Prime Day sales beat Black Friday's as Prime signups surged: Amazon

New York

DESPITE a much-derided product lineup and clunky wait-lists, Amazon said that it sold more products during its Prime Day sale last week than Black Friday last year, and that more new members tried its Prime subscription service than on any single day in the retailer's 20-year history.

"Hundreds of thousands" of new members signed up for Amazon Prime during the one-day sale on Wednesday, Greg Greeley, the company's vice-president for the subscription service, said in a release. That adds to an estimated 40 million members that Amazon had attracted so far to Prime, which offers free shipments on many goods for an annual US$99 fee.