33+ Amazon UK Statistics to Get You in the Shopping Mood

Can you imagine spending the lockdown without your trusted Amazon packages delivered to your doorstep? Me neither!

One of the biggest online retailers, Amazon UK statistics show a company that has seen its revenue increase by more than 50% in the last year alone and will most likely keep on expanding and profiting in 2021 as well! 

Want to learn more fascinating Amazon facts and figures? 

Then keep on scrolling! 

 Top Ten Amazon Stats in the UK You Should Know in 2021

General Amazon UK Statistics 

1. How many customers does Amazon have in the UK?

(Mintel)

Nearly 90% of shoppers in the UK are using Amazon. What’s more, Mintel reports that about 70% of UK customers visit this online retailer at least once a month, while only 17% of Amazon UK customers use this shopping platform on a weekly basis.

2. Amazon market share in the UK stands at 30%.

(Ascential)

The UK e-commerce market ranks as the third-largest in the world, behind China and the US. According to the latest data, Amazon’s share in that market increased from 28.8% in 2018 to 30.1% in 2019. In other words, it’s dominating the UK’s online retail market, leaving eBay as the second biggest player with a 9.8% share. 

3. There are about 15 million British shoppers subscribed to Amazon Prime.

(Mintel)

Amazon Prime membership statistics reveal that 39% of buyers have access to this subscription-based service. In fact, 26% of Amazon customers have a membership on Prime and 13% share access through someone else’s account. 

4. There were around 281.000 active marketplace sellers on Amazon in 2019.

(Statista) 

As reported by Statista, there were 281,257 Amazon marketplace sellers in the UK in 2019. This number is continuously increasing as new third-party sellers enter the market. Actually, Amazon UK holds 9.6% of all the company’s active marketplace sellers globally and is ranked second, behind Amazon.com.

5. 45% of Amazon UK sellers are using the Amazon FBA service.

(Statista)

Fast shipping is a vital feature of every online company or marketplace. To work as effectively as possible, Amazon has developed an appropriate working model that enables exactly that. For that reason, Fulfilment by Amazon, or commonly known as Amazon FBA, has an increasing adoption rate among Amazon UK top sellers, growing by more than 10% between 2017 and 2018. 

6. There are 21 Amazon FBA distribution centres in the UK.

(Statista) (Apex Storage Systems)

According to Statista’s latest data, there are 77 Amazon distribution centres in Europe, 21 of which are in the UK. The largest Amazon warehouse in Britain, covering 1 million square feet, is located in Dunfermline, Scotland. Equivalent to 14 football pitches in size and employing more than 1000 permanent workers, this Amazon Fulfillment Centre is also one of the biggest warehouses in the UK. 

7. Amazon industry reports show the company has more than 27,500 employees across the UK.

(Amazon UK) (Statista) (The Guardian)

In the past decade, the number of employees in Amazon UK has significantly increased, from 1,872 in 2009 to 22,073 almost ten years later. Today, over 27,500 people are working for the company in the UK. 

Furthermore, the Guardian reports that in the autumn of 2020, Amazon employed an additional 7,000 permanent staff to meet pandemic-driven shopping needs. At the same time, the company hired around 20,000 temporary workers to satisfy customer demand over the Christmas period. 

8. The minimum hourly wage at Amazon UK’s starts at £9.50 per hour.

(Amazon UK) (Indeed) (SeattleTimes)

Based on the data points collected by Indeed, the average Amazon salaries in the UK range between £14,804 per year for a customer service representative to £70,000 for a business manager. 

The average salary for a warehouse worker is £10.50 per hour, while the average turnover rate for warehouse workers is around 100%, meaning that Amazon is always looking to hire. 

Amazon User Demographics

9. Gen Z makes up the majority of Amazon Prime UK users.

(Mintel) 

Amazon Prime is the number one destination for the biggest and most influential generation of online consumers, i.e., younger age groups. Mintel’s report indicates that an impressive 63% of users aged between 16 and 24 have access to Amazon Prime as do 52% of those in the 25-34 age group. 

10. 28% of millennials in the UK shop on Amazon for the lower prices. 

(Statista)

The main two reasons why millennials shop on this retail platform are lower price and free delivery. Other reasons include the variety of Amazon products available (cited by 23% of participants in a UK survey) and fast and convenient delivery. The latter was mentioned by 15% of respondents as the primary motivation for making a purchase from this site.

Amazon Devices and Services in the UK

11. Amazon Echo is the most popular smart speaker among UK users.

(Statista) (GOV.UK)

At least one in every five homes in the UK is using a voice-activated speaker, and according to Amazon Echo statistics, this device is dominating the market. In the first quarter of 2019, 79% of smart speakers used in the UK were an Amazon Echo, while Google’s device was second, holding 13% of the market.

12. In 2020, 77% of smart speaker owners had an Alexa-powered speaker.

(Statista) 

Over the years, Amazon has regularly added new updates, skills and features to Alexa. In 2020, this voice assistant’s total number of skills in the United Kingdom had grown to an incredible 36,341. Furthermore, Amazon’s Alexa had 124 thousand monthly downloads from Google Play and 91.7 thousand from the App Store.

13. Over 10.1 million households in the UK have subscribed to Amazon Prime Video.

(The Guardian) (Statista) 

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, Brits spent 40% of their waking hours watching TV. During this time, Amazon Prime Video viewership reached over 10.1 million users, going up by nine million in just five years. However, the first place still belongs to its competitor Netflix which boasts 15 million subscribers.

14. Amazon Prime Video has the largest number of titles available in the UK.

(Statista) (Ofcom) 

Netflix may have more subscribers, but Amazon Prime takes the lead in the number of titles available, a quick comparison of Amazon Prime vs Netflix statistics reveals. Namely, as of March 2020, the former offered almost 20 thousand titles, while Netflix only had 5,520.

Additionally, 10% of the content on Amazon Prime Video consists of UK-produced programmes compared to just 8% of Netflix’s library. 

15. Amazon has total dominance over e-book sales in the UK.

(TNPS) (Statista) 

Chosen by 69% of respondents in a 2019 poll, the Amazon Kindle e-book store was the most used online content source in the UK. With 38.4% of their generation owning an e-reader, millennials are the most prominent group to use this service, Amazon Kindle statistics inform.

Amazon UK Sales Statistics

16. The UK is Amazon’s second-biggest market in Europe.

(Statista) (The Guardian)

Preceded only by Germany, the United Kingdom is the company’s second-largest market on the Continent. 

But how much money does Amazon make in the UK? 

Well, in Q3 2020, Amazon reported a total net income of $6.3 billion (over 4.5 billion pounds). Another mind-blowing fact: the company saw a 37% increase in earnings in the same period fueled by growing retail sales during the pandemic.

17. Entertainment items are the most popular product category in the UK.

(Statista)

Along with entertainment products, most Amazon purchases by UK buyers come from the technology category. Actually, out of over 30 categories on Amazon, 49% of the UK Prime members shopped in the technology department. On the other hand, only 18% of Prime shoppers use this platform for grocery shopping, making it the least popular category among Prime members. 

18. Based on feedback, musicMagpie is the highest-ranking seller on Amazon’s UK platform.

(Statista)

For those who don’t know, musicMagpie is an online retailer that buys and sells refurbished and second-hand electronics, games, books, etc. According to Amazon UK stats, this seller had received over 200.000 buyer reviews in 2019, which is one of the leading indicators determining sales volume.

19. Amazon Prime Day 2020 was the most successful for small businesses.

(The Daily Mirror)

According to Amazon sales data from the UK, Prime Day delivers big benefits for small businesses as well as significant savings for Prime members. The Daily Mirror reported that UK Prime members saved more than £75 million during Prime Day 2020, paying 50% less for appliances and over 70% less for cosmetics.

20. Over 80 thousand Echo Dot smart speakers were sold on Amazon Prime Day.

(Statista)

The retailer’s own-brand devices were the most bought items on Amazon Prime Day, including the bestselling FireTV Stick 4K Ultra HD and the Echo Dot smart speaker, 80.000 pieces of which were sold on Prime Day 2019.

21. How many products does Amazon sell in the UK?

(Amazon UK) 

Amazon sales statistics tell us that from May 2019 to May 2020, small and medium-sized businesses sold more than 600 million products on this platform or about 1,200 items per minute. These companies generated about £75,000 in sales, increasing from £60,000 recorded in the previous year. Amazing, isn’t it? 

Amazon Revenue Statistics

22. Amazon reported over 51% sales growth in the UK in 2020.

(The Guardian)

While physical retail sales have dropped, online sales have increased dramatically, getting Amazon’s revenue for 2020 to a record £19.4 billion. This is an increase of 51% in Amazon UK revenue compared to the previous year. Also, Amazon’s 2020 sales income is about double that of retail staple Marks & Spencer, showing just how much COVID-19 has affected high street shopping. 

23. The e-commerce giant paid just £293 million in tax in 2019.

(Charged) (The Guardian)

As Charged reported, in 2019 Amazon paid only £6.3 million in corporation tax in the UK, out of the total £293 million. Despite the impressive income the company generated, Amazon tax in the UK is just a fraction of overall revenue, a fact which has caused some controversy in the country. Additionally, the online retailer did not state how much tax they paid in 2020 in the UK, causing even more public outrage. 

24. Amazon Prime Video revenue was £400 million in 2018. 

(Digital TV Europe)

Along with its competitor Netflix, Amazon Prime Video made a combined £1.09 billion in revenue in 2018. This is twice as much as the largest broadcasters in the UK, such as Sky, NOW TV, and ITV managed to make in the same year. 

Amazon UK Consumer Behaviour 

25. Amazon was proclaimed as the best company for customer service in the UK for the past decade.

(Amazon UK) (Retail Gazette)

Between January 2010 and January 2020, Amazon gained an average customer service score of 87.4 on the UK Customer Satisfaction Index. Based on this stellar score, the retailer was named the company with the best customer service in the past decade.  

However, the latest data show that the Amazon customer satisfaction score is declining. In January 2020, the company was ranked fifth on the UK Customer Satisfaction Index with a score of 84.1.

26. Only 6.2% of shoppers in the UK never use Amazon.

(Statista)

On the other hand, around 25% of UK customers taking part in a 2019 poll are loyal Amazon shoppers who love using this platform. In comparison, Amazon trends and stats show that nearly 8.9% feel guilty for shopping with this retailer and not supporting smaller independent shops. 

27. Free shipping is a deal-breaker for 19% of UK millennials who have an Amazon Prime membership.

(Statista)

Another influential factor for one of the UK’s biggest user groups on Amazon is free delivery. Many of the millennials interviewed in an online survey like to take advantage of this Amazon customer service because it comes for free with their Prime membership. 

Amazon Web Traffic Statistics 

28. Amazon.co.uk had 579.5 million visits in one month.

(Statista)

According to Statista, November 2020 was a milestone for Amazon UK traffic as it recorded the highest number of visits. The platform reported 579.5 million visits during that month, over 60 million more visitors compared to October 2020. This increase in numbers was fueled by two events taking place at the end of November, i.e. Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

29. Amazon’s web traffic in the UK jumped 40% in 2020 compared to the previous year.

(The UK Domain) (Similar Web)

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, web traffic on Amazon.co.uk increased by almost 13 billion. Furthermore, Amazon statistics for January 2021, show that the average monthly number of visits coming from both desktop and mobile stood at 485 million.

30. Direct access to the website is the primary source of traffic to Amazon.co.uk.

(Similar Web)

In the last six months (i.e. as of Aug 2020), the most significant desktop traffic source to Amazon.co.uk came from direct access to the website, or more precisely 56.57%. Also, 30.15% of traffic to the UK platform occurred via search, 80.45% of which was organic.

31. From all social networks, YouTube is sending the most traffic to Amazon’s UK platform.

(Similar Web)

According to Amazon UK stats, 4.22% of traffic to Amazon’s UK website comes from social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Another source that brings traffic to this platform is display advertising with a 2.15% share. 

32. An average visit to Amazon UK’s website lasts exactly 6 minutes and 13 seconds.

(Similar Web)

Data from both desktop and mobile web visits to the site collected between August 2020 and January 2021 indicate that users spend an average of 6 minutes on the site. The average user views 7.58 pages a day, while the bounce rate is 35.71%. 

33. There were over 36,000 Amazon mobile users in 2019. 

(Statista) 

As of 2019, there were more than 36,000 visits to Amazon websites from mobile devices. What’s more, the Amazon app is a leader among shopping apps in the UK having the biggest number of daily active users on iPhones (almost 2.3 million thousand). On Google Play, the Amazon Shopping app was ranked second in terms of DAUs, with 119 thousand customers using the application daily. 

Conclusion

By now, you have realised that this pandemic-fueled platform has evolved in one of the largest online retail stores. As we saw above in our selection of Amazon UK statistics, this retailing giant is the biggest player in the British e-commerce market, providing countless opportunities for retailers and shoppers alike. 

We hope this article has given you valuable insight into the workings of this platform, as well as some inspiration if you plan to start an e-commerce shop on Amazon.