Amazon and the Rise of E-commerce E-Book

50MINUTES

• Herausgeber: 50Minutes.com
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Business Stories
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 32

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Find out how Amazon conquered the world in just 50 minutes!

In less than two decades, Amazon grew from a startup to become the world leader in online shopping, with hundreds of millions of customers around the world. However, the future did not always look so bright for the internet giant: its unconventional business model initially left investors worried, and it had to overcome the burst of the internet bubble that led to the collapse of many other young tech companies. In this concise and accessible guide, you will find out how Jeff Bezos was able to steer Amazon from its humble beginnings in a garage in Seattle to its current position as one of the most influential companies in the world.

In 50 minutes you will:
• Learn about Amazon’s history, from 1994 right up to the present day
• Understand its innovative business model and find out why it was so successful
• Identify the opportunities and challenges for online shopping in the future

ABOUT 50MINUTES.COM | BUSINESS STORIES
The Business Stories series from the 50Minutes collection provides the tools to quickly understand the innovative companies that have shaped the modern business world. Our publications will give you contextual information, an analysis of business strategies and an introduction to future trends and opportunities in a clear and easily digestible format, making them the ideal starting point for readers looking to understand what makes these companies stand out.

Leseprobe

Amazon: The Everything Store

In under two decades, Amazon has become the world leader in e-commerce. It quickly rose to prominence and is now one of the so-called “Big Four”, along with Apple, Google and Facebook. After its stock market launch in 1997, its market capitalisation rose over the years from $148 million to over $200 billion in July 2015. A shining beacon of economic success, Amazon has been both praised and criticised, and the company has taken steps to maintain its dominance. Faced with increasingly tough competition, it branches out year after year to offer new, innovative products and services.

However, things were not always so rosy for the internet giant. In spite of an unusual business model – which was a cause of concern for investors to begin with – Amazon survived the burst of the internet bubble, caused by the overvaluation of young tech companies on the stock market, in the early 2000s and first turned a profit in 2001. This profit stood at $5 million, or one cent per share, for a turnover of over a billion dollars. Although this was still a slim margin, it showed the world, and even the most sceptical observers, that this unconventional business model could succeed.

While nowadays Amazon sells virtually everything, the company initially only sold paper books, before branching out into electronics (CDs, DVDs, software, cameras, video games, household appliances, and so on), digital content (e-books, online video and music, and so on), its own electronic devices (the Kindle, the Fire Phone, and so on) and cloud computing (Amazon Web Services). The company has since acquired or bought part of no fewer than 60 different companies and has developed its site across four continents.

Key information

Founder: Jeff Bezos (born in 1964).Founded: 5 July 1994 in Seattle, Washington.Market launch: July 1995 in the USA.Sector of activity: e-commerce.Key figures:Since it was founded, Amazon’s turnover has increased by a factor of 420, reaching almost $90 billion in 2014.By 2013, Amazon had 237 million users. This figure rose to 270 million in 2014 and 300 million in 2015. The number of users has been growing by around 30 million per year since 2009.As of 2015, Amazon was present in 14 countries: the USA (1995), Germany (1998), the UK (1998), France (2000), Japan (2000), Canada (2002), China (2004), Italy (2010), Spain (2011), India (2012), Brazil (2012), Mexico (2013), Australia (2013) and the Netherlands (2014).

Amazon’s beginnings: the idea of an online bookshop

Jeff Bezos’ early years

From childhood onwards, the high potential and tenacity that would characterise the future businessman Jeffrey Preston Bezos (born in 1964) were already clear. He was born in New Mexico and raised by his mother and his stepfather, a Cuban immigrant from whom he takes his name. He was a gifted child and dreamed of becoming an inventor. Following his high results on an aptitude test at the age of eight, his parents sent him to River Oaks Elementary School in Houston, Texas, a Vanguard school for gifted and talented children. During his teenage years, he demonstrated and developed a talent for designing and creating all kinds of gadgets and robots.

How does it work?

There was only one thing motivating the young Bezos to carry out his experiments and work on his inventions: the desire to understand how things worked, so that he could test their limits and imagine possible developments. Even at a young age, he was a visionary, developing hovercraft and a solar-powered kitchen, among other things.