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Amazon says 2020 holiday shopping season is its biggest yet

Independent businesses on the platform are "seeing record demand," the e-commerce giant says.

Abrar Al-Heeti Video producer / CNET

Abrar Al-Heeti is a video host and producer for CNET, with an interest in internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. Before joining the video team, she was a writer for CNET's culture team. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.

Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET breaking down the latest trends on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, while also reporting on diversity and inclusion initiatives in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Credentials

Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has twice been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.

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Abrar Al-Heeti

Dec. 1, 2020 3:58 p.m. PT

amazon-delivery-box-3669 — Amazon says this holiday season is breaking records.
Angela Lang/CNET

In a year that's been anything but ordinary, Amazon on Tuesday said it still managed to have its "biggest holiday season to date," though the company didn't share overall numbers to demonstrate just how big it was.

Amazon said in a blog post that independent businesses selling on the platform are "seeing record demand from customers so far this holiday season in the U.S. and around the world." These businesses surpassed $4.8 billion in global sales from Black Friday to Cyber Monday , an increase of more than 60% compared with last year, Amazon said.

The e-commerce giant offered a slew of deals for the holiday shopping season, on everything from TVs to streaming devices to smartwatches (and some of the deals are still available). Amazon said a record number of customers have been shopping early and supporting small- and medium-size businesses. Amazon's new Echo Dot has been a top seller, the company said, as well as its Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote and SharkNinja's Shark IQ Robot Self-Empty Robotic Vacuum, among other items.

See also: CNET's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide