How Amazon Has Captivated Millions of Customers ?
By: Lily Howard
About My Project
The rise of Amazon has been both negative and positive for retailers in America. The massive rising tide of Amazon has had a dual effect on the global economy. While some companies have been completely disrupted, others have benefitted. Small traditional brick and mortar stores physically have been disturbed; however, they have found ways to grow through selling online with Amazon. Amazon's growth has had a negative impact on traditional brick and mortar businesses, but a positive impact on many small business retailers. Amazon was able to achieve this because of there impact on its costumers who love Amazon so much. My goals are to showcase how Amazon achieved this and gained a large amount of trust and love from their customers.
Amazon's Beginnings
Amazon’s Beginning: 1994
July 5th, 1994 the company Amazon was born. Amazon was created in Bellevue, Washington by Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie. When Amazon was originally opened the company was only an online marketplace for books. Jeff Bezo started this website because he had recognized the growing popularity of the internet. Amazon was started with 10,000 dollars straight from Bezos’ own bank account. Bezos and his employees worked from his garage in the early days of the company. (DePillis) On May 15, 1997 Amazon went public. “Amazon goes public at $18 per share, giving it a valuation of $300 million. In its filing, the company warns investors that it expects to report ’substantial operating losses for the foreseeable future,’ due to heavy investments in technology and marketing as it seeks to beat back tough competition from bookselling giant Barnes & Noble” (DePillis). Other companies did not see what was coming; it was just the beginning of an online giant waiting to captivate millions of customers.
What Amazon had to Offer Early on
Amazon took off at a very fast pace. Amazon was able to accumulate a large amount of customers in a short period of time. Amazon was a very convenient and easy website for customers to use. This was one of the main reasons Amazon was able to grow so quickly. (McFadden) McFaddens says “The difference that Amazon.com had to offer was its greater convenience. It, from the off, was based on a model of delivering online orders directly to the customer's address anywhere in the world”(McFadden). This was an idea that everyone loved; the convenience of the company is what really helped Amazon grow the way that they did. McFadden stated “As we all know today, Amazon.com is about a lot more than just books today. This was always the plan, according to Bezos”(McFadden). Jeff Bezo had the plan to be an “everything store” which allowed customers to have whatever they needed at their doorstep in the matter of days.
Affecting Others
Amazon Shutting Down Their Competitors
Amazon became so successful with their online bookstore the company surpassed their competitors like Barnes and Noble by a large amount. Amazon was much more convenient than the actual book stores. Amazon sent Borders into bankruptcy. (DePillis) DePhillis stated that “Instead, Borders filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011 and has since closed hundreds of stores. Barnes & Noble has been left teetering. Meanwhile, Amazon has moved into almost every imaginable type of product, media, and service” (DePillis). Amazon not only affected the bookstore business, but many others like Walmart, Best Buy, and others. Amazon has entered so many different markets like electronica, online food services, clothing, and more. Due to the size and convenience of Amazon, Amazon usually ends up being a top competitor. (DePillis)
The Amazon Kindle 2007
In 2007, Amazon launched their version of an Ebook, The Kindle. The Kindle was Amazon's first product in their electronic section of the company. In addition, Amazon has created the Amazon Echo, also called Alexa, a device for the home which can play music, answer questions, and much more. Amazon was the first to launch any device like this unlike the release of the Kindle which was merely following the Ebook trend. (Palumbo) Plaumboo showcased in his article that “The Amazon smart devices department grew exponentially, facing fierce competition from Apple and Google in the early 2010s. Amazon, however, was the first company to launch a smart device: the Echo speaker, equipped with the firm's own artificial intelligence system, Alexa” (Palumbo). Having their own line of electronic products is another aspect of Amazon which allows the company to grow and please many customers.
Amazon's Innovations
Amazon’s release of the Kindle and Amazon Echo has been among the company’s biggest money-making innovations. These innovations have helped Amazon grow and please customers even more than Amazon already had. (“7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful”) 7 Reasons Why Amazon is so Successful stated that “Amazon’s success largely stems from its innovative technologies and practices, many of which were championed by its CEO, Jeff Bezos” (“7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful”). Amazon has many different tricks up their sleeves which continue to grow the company like their innovation. 7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful stated as well that “This innovative technology was a huge investment for the e-commerce giant—one that fostered exceptional results” (“7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful”). Amazon's innovations were a huge aspect of Amazon's company's growth.
Amazon’s Execution
Amazon is very professional when it comes to delivery services and Amazons products that Amazon is selling. 7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful stated in their article that “Amazon gets everything right when executing customer orders. They select products and services that customers want and need—and leverage distribution centers across the globe that allow them to quickly ship products. Amazon also has excellent vendor relationships that allow them to offer customers discounted pricing” (“7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful”). Amazon, for the most part, never disappoints their consumers in the quality of products or the shipping time. Amazon now completes next-day delivery and is working on same-day delivery.
Amazon's Future
By entering new markets, continuing to innovate, and introducing more products will allowAmazon to continue to grow. Amazon will continue to take over other businesses and make them a part of Amazon. McKenna stated that “Amazon's other existing businesses, including its advertising and Alexa-powered smart-home businesses, should also be notably larger in five years. The company will also continue to expand into entirely new businesses” (McKenna). From what Amazon has done in the past they should continue to grow bigger and bigger.
Bibliography
Works Cited
DePillis, Lydia, and Ivory Sherman. “Amazon's Extraordinary 25-Year Evolution.” CNN, Cable
News Network, 5 Jul. 2019,interactive/2018 www.cnn.com/ /10/business/amazon- history-timeline/index.html.
This article provides me with a timeline of Amazon's success. This allows me to see the order by dates which will be very helpful when creating my website. I want my website's information to all be in order by date.
McFadden, Christopher. “A Very Brief History of Amazon: the Everything Store.” Interesting
Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2019, interestingengineering.com/a- very-brief-history-of-amazon-the-everything-store.
This article provides me with smaller details about Amazon's history. Most articles information can be very broad however I found this article to have small specific details. These smaller details about Amazon's history should help my article become more interesting.
McKenna, Beth. “Where Will Amazon Be in 5 Years?” The Motley Fool, The Motley Fool,
7 Jul. 2019, www.fool.com/investing/2019/07/07/where-will-amazon-be-in-5-years .aspx.
This article provides me with information on where Amazon is predicted to be in years to come. I want my website to contain information on Amazon's history but also their future. Amazon will continue to place many customers.
Palumbo, Daniele. “Amazon at 25: The Story of a Giant.” BBC News, BBC, 5 Jul. 2019,
www.bbc.com/news/business-48884596.
This article informs you on how Amazon grew to be so large and how they were able to. I want my website to explain how Amazon was able to become as big as they are today. This article will help me do so.
“7 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful.” Snap Agency, 12 Jun. 2018,
www.snapagency.com/7-reasons-why-amazon-is-so-successful/.
This article lists many different reasons about how Amazon became so successful. It is specific on certain ideas and products that Amazon have done in order to become as successful as they are. This article will help me display on my website certain things Amazon did to get where they are today.