Amazon Reveals the Biggest Sellers and Trends for Holiday 2019

Amazon serviced billions of orders during the 2019 holiday season, but what consumers actually had in those orders tells an interesting tale about trends across several industries.

Amazon said in a statement on Thursday that it needed to staff up during the holidays to handle those shipments, bringing on 250,000 full-time and part-time seasonal positions. It now has 750,000 employees worldwide.

But the company’s revelations about the most popular products sold this holiday season were most interesting. Toys, fashion, home, and beauty products were Amazon’s most-shopped departments, with more than 500 million products ordered. Shoppers also bought plenty of electronics and pet products, and Amazon even revealed this year’s most-desired book.

Here’s a brief rundown of major takeaways from Amazon’s 2019 holiday season:

LEGO and L.O.L.

Toys were a popular category again this year, according to Amazon. The company didn’t rank bestsellers, but said that the L.O.L. Surprise! Glitter Globe Doll Winter Disco Series with Glitter Hair was among the top toys this holiday season. A variety of building toys from LEGO, including a Star Wars Darth Vader Castle set and a LEGO set about the NASA Apollo Saturn V were also popular.

Artistic efforts also played well this year, thanks to the Melissa & Doug Scratch Art Box and the Crayola Inspiration Art Case Coloring Set.

Love for the home

The kitchen appears to have dominated home shopping this season. According to Amazon, the best-selling home products in the U.S. were the Instant Pot Duo 80 pressure cooker, a Keurig K-Classic Coffee Maker, and a Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer. The iRobot Roomba 675 robot vacuum was also a big seller.

Carhartt and leopard dominate fashion

Amazon had plenty to share about fashion this year, but said that work clothes maker Carhartt and sports apparel companies Champion and Adidas were the top fashion brands.

Additionally, Amazon said that leopard print headbands and animal prints were especially popular this holiday season. Cold weather accessories from companies like Columbia and Pendleton were also big hits.

More big wins for big tech

Over in the tech department on Amazon, shoppers were seeking all kinds of options this holiday season. Amazon said that Pokemon Sword, a video game for the Nintendo Switch, was especially popular. The company also sold a slew of Wyze Cam indoor smart home cameras. The Samsung 128GB MicroSDXC EVO Select memory card was also a big seller.

Plenty of treats for furry friends

Pets received plenty of attention from shoppers this holiday season, according to Amazon.

Not surprisingly, pet treats were among the most popular items this holiday season, with SmartSticks Peanut Butter Chews and Temptations Classic Cat Treats leading the way. The Furbo Dog Camera, which lets users see their pets from afar with its built-in camera and wirelessly give their dog treats, was also a popular buy this year.

John Grisham reigns supreme

It wouldn’t be an Amazon holiday lookback without some talk of books. And according to the company, John Grisham’s suspenseful thriller The Guardians was the “most read and most sold book” in the U.S. this holiday season.

Dog Man: Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey and Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know were also big hits.