Amazon recently reported its second-quarter results including a double-digit revenue growth year-on-year, helped of course by the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue for the quarter reached $88.91 bn, over $7 bn higher than expected. Grocery sales online tripled compared to the previous year.

This meant that the two-day delivery services were unusually delayed. But as the pandemic wore on, orders shifted from the less profitable consumables and groceries towards a more “normal” mix of goods. The delivery delays are on their way to recovery now: the company secured additional capacity in its fulfilment centres which it was not expecting to use until 2021. Prime subscribers have been shopping more often and buying more with each order.

Amazon is now preparing for the peak season in November and has announced that its Prime Day shopping event, normally taking place in July, is now scheduled for the fourth quarter. Inventory has to be built up again.

The company also has to take additional measures to protect staff who were complaining during the pandemic that not enough was being done. For the third quarter, Amazon expects revenue of between $87 bn and $93 bn, with operating income between $2 bn and $5 bn, factoring in corona-virus related investments.

The cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services, reported revenues of $10.8 bn, up 29% on last year. Third-party sales grew 52% year-over-year during the quarter, outpacing growth in Amazon’s first-party sales, which increased 48% year-over-year.