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Amazon unveils the top holiday gifts this season

Posted at 2:14 PM, Dec 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-26 16:14:45-05

Amazon got everything on its holiday wish list.

The Echo Dot, Amazon’s cheapest smart speaker, was the most popular item on the company’s online marketplace during its “biggest holiday season. That’s thanks in part to … customers buying Echoes from their Echoes and other Alexa-enabled products.

Echoes had also been best-sellers on Black Friday, and Amazon dropped Dot prices to under $30 this month to fuel demand.

Amazon said customers bought twice as many Fire TV streaming sticks over the holidays compared to last year.

It’s been a killer holiday stretch for Amazon. Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales made CEO Jeff Bezos a $100 billion dollar man. Cyber Monday was its biggest sales day ever.

Amazon shares rose slightly Tuesday. It’s now up 57% this year.

Meanwhile, Amazon said Will Ferrell’s movie “Elf” and Canadian singer Michael Bublé’s album “Christmas” were top hits over the holidays. “The Walking Dead” was the most watched TV show over the holidays.

Holiday revelers were doing more than snuggling up on the sofa watching television or dancing to Christmas tunes though.

Shoppers had a sweet tooth and a taste for cocktails: Chocolate chip cookies were the most requested recipe through Alexa and Martinis and Manhattans were the top drink requests.

Amazon celebrated its first Christmas with Whole Foods this year, and Whole Foods sold more than 500,000 pounds of sweets — enough to feed Santa 6 million cookies throughout his Christmas travels, Amazon noted.

Books — both hardcover and Kindle — were popular purchases too. Pete Souza’s “Obama: An Intimate Portrait” was the best-selling non-fiction book and Dan Brown’s “Origin” topped the fiction list.

Household and fitness gifts were also hot items.

The Instant Pot DUO80 was the best-selling kitchen item and robot vacuum cleaners were in high demand. The Fitbit Charge 2 and the 23andMe DNA Test were the top-selling fitness products.