Since September, 65% Of All U.S. Internet Users Visited Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) may be priming for a strong holiday quarter, going by research highlighted by Wells Fargo in a note released Thursday.

Findings

Quoting online traffic data from ComScore, analyst Ike Boruchow noted that about 65 percent of all U.S. internet users visited Amazon.com in the third quarter. This represents a sizeable increase from the 60 percent in the third quarter of 2015 and 51 percent from the third quarter of 2014. Accordingly, the analyst believes Amazon continues to get more and more customers with the passage of time. Amazon's penetration of U.S. internet users is well above Wells Fargo's coverage group, with the second-ranking company, Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS), at a distant 13.2 percent. Even among concepts, the highest penetration is for L Brands Inc (NYSE: LB)'s Bath & Body Works, at only 4.2 percent, followed by Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS)'s Old Navy, at 3.7 percent, L Brand's Victoria's Secret at 3.6 percent, and Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) at 3.1 percent. Amazon's engagement metrics are also on the ascent, with an average visitor to Amazon.com spending an average 60 full minutes per month on the site, or three hours during the quarter, representing a 20 percent year-over-year increase.

Deductions

Based on visitation trends, Wells Fargo noted an increase in the fourth quarter, encompassing the holiday season. Over the past two years, the sequential increase has been 500 basis points.

Accordingly, the firm expects about 70 percent of all U.S. internet users will visit Amazon.com in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Going by the seasonality of roughly a 15-minute sequential increase in average time spend per month by an average visitor to Amazon.com, Wells Fargo expects 75 minutes for the fourth quarter of 2016, or a cumulative four hours for the quarter.

At last check, shares of Amazon were down 0.61 percent at $765.70.

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