Amazon.com said yesterday that its net sales for the third quarter rose slightly to $639.3 million, from $637.8 million a year ago. The company said its net sales were hurt by the events of Sept. 11 by $25 million to $35 million.
Net sales from international sites rose 58 percent in the quarter to $138 million from $88 million a year ago, Amazon.com said.
The online retailer also reduced its net loss in the third quarter 29 percent to $169.8 million, or 46 cents per share, from $240.5 million, or 68 cents per share, in third-quarter 2000.
However, in the third quarter new customer accounts remained flat versus a year ago at 2.9 million. Amazon.com said it had 37.9 million customer accounts in the quarter, up 49 percent from last year. Active customer accounts rose 26 percent to 23 million, from 18.2 million in 2000. The company reduced its cost per new customer account 27 percent to $11, from $15 a year ago. Orders from repeat customers represented 79 percent of Amazon.com's total orders, up 77 percent from 2000.
In the fourth quarter, Amazon.com said, it expects to achieve pro forma profitability. It forecasts sales of $970 million to $1.07 billion.
