fourth quarter of 1998, bringing the store's sales to an annualized annualized Of or relating to a variable that has been mathematically converted to a yearly rate. Inflation and interest rates are generally annualized since it is on this basis that these two variables are ordinarily stated and compared. run rate of more than $1.2 billion. From the third quarter to the fourth quarter, U.S. Books' growth in dollar terms was larger than the total fourth quarter sales of any other online book retailer. Since launching its online store in July 1995, Amazon.com has focused on listening to customers, innovating, and continually improving their shopping experience. Key Book Store achievements and milestones in 1999 include: -- Amazon.com continues to have the greatest selection of any online bookstore, with more than 13 million titles. -- Amazon.com was ranked as the No. 1 online book retailer by Forrester PowerRankings, Jupiter Communications, and Gomez Advisors, Inc. -- Amazon.com Advantage for Books, which gives thousands of independent publishers and authors instant access to Amazon.com's more than 16 million customers, made publishing history in 1999. Author M.J. Rose's book Lip Service lip service n. Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect: became the first self-published novel to be discovered online, getting signed to a publishing contract A publishing contract is a legal contract between a publisher and a writer or author (or more than one), to publish written material by the writer(s) or author(s). This may involve a single written work, or a series of works. with Pocket Books. -- Launching additional recommendation services and features such as Purchase Circles to help customers find, discover, and buy the right books. -- Even better pricing with the introduction of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Best Sellers at 50% off every day. -- Increased selection with the addition of millions of used and out-of-print titles. -- Professional and Technical Store launches and the addition of numerous branded stores for specialty areas such as Java and Linux. -- Expanded expert editorial content, including an alliance with independent bookseller and Edgar-winning mystery authority Otto Penzler. His recommendations column, &uot;Penzler's Picks,&uot; now appears regularly on the Mystery &Thrillers page. &uot;Even as Amazon.com grows into the place where people can find, discover, and buy anything they might want online, we remain passionate about books and committed to building the best online bookstore for our customers,&uot; said Carl Gish, Amazon.com Book Store general manager. &uot;We are constantly enhancing the store to expand selection, make it easier to use, and otherwise make the shopping experience better for our customers. Listening to our customers paid off and they rewarded us by increasing our leadership position in the fourth quarter. In fact, if you placed the books sold by Amazon.com in the fourth quarter of 1999 side to side, they would stretch 265 miles, or more than 48 times the height of Mount Everest -- including the newly calculated height.&uot; About Amazon.com Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards See e-card. . Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, home improvement products, software, and video games See video game console. . Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 13 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. The company also participates in sothebys.amazon.com, the leading auction site for guaranteed art, jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. , and collectibles, at www.sothebys.amazon.com. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. Amazon.com's All Product Search scours scour, scours 1. the chemical and physical cleaning of fleece wool. 2. diarrhea. dietetic scour see dietary diarrhea. peat scour see secondary nutritional copper deficiency. the Web to help customers find merchandise that is not available at Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, or Amazon.com zShops, making Amazon.com the shopping destination to find anything. Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present. Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service -- with operations in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, -- at www.homegrocer.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods Noun 1. sporting goods - sports equipment sold as a commodity commodity, trade good, good - articles of commerce sports equipment - equipment needed to participate in a particular sport at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; and Ashford.com (Nasdaq:ASFD ASFD American Society of Furniture Designers ASFD Ashford.com (stock symbol) ASFD Australian Society of Forensic Dentistry ASFD Austin Science Fun Day ASFD Association Suisse des Fonctionnaires aux Douanes ), the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com. Amazon.com also has a minority interest in Della.com, which brings together leading retailers with gift registry, expert advice, and personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. gift suggestions to help everyone give better gifts, at www.della.com; and NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com. This announcement contains forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended December 31, 1998 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. for the quarters ended March 31, 1999, June 30, 1999, and September 30, 1999. |
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