Amazon’s losses widen as it invests in making it easier for customers to buy

Amazon invested in making it ever easier for customers to buy in the third quarter of its financial year – at a cost to its bottom line, as its losses widened tenfold from the same time last year.

Sales at the company, which although based in the US is the largest online retailer trading in the UK, rose by 20% to $20.58bn in the quarter to September 30. But Amazon turned in a net loss of $437m for the quarter, widened tenfold from a net loss of $41m at the same time last year.

Nonetheless, it did get ever easier for customers to buy, especially for members of the Amazon Prime subscription scheme, who gain early access to its lightning deals, and, for a limited time, free same-day or next-day delivery for those using the AmazonFresh grocery service in Brooklyn, where the service has most recently reached. Innovations during the quarter also included the launch of its 3D printed products store and a co-branded Purdue University and Amazon store, where, from next year, Amazon will manage order pick-up and drop-off.

In the UK, Amazon has expanded its Amazon locker network to sites including Birmingham Airport.

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon.com, said: “As we get ready for this upcoming holiday season, we are focused on making the customer experience easier and more stress-free than ever. In addition to our already low prices we will offer more than 15,000 Lightning Deals with early acccess to select deals for Prime members, hundreds of millions of products across dozens of categories, curated gift lists like Holiday Toy List and Electronics Holiday Gift Guide, new features like #AmazonWishList, and a great new lineup of products like Kindle Voyage and Fire HD Kids Edition.”