Amazon just released its list of best-selling items that were purchased the most over the holiday season.
Holiday purchases were up across the board, even with beleaguered brick-and-mortar retailers like Sears seeing a bump. But the king of holiday purchases remains Amazon. The largest retailer in the world just released its data for the holiday shopping period and listed the best-selling items in each category. If you didn't get exactly what you wanted or have some gift cards to spend, here are the items that everyone else went crazy over! #1 Holiday Gift Purchased on Amazon: Amazon Echo Dot
Smart home automation was all the rage this holiday season. One of the easiest ways to get into it was with the Amazon Echo Dot. All you have to do is say "Alexa" and then feed the device a question or command. Use it to change the channel, tell you the weather, turn off the lights, or just play music.
Amazon won't say exactly how many Echo Dots were sold, but they did admit the number was "in the millions."
#2 Holiday Gift Purchased on Amazon: Amazon Firestick
Not all that surprising since the company really pushed its TV streaming stick during the lead up to Christmas. Even retailers like Best Buy had a hard time keeping these devices on the shelves. The $40 streaming stick makes it a breeze to stream Amazon Prime movies and other streaming services like Netflix.
Biggest Jump: Amazon Music
With all of those Echo Dots sold, it just makes sense that Amazon would see a record number of Amazon Music Unlimited signups. There were four times as many Amazon Music songs played this Christmas as there were over last year's holiday. When combined with the Echo, users can simply say what music or songs they want to hear, and Alexa does the rest.
The service is so popular that Amazon is continuing its free 30-day trial for Amazon Music Unlimited, so if you just got an Echo Dot, you should definitely try it out!
Best New Amazon Service: Amazon Fresh
This year, Amazon acquired Whole Foods. That allowed them to ramp up their food delivery program -- Amazon Fresh -- faster than previously thought possible.
Over the holiday season, customers took advantage of this grocery delivery service. I mean, who wouldn't? But the most purchased food items were kind of surprising. The best-selling foods over the holidays were organic bananas, limes, cucumbers, navel oranges, and yellow onions. Yeah, pretty random ....
Typically, Amazon Fresh costs $14.99/month, but if you are an Amazon Prime member, that fee is reduced to $10.99/month. That's a lot for the privilege to buy groceries online. But, you can still try it out for free for one month using this link.
All right, on to the biggest selling products. There are a TON of different Amazon categories, and we couldn't possibly list them all. But here are a few of the top categories and the items that were purchased the most as Christmas presents this year.
Best-Selling Kitchen Item: Instant Pot DUO ($119.95)
The Instant Pot DUO pressure cooker/slow cooker was the most purchased kitchen item this holiday season because it also cooks rice and eggs, makes yogurt, and sautees and steams as well.
Best-Selling Toy: Nerf N-Strike Elite Strongarm Blaster ($12.99)
This isn't the newest Nerf gun or even the most requested this holiday season. The Nerf Rival Nemesis gets that title. But, the Elite Strongarm Blaster's low price point of only $13 made it a deal that parents and grandparents just couldn't pass up.
Best-Selling Game: What Do You Meme? Adult Party Game ($29.99)
The meme magic was real this year with more people purchasing the What Do You Meme? game than any other card or board game on Amazon.
Best-Selling Smart Home Product: TP-Link Smart Plug (3 for $49.99)
With how many people buying Echo Dots this year, this makes sense. The TP-Link Smart Plug allows you to turn any device that plugs into the wall into a smart device. These plugs communicate with Echos, Google Homes, and other smart hubs to let you shut off power to anything -- from your TV to the coffee maker -- with voice commands. Really cool.
Best-Selling 4K TV: TCL 49" 4K Ultra HD Roku Smart LED TV
Televisions have come down in price a lot in just a few short years. While everyone was expecting the only good deals to be on older 1080p definition television, the best 4K TV sold on Amazon for Christmas is actually just under $350.
Best-Selling Beauty Item: Finishing Touch Flawless Women's Painless Hair Remover ($14.99)
The Finishing Touch Flawless Women's Painless Hair Remover is shaped like a tube of lipstick, allowing women to bring it with them anywhere and use it discreetly.
Best-Selling Home Item: Robotic Vacuums ($200-$500)
Robotic vacuums have improved a lot in recent years (and come down in price as well). The best-selling robot vacuum on Amazon was the ECOVACS DEEBOT N79 Robotic Vacuum.
Best-Selling Baby Item: Baby Einstein Take-Along Tunes Musical Toy
My wife and I are expecting our first child sometime this month, and over Christmas, we did a lot of baby shopping to take advantage of Amazon's 15% off baby registry completion coupon. If you're having a baby, definitely check that out. I am telling you, this Baby Einstein Take Along Music Toy was showing up everywhere. It's no surprise that it was the most purchased baby toy on Amazon this year ....
--
What was the best holiday shopping deal you took advantage of? Let us know in the comment section below!
