Are Things at Amazon All That Peachy?

Amazon.com always puts out interesting press releases that makes them smell like roses no matter how bad the economy gets. Today they claim this is its best Christmas ever.

But really, does a record number of orders processed mean it was its best Christmas ever? Or is Amazon spinning its numbers to look like its the e-commerce guru? We don’t know. But we do know that the weight of all GPS devices sold by Amazon from Black Friday through December equals the combined weight of 151 Mini Coopers… And that’s relevant to investors and analysts why?

Amazon.com’s press release focuses on its 6.3 million items ordered, the fact it shipped to 210 countries and 169,000 AFO/FPO addressed, and its 99% on-time delivery rate.

But how about Amazon’s items per order? Its average order value? We’ll need to wait for the 4Q results to come out. Amazon.com projected a very Merry 4Q, so we shall see.

Meanwhile, if you look at MasterCard’s SpendingPulse, overall e-commerce sales were down for the holiday season. And we’re talking a 2.3 decline in their eyes, so if Amazon’s projection is true, all e-commerce other that Amazon.com may be dead.

We shall see…