Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has surpassed Staples to clinch the title of the second biggest online retailer, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing e-commerce trade publication Internet Retailer. Amazon.com is the number one online retailer.
Sales on the Apple online website increased 24% last year as customers can now purchase Apple devices along with downloading data from iTunes and the App store.
Apple strengthening its online segment
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) would have taken the second spot a while back, but until recently, sales of iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs and Apple TVs were not included the company’s official online store.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), however, seems more dedicated to its online retailer role and the company recently hired Angela Ahrendts and Bob Kupbens to join its retail team as SVP of retail and VP of online retail, respectively.
Amazon, however, is by far the largest player in the online retail sector, as its entire business model is based on e-commerce, and the firm garnered sales of $67.8 billion last year. The report from WSJ said that sales from online retailers from the second spot up to the 11th spot do not add up to Amazon’s total sales.
Others in the list
In the past year, sales at Amazon surged 24%, but it has already garnered sales of $68 billion and it will be increasingly difficult to grow rapidly given its size. In the top 15 list there are many big names like Wal-Mart at fourth and Sears at number five. Costco also entered the list for the first time at 14th just ahead of Best Buy.
Online sales for Wal-Mart increased 30% to $10 billion last year, ahead of Amazon’s 20% sales growth during the same period. Staples saw an increase of 1% to $10.4 billion, representing around 45% of the company’s $23.1 billion in total revenue last year. Online sales for Office Dept increased 1% to $4.1 billion and Office Max remained flat at $3.2 billion.
Costco increased its Internet sales by 48% to $3.1 billion last year, whereas Best Buy garnered sales of $3 billion to take the 15th spot. Online sales represented close to 3% of Costco’s $103 billion in revenue last year and about 7% of Best Buy’s $42 billion.
