Research Questions

Started for third-party sellers in 2000, Amazon Marketplace accounted for 5% of units sold on Amazon within a year. By the end of 2005, analysts estimated that Amazon listed products from more than 1 million third-party retailers. In 2006, Amazon launched a service to stock and fulfill orders for Marketplace users called Fulfillment by Amazon […]

FashionIn 2002 Amazon launched an Apparel & Accessories Store with merchandise from 400 labels (see Exhibit 3e). Amazon did not own the inventory. Two years later, it began to manage inventory for itself and began offering fine jewelry. In 2006, Amazon acquired online fashion retailer Shopbop. This was followed in 2007 with the launch of

Amazon’s entry into digital devices came in November 2007 with the release of the Kindle, a device that allowed users to download and read books, newspapers, and magazines (see Exhibit 3d). The Kindle was initially priced at $399, and the first run sold out within six hours. By the end of 2008, Amazon had 125,000

In 2005, Amazon moved into digital content by releasing an online service that allowed users to browse and purchase specific pages or chapters of books before physical publication (see Exhibit 3c). This service evolved into a preliminary e-book purchasing service which allowed users to buy short stories and chapters of books. In 2007, Amazon launched

In 2005, Amazon launched Amazon Prime, a two-day delivery service for 1 million eligible products for an annual flat fee of $79, with a one day delivery upgrade for $3.99 (see Exhibit 3b).55 Free video streaming was added to the Prime offering in 2011 (see Digital Media below). Prime membership grew rapidly, reaching “tens of

In January 2019, Amazon.com Inc (Amazon) became the most valuable company in the world, above Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet (Google).1 Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO was now the world’s richest man. On January 31st, 2019, Amazon announced 2018 operating profits of $12.4 billion, up from $178 million in 2014, on sales of $232 billion,

In 2006, the company launched Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon had first become interested in developer support in July 2002, when it released product data to its third-party affiliates, who responded very positively. In 2003, Andy Jassy (Harvard Business School MBA, 1997) was tapped to begin developing a business plan for what would become AWS.

To reach customers more quickly, Amazon continued to invest in fulfillment centers and other facilities around the world (see Exhibit 3b). It had also acquired robot maker Kiva Systems in 2012 to improve productivity. By October 2019, Amazon operated 342 fulfillment centers in 20 countries and was planning 58 more. It also operated 457 other

In an unexpected twist, Amazon started opening physical bookstores in 2015, with the first in Seattle (see Exhibit 3f). The stores displayed a limited range of books along with Amazon hardware. The seventh physical store was opened in New York in May 2017. The company added a number of “bookless” bookstores on college campuses where

To support the buildout of its logistics infrastructure, Amazon added over 81,000 new jobs in 2018, bringing the total workforce up to 647,500 full-time and part-time employees. Amazon had a number of programs in place to attract high-quality employees. The company pre-paid 95% of tuition for employees to take courses in in-demand fields in order