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In a sign the holiday period could be good to online retailers, Amazon.com posted a 69% increase in Q3 profit and offered a rosy outlook for the current quarter. The results were driven by a 44% rise in sales of electronics and general merchandise, which now account for 43% of the retailer’s sales. Amazon also reported a 17% spike in sales of media. “What they (consumers) are responding to is value,” said Amazon CFO Tom Szkutak, adding that the company had increased its expenses more slowly than revenue growth. Income for the quarter increased to $199 million, from $118 million a year ago. Sales surged 28% to $5.45 billion. Amazon’s results underline how e-commerce sites are benefiting from bargain-hunting consumers. Earlier this week eBay reported its first revenue gain in three quarters while Drugstore.com reported a 10% sales increase.Read the full article