Amazon records biggest ever Thanksgiving shopping weekend

(Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it recorded its biggest ever Thanksgiving weekend this year as shoppers, undeterred by inflation, scooped up everything from New Balance sneakers to Nintendo Switch gaming consoles.

Fire TV Sticks, AirPods and Champion clothing were among the top-selling items, Amazon said.

Amazon did not provide a total sales figure for the weekend, but noted shoppers generated more than $1 billion in sales for small businesses in the United States.

The National Retail Federation said on Tuesday a record number of 196.7 million people shopped during the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, while Adobe Analytics said Cyber Monday sales rose to $11.3 billion, making it the biggest U.S. online shopping day in history.

Amazon in October hosted a second Prime Day-like event, offering steep holiday discounts, while rivals ranging from Walmart Inc to Best Buy Co Inc also launched their own sales events to lure shoppers.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel)