The more things change, the more they stay the same. Amazon’s top 5

product groups for the month of August defy expectations and reveal that

consumer tastes aren’t as fickle as many industry analysts assume. The

predicted “death” of both books and laptops gets no support here, with

both of these categories showing absolute growth. Amazon further proves

that it can compete across a broad range of product categories, with both

furniture and back-to-school items performing very well in August.

Amazon’s Top 5 Product Groups for AugustBy Nathan Rigby, VP Sales & Marketing at One Click Retail

Let’s take a closer look at the 5 product groups that have topped 1st party sales across Amazon, and see what current and future trends they indicate as well as disprove.

With no competition in sight, books remain Amazon’s bread and butter, with more than 7 times the value of the second largest product group. This comes as no real surprise, but what does upset predictions is its 228% growth month-over-month (MoM). A small percentage of this growth can be attributed to back-to-school sales and the July 31st release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the latest addition to the fastest-selling franchise in history; but with this group almost doubling in size, we’re comfortable saying that paper books aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Product Group #1: Books >$250M

Back-to-school really shines in this product group: graphics calculators represent 2

of the 3 best-selling items in the Office Products group for August, with the TI-84

Plus Graphics Calculators being the #3 top selling item on Amazon. Because back-

to-school has traditionally been dominated by brick-and-mortar stores, this 36%

growth MoM speaks volumes to how consumers prefer more and more to shop

online, especially when they know exactly what they’re looking for.

Product Group #2: Office Products >$40M

Interestingly, the digital version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child did

not top the list in the ebooks group, despite the physical book being

leagues ahead of others in that category. Since many consumers

already own the original 7-book series, the relatively low sales of the

ebook edition suggest that people place more value on a physical book,

especially one that is considered a collector’s item, than a digital one.

Product Group #3: EBooks >$30M

All in all, this August we saw no great shift in the types of products that

consumers want, despite what some industry analysts have predicted.

However, we have seen the continued consumer shift towards online shopping

even in some surprising areas like furniture and back-to-school shopping. In

this ongoing trend, it’s the trust and loyalty that Amazon has engendered since

its humble book-merchant beginnings that continues to draw people back and

allow Amazon to compete across all product categories.

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One Click Retail (OCR) is a market leader in eCommerce data measurement, sales analytics and search optimization for brand manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia. Thanks to our proprietary sales calculations that are 98.5% accurate down to the SKU level, OCR’s accuracy is unrivaled in the marketplace. The OCR Product Suite provides 1st and 3rd party business intelligence across the 30 largest retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Staples and Home Depot. The world’s top brands, such as Procter & Gamble, Panasonic, Nestle, Hamilton Beach and HP, rely on OCR insights to drive sales and profitability across eCommerce.

Founded in 2013 by eCommerce experts from Amazon, Walmart, Target, Overstock and other leading retailers, OCR was acquired in 2016 by Ascential plc (LSE: ASCL.L), a UK-based international B2B media company with a focused portfolio of market-leading events and information services products.

To learn more about how OCR can provide your brand with the competitive edge in today’s ecommerce marketplace, visit www.oneclickretail.com.

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