Amazon Case Study
1. Provide a brief history of Amazon.com and identify and discuss four factors that have led to the company's success.
Amazon.com Inc. had first begun to expand in the late 1990s. It was the first company to offer the greatest selection of “books, CDs, videos, DVDs, electronics, toys, tools, home furnishings and housewares, apparel, and kitchen gadgets.” Amazon had also begun getting into the retail business by selling products offered from companies such as ToysRUs, Target, Borders, Hotwire, and many more. Amazon strived to “set the standard for web businesses. The site was intended to become as user friendly as possible with the ability to match needs to all sorts of customer bases. Features that won customers over with the company included their recommendation center, gift wrapping options, and comments page. After about two years of being in business, Amazon became public in May of 1997.
Jeff Bezos was one of the original founders of e-commerce. In 1994, he left his job as VP of a Wall Street firm to begin working on what would become Amazon.com. After reading a report that projected Web growth at 2,300 percent, Bezos thought up a list of 20 products that could be sold via the web. Seattle was chosen as the location for headquarters due to their high-tech work force. Bezos raised funds for the company while working with software developers to create the web site. After its release, Amazon became the number one book selling site on the web.
A tentative timeline of the history of Amazon is as follows:
1995: Amazon enters the e-commerce business
1997: Amazon goes public and secures one million customers
1998: Amazon enters the online music and video business; companies are acquired in the UK and Germany
1999: The firm expands into selling toys, electronics, tools, and hardware; Bezos is named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”
2001: Amazon reports its first net profit during the fourth quarter
Many factors have contributed to the success of
Amazon.com Inc. had first begun to expand in the late 1990s. It was the first company to offer the greatest selection of “books, CDs, videos, DVDs, electronics, toys, tools, home furnishings and housewares, apparel, and kitchen gadgets.” Amazon had also begun getting into the retail business by selling products offered from companies such as ToysRUs, Target, Borders, Hotwire, and many more. Amazon strived to “set the standard for web businesses. The site was intended to become as user friendly as possible with the ability to match needs to all sorts of customer bases. Features that won customers over with the company included their recommendation center, gift wrapping options, and comments page. After about two years of being in business, Amazon became public in May of 1997.
Jeff Bezos was one of the original founders of e-commerce. In 1994, he left his job as VP of a Wall Street firm to begin working on what would become Amazon.com. After reading a report that projected Web growth at 2,300 percent, Bezos thought up a list of 20 products that could be sold via the web. Seattle was chosen as the location for headquarters due to their high-tech work force. Bezos raised funds for the company while working with software developers to create the web site. After its release, Amazon became the number one book selling site on the web.
A tentative timeline of the history of Amazon is as follows:
1995: Amazon enters the e-commerce business
1997: Amazon goes public and secures one million customers
1998: Amazon enters the online music and video business; companies are acquired in the UK and Germany
1999: The firm expands into selling toys, electronics, tools, and hardware; Bezos is named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”
2001: Amazon reports its first net profit during the fourth quarter
Many factors have contributed to the success of