AMAZON

INTRODUCTION

 Amazon.com, Inc. is an American electronic commerce company with headquarters

in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States.
Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, Blu-
rays, CDs, video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, software, videogames,
electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys and jewellery. The company also
produces consumer electronics—notably, Amazon Kindle e-book readers, Fire tablets, Fire
TV and Fire Phone — and is a major provider of cloud computing services. Amazon also
sells certain low-end products like USB cables under its in-house brand Amazon Basics.

 Amazon has separate retail websites for United States, United Kingdom & Ireland, France,
Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Japan, China, India
and Mexico. Amazon also offers international shipping to certain other countries for some
of its products. In 2011, it had professed an intention to launch its websites in Poland and
Sweden.

HISTORY

 The company was founded in 1994, spurred by what Bezos called his "regret minimization
framework", which described his efforts to fend off any regrets for not participating sooner
in the Internet business boom during that time. In 1994, Bezos left his employment as
vice-president of D. E. Shaw & Co., a Wall Street firm, and moved to Seattle. He began to
work on a business plan for what would eventually become Amazon.com.
 Jeff Bezos incorporated the company as "Cadabra" on July 5, 1994 and the site went
online as Amazon.com in 1995. Bezos changed the name cadabra.com to amazon.com
because it sounded too much like cadaver. Additionally, a name beginning with "A" was
preferential due to the probability it would occur at the top of any list that was
alphabetized.
 Bezos selected the name Amazon by looking through the dictionary, and settled on
"Amazon" because it was a place that was "exotic and different" just as he planned for his
store to be; the Amazon river, he noted was by far the "biggest" river in the world, and he
planned to make his store the biggest in the world. Bezos placed a premium on his head
start in building a brand, telling a reporter, "There's nothing about our model that can't be
copied over time. But you know, McDonald's got copied. And it still built a huge,
multibillion-dollar company. A lot of it comes down to the brand name. Brand names are
more important online than they are in the physical world."
 After reading a report about the future of the Internet which projected annual Web
commerce growth at 2,300%, Bezos created a list of 20 products which could be marketed
online. He narrowed the list to what he felt were the five most promising products which
included: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos
finally decided that his new business would sell books online, due to the large world-wide
demand for literature, the low price points for books, along with the huge number of titles
available in print. Amazon was originally founded in Bezos' garage in Bellevue,
Washington.
 The company began as an online bookstore, an idea spurred off with discussion with John
Ingram of Ingram Book (now called Ingram Content Group), along with Keyur Patel who
still holds a stake in Amazon. In the first two months of business, Amazon sold to all 50
states and over 45 countries. Within two months, Amazon's sales were up to
$20,000/week. While the largest brick and mortar bookstores and mail order catalogs
might offer 200,000 titles, an online bookstore could "carry" several times more, since it
would have an almost unlimited virtual (not actual) warehouse: those of the actual product
makers/suppliers.
 Since June 19, 2000, Amazon's logotype has featured a curved arrow leading from A to Z,
representing that the company carries every product from A to Z, with the arrow shaped
like a smile.
 Amazon was incorporated in 1994, in the state of Washington. In July 1995, the company
began service and sold its first book on Amazon.com: Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid
Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of
 Thought. In October 1995, the company announced itself to the public. In 1996, it was
reincorporated in Delaware. Amazon issued its initial public offering of stock on May 15,
1997, trading under the NASDAQ stock exchange symbol AMZN, at a price ofUS$18.00
per share ($1.50 after three stock splits in the late 1990s).
 Amazon's initial business plan was unusual; it did not expect to make a profit for four to
five years. This "slow" growth caused stockholders to complain about the company not
reaching profitability fast enough to justify investing in, or to even survive in the long-
term. When the dot-com bubble burst at the start of the 21st century, destroying many e-
companies in the process, Amazon survived, and grew on past the bubble burst to become
a huge player in online sales. It finally turned its first profit in the fourth quarter of 2001:
$5 million (i.e., 1¢ per share), on revenues of more than $1 billion. This profit margin,
though extremely modest, proved to skeptics that Bezos' unconventional model could
succeed. In 1999, Time magazine named Bezos the Person of the Year, recognizing the
company's success in popularizing online shopping.
 Barnes & Noble sued Amazon on May 12, 1997, alleging that Amazon's claim to be "the
world's largest bookstore" was false. Barnes and Noble asserted, "[It] isn't a bookstore at
all. It's a book broker." The suit was later settled out of court, and Amazon continued to
make the same claim. Wal-Mart sued Amazon on October 16, 1998, alleging that Amazon
had stolen Wal-Mart’s trade secrets by hiring former Wal-Mart executives. Although this
suit was also settled out of court, it caused Amazon to implement internal restrictions and
the reassignment of the former Wal-Mart executives.
COMPANY VISION & MISSION

Amazon Vision Statement

We have provided below the content of the Amazon Vision Statement which details their outlook
of the future. Effective and successful statements are powerful and compelling, conveying
confidence and inspiring views of the future. The importance of these types of statements should
not be underestimated. One good paragraph will describe the values, services and vision for the
future. Whether you are looking to compose a personal or a company vision statement our
samples and this example of the Amazon vision statement will provide you with some excellent
ideas and inspiration.

"Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can
come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."

The Mission Statement of Amazon.com:

Amazon.com has had a clear focus and a solitary mission since it began. Founder Jeff Bezos has
publicly referred to the Amazon.com mission statement as the guiding force behind his leadership
decisions many times in the company's 18-year history. It can be concluded that the success
of Amazon.com as the top Internet retailing company in the world is due at least in part to their
unwavering commitment to this mission and the daily execution of it. The mission and vision
of Amazon.com is...

“Our vision is to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can
come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”

AMAZON CEO

Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos (/ˈbeɪzoʊs/ January 12, 1964) is an American business magnate and
investor. He is a technology entrepreneur who has played a key role in the growth of e-
commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an online merchant of books and later of a
wide variety of products. Under his guidance, Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the
World Wide Web and a top model for Internet sales. In 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington
Post newspaper. As of March 2015, Bezos's personal wealth is estimated to be US$34.8 billion,
ranking him number 15 on the Forbes list of billionaires.
AMAZON BOARD OF DIRECTORS

As of November 2014, the board of directors is

 Jeff Bezos, President, CEO and Chairman

 Tom Alberg, Managing partner, Madrona Venture Group
 John Seely Brown, Visiting Scholar and Advisor to the Provost at USC
 Bing Gordon, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
 Jamie Gorelick, partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
 Alain Monié, CEO, Ingram Micro
 Jon Rubinstein, former Chairman and CEO, Palm, Inc.
 Thomas O. Ryder, former Chairman and CEO, Reader's Digest Association
 Patty Stonesifer, President and CEO, Martha's Table
PRODUCT OF THAT COMPANY & THEIR SERVICES

The Ultimate Amazon Product

 

 Amazon’s button, introduced this week, asks a large set of additional questions about the
toilet paper button future: How can Amazon create new forms of customer lock-in? How
can Amazon develop new and profitable relationships with brands (which it may
eventually replace with its own brands)? How close to full retail automation can Amazon
come without alienating its customers? Amazon is admirably clear in its intention to
become a logistics machine the likes of which the world has never seen. Its fixation on
efficiency over profit is usually characterized as a rare example of true long-term planning,
but it is better understood as a fixation on solving systems: an expression of a philosophy
that demands not just the domination of a market, but the destruction of its appeal to
competitors. It’s an economist’s dream, a business that has been allowed by investors to
effectively operate as a non-profit dedicated to economic perfection. How does the button
figure into that?
 When Amazon shows us the future—when it can convince us, through cleverness or force
of will, that it has discovered a new inevitability—it is also telling us that the future
belongs, again, to Amazon.

This week, Amazon took its Home Services program national:

 Amazon Home Services is a new and simple way to buy and schedule professional
services such as furniture assembly, house cleaning, and lawn care directly on Amazon.
We’ve handpicked the best service providers in your neighborhood and require all service
pros to be background checked, insured, and licensed if applicable. Service pros compete
for your business based on price, quality, and availability. If customers find a lower price
 for the same service and pro, we will match it. Pre-packaged services have upfront prices
so you can add a service right to your cart. No special sign up or subscription is required.
Your Amazon account is only charged after the service is completed. And best of all, all
services are backed by Amazon’s Happiness Guarantee. If you’re not 100% satisfied,
Amazon will make it right or give you a full refund.

 Offers in my ZIP code include: voice lessons ($45, half hour); car stereo installation
(~$100); a wide range of electrical, plumbing and repair services; and home cleaning ($99
for two hours). The selection is large enough to feel like a local directory; as a product, it
clearly aspires to be the accountable, interactive Yellow Pages that the internet seemed to
guarantee but never quite produced.

 COMPETITORS OF THE COMPANY

 Amazon Inc. (AMZN) is a multinational consumer electronics company and the largest
Internet company in the United States as of November 2014. The company also sells a
great deal of other consumer goods. Amazon.com operates in three general segments:
media, electronics and other merchandise.
 In the media segment, Amazon competes with auction site eBay (EBAY); media game-
changer Netflix (NFLX); Time Warner Cable (TWX); Apple (AAPL), with iTunes;
Google (GOOG) with its Play Store; and media producer Liberty Interactive (QVCB).

SWOT Analysis Amazon

Amazon is a profitable organization. In 2005 profits for the three months to June dipped 32% to
$52m (£29.9m) from $76m in the same period in 2004. Sales jumped 26% to $1.75bn. Until
recent years Amazon was experiencing large losses, due to its huge initial set up costs. The recent
dip is due to promotions that have offered reduced delivery costs to consumers. This SWOT
analysis is about Amazon.

Opportunities.

 The company is now increasingly cashing in on its credentials as an online retail pioneer by
selling its expertise to major store groups. For example, British retailer Marks and Spencer
announced a joint venture with Amazon to sell its products and service online. Other recent
collaborations have been with Target, Toys-R-Us and the NBA. Amazon’s new
 Luxembourg-based division aims to provide tailored services to retailers as a technology
service provider in Europe.
Threats

 All successful Internet businesses attract competition. Since Amazon sells the same or
similar products as high street retailers and other online businesses, it may become more
and more difficult to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Amazon does have it s
brand. It also has a huge range of products. Otherwise, price competition could damage the
business.
Strengths.

 Amazon is a profitable organization. In 2005 profits for the three months to June dipped
32% to $52m (£29.9m) from $76m in the same period in 2004. Sales jumped 26% to
$1.75bn. Until recent years Amazon was experiencing large losses, due to its huge initial set
up costs. The recent dip is due to promotions that have offered reduced delivery costs to
consumers.
Weaknesses.

 As Amazon adds new categories to its business, it risks damaging its brand. Amazon is the
number one retailer for books. Toy-R-Us is the number one retailers for toys and games.
Imagine if Toys-R-Us began to sell books. This would confuse its consumers and endanger
its brands. In the same way, many of the new categories, for example automotive, may
prove to be too confusing for customers.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPANY

Corporate Social Responsibility At Amazon Business Essay

This report has developed a concise overview of the CSR practices at Amazon.com, the largest
online retailer in the world. Through the use of several issues and the assessment of these issues
on the basis of CSR theories the report has shed a different perspective on the company's
practices.