Amazon executive says Omicron’s impact on holiday spending uncertain

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A senior Amazon.com Inc executive said it remains too early to predict how the Omicron coronavirus variant will impact consumer spending during the holiday season but suggested that shoppers will press ahead for now.

“It’s very early in the process of understanding what’s happening with the new variant,” said Dave Clark, chief executive of Amazon’s worldwide consumer business, during a Sunday morning interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Clark said he was “incredibly optimistic” about the ability of scientists and pharmaceutical companies that have developed effective vaccines to respond to the new variant while shoppers take stock of developments.