SEATTLE--July 10, 2000--In what is sure to be one of the largest sales and distribution events in e-commerce history, the leading online retailer, Amazon.com (www.amazon.com), teamed up with FedEx to deliver 250,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to eager fans across the country on Saturday, July 8--the first day the book was available to the public.
Amazon.com joined with FedEx (NYSE:FDX) to provide complimentary Saturday delivery upgrades by FedEx Home Delivery and FedEx Express for the first 250,000 orders placed via the Amazon.com Web site. To deliver this unprecedented number of books, 100 regularly scheduled FedEx flights, 9,000 FedEx delivery personnel and vehicles from 700 stations were mobilized from Amazon.com distribution centers.
"As a simple Muggle, I am astounded at the huge number of pre-orders we received for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. "Our customers run the gamut from mothers and fathers to grandparents, professionals, and students. And everyone, and I mean everyone, loves Harry Potter."
"Not since Santa Claus, the elves and the reindeer has one delivery made this many kids happy," said Lyn Blake, general manager of Amazon.com Books. "It's been an exciting experience for our whole staff to play such an integral role in this major event."
The following statistics showcase the immense level of this distribution event:
-- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire weighs in at 2.7 pounds
per copy. To date, Amazon.com has shipped approximately
675,000 pounds (more than 300 tons) of the book
-- At 752 pages per copy, Amazon.com delivered more than 188
million pages of Harry Potter magic on Saturday, July 8
-- At 9 1/4 inches in length, the Amazon.com/FedEx Harry Potter
shipment would span 36 miles if lined up end-to-end
"This is a classic example of how the speed of online shopping can be combined with innovative fulfillment solutions to satisfy customers," said T. Michael Glenn, FedEx executive vice president of market development and corporate communications. "FedEx developed a customized logistics solution for Amazon.com by combining the physical and electronic resources of its new FedEx Home Delivery network and its premiere Express shipping service."
In addition, as of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 8, a total of 350,020 copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had been advance-ordered on Amazon.com, making the title the retailer's largest pre-order ever. One of the most popular books in publishing history, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire remained No. 1 on Amazon.com's bestseller list for 17 out of the last 23 weeks--all prior to the book's actual release date. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire received more than eight times the number of advance orders received for the third Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, with 40,000 orders, or for the second highest pre-order total at Amazon.com, John Grisham's The Brethren at 43,000 orders.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com (Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries) is the Internet's No. 1 music, No. 1 DVD and video, and No. 1 book retailer. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com lists more than 18 million unique items in categories including books, CDs, toys, electronics, videos, DVDs, tools and hardware, lawn and patio items, kitchen products, software, and video games. Through Amazon.com zShops, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's more than 20 million customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, any seller can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. The company also participates in sothebys.amazon.com, the leading auction site for guaranteed art, jewelry, and collectibles, at www.sothebys.amazon.com.
Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they may want to buy online. Amazon.com's All Product Search scours the Web to help customers find merchandise that is not available at Amazon.com, Amazon.com Auctions, or Amazon.com zShops, making Amazon.com the shopping destination to find anything. Amazon Anywhere is the leader in mobile e-commerce, providing access from anywhere in the world to Amazon.com on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and through handheld wireless Internet devices that use HDML or the Wireless Application Protocol.
Amazon.com operates two international Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.de. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 220,000 movies and entertainment programs and 800,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to 2003.
Amazon.com has invested in leading Internet retailers that are improving the lives of customers by making shopping easier and more convenient: Greenlight.com, the only company that offers car buyers the control of auto purchasing online with ongoing service and support from local dealerships, at www.greenlight.com; living.com, the leading online home products and services retailer, at www.living.com; drugstore.com, an online retail and information source for health, beauty, wellness, personal care and pharmacy, at www.drugstore.com; Pets.com, the online leader for pet products, expert information, and services, at www.pets.com; HomeGrocer.com, the first fully integrated Internet grocery-shopping and home-delivery service--with operations in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Southern California--at www.homegrocer.com; Gear.com, which offers brand-name sporting goods at prices from 20 to 90 percent off retail, at www.gear.com; Ashford.com, the leading Internet retailer of luxury and premium products and the Web's No. 1 retailer of watches and jewelry, at www.ashford.com; Audible, Inc., the leader in Internet-delivered spoken audio for PC-based listening or playback on AudibleReady portable digital audio devices, at www.audible.com; eZiba.com, a leading online retailer of handcrafted products from around the world, at www.eziba.com; and WineShopper.com, the San Francisco- and Napa-based Internet start-up that will ultimately offer consumers online access to the largest selection of wines available anywhere, at www.wineshopper.com.
Amazon.com also has a minority interest in NextCard, Inc., considered the industry's leading issuer of consumer credit on the Internet, at www.nextcard.com; and Kozmo.com, the world's leading "e-mmediate" Internet-to-door delivery service, at www.kozmo.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, significant amount of indebtedness, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, consumer trends, competition, risk of distribution center expansion, risks related to fourth quarter performance, risks of system interruption, management of potential growth, inventory risks, risks related to auction and zShops services, risks related to fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2000.
About FedEx
With annual revenues exceeding $18 billion, FedEx Corp. is the premier global provider of transportation, logistics, e-commerce and supply chain management services. The company offers integrated business solutions through a network of subsidiaries operating independently, including: FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation company; FedEx Ground, North America's second largest provider of small package ground delivery service; FedEx Logistics, an integrated logistics, technology and transportation-solution company; FedEx Custom Critical, the world's largest provider of expedited time-critical shipments; FedEx Trade Networks Inc., providing customs brokerage, consulting, information technology and trade facilitation solutions; and Viking Freight, the leading regional freight carrier in the western United States. More than 2.5 million customers are connected electronically through the FedEx information network, and approximately two-thirds of its U.S. domestic transactions are now handled online.