BACHELOR IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SEMESTER 3

International Business Management

Final Project

Prepared for:
Lecturer’s name:

Prepared by:
Student’s Name: – ID No:
1. Amazon.com company description

Amazon.com, Inc. provides online retail shopping services. It provides services to four primary
customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators. The company also provides
other marketing and promotional services, such as online advertising and co-branded credit card
agreements. It serves consumers through its retail websites with a focus on selection, price, and
convenience. It designs its websites to enable its products to be sold by the company and by third
parties across dozens of product categories. It also manufactures and sells the Kindle e-reader
and strives to offer customers the lowest prices possible through low every day product pricing
and free shipping offers, including through membership in Amazon Prime. The company offers
programs that enable sellers to sell their products on its websites and their own branded websites,
earning fixed fees, revenue share fees or per-unit activity fees from these transactions. It also
serves developers and enterprises of all sizes through Amazon Web Services, which provides
access to technology infrastructure that enables virtually any type of business. The company
operates in two principal segments: North America and International. The North America
segment consists of retail sales of consumer products and subscriptions through North America-
focused websites such as www.amazon.com and www.amazon.ca. The International segment
consists of retail sales of consumer products and subscriptions through internationally focused
locations. This segment includes export sales from these internationally based locations,
including export sales from these sites to customers in the U.S. and Canada. The company was
founded by Jeffrey P. Bezos in July 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle, WA.

2. Amazon product / Services

 Retail goods
 Amazon Prime
 Consumer electronics
 Digital content
 Amazon Video
 Delivery
 Amazon Business
 Amazon Drive
 Private labels and exclusive marketing arrangements

 Amazon Web Services

i. Amazon DynamoDB (100%)

ii. Amazon Simple Storage Service (100%)
iii. Amazon Simple Notification Service (100%)
iv. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (100%)
v. AWS Key Management Service (100%)
vi. AmazonCloudWatch (100%)
vii. Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (100%)
viii. AWS CloudTrail (98%)
ix. AWS Data Transfer (95%)
x. Amazon Simple Queue Service (90%)
xi. Amazon Relational Database Service (88%)
xii. Amazon Route 53 (85%)
xiii. AWS Lambda (83%)
xiv. Amazon Simple Email Service (70%)
xv. Amazon CloudFront (68%)
xvi. AWS Config (65%)
xvii. AWS Secrets Manager (65%)
xviii. AWS Glue (63%)
xix. AWS Step Functions (63%)
xx. Amazon ElastiCache (60%)
xxi. AWS Systems Manager (58%)
xxii. Amazon API Gateway (58%)
xxiii. Amazon Simple Workflow Service (55%)
xxiv. Amazon Glacier (53%)
xxv. Amazon Elastic File System (53%)
xxvi. Amazon WorkSpaces (53%)
xxvii. AWS Direct Connect (50%)
xxviii. Amazon EC2 Container Service (50%)
 xxix. Amazon EC2 Container Registry (ECR) (50%)
xxx. Amazon Elasticsearch Service (48%)

The top services listed received their status because they are foundational to cloud
operations

 Amazon Publishing
 AmazonSmile
 Amazon Local
 Retail stores
 Amazon Home Services
 Amazon Cash/Top Up

3. Amazon Company history

A Very Brief History of Amazon: the Everything Store

Amazon is an internet behemoth today. But where did it all begin?

In terms of revenue, Amazon is the biggest internet-based company in the world. When it started
out selling books online in 1994, Jeff Bezos knew the only way to succeed online was to grow
big, and fast!

Today the company sells everything from books to e-readers to shipping container houses. It has
become a one-stop-shop and has many ambitions for its future.

When Amazon was first started?

Amazon, or more correctly Amazon.com, was first incorporated by Jeff Bezos in July of 2005.
At the time, he was a Wall Street hedge fund executive.

According to Business Insider, Amazon was originally to be called Cadabra (from Abracadabra).
But Bezos’ lawyer advised him that the reference to magic might be a bit too obscure.

Also, when people heard the name on the phone, they all too often heard “Cadaver” instead - not
ideal.
So Bezos and his then-wife, MacKenzie Tuttle, started to register some domain names for their
potential new venture.

“They registered the domain names Awake.com, Browse.com, and Bookmall.com. They also
registered the domain name Relentless.com and kept it (if you type that into your browser today,
you’ll be redirected to Amazon.com).”

4. Amazon Company headquarters, location and branches.

Office Locations for Amazon

Africa, Asia, Europe, North America Oceania

Africa

a) Cairo, Egypt

Asia

b) Amman, Jordan
c) Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai Internet City Dubai Properties Headquarters
Building 1st Rd – off Al Falak St.501797
d) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Al Murjanah Tower, Corner of Prince Sultan and Alkayyal Streets
Al Rawdah 23435
e) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia King Fahad Road Riyadh Gallery Mall Gate 2A 4th Floor 23435

Europe

a) Altrincham, UK 6 Sunbank Ln WA15

b) Berlin, Germany Krausenstr. 38 10117
c) Bristol, UK. Bristol Poplar Way East. Cabot Park. Avonmouth. BS11 0YH
d) Clichy, France 67 boulevard Général Leclerc 92110
e) Cork, Ireland
f) Daventry, UK. Unit 1 Daventry Distribution Centre. Royal Oak Way NN11 8NT
g) Dublin, Ireland
h) Dunfermline, UK. Amazon Way. Dunfermline. KY11 8XT
i) Dunstable, UK Dunstable Unit DC1 (Prologis). Boscombe Road. LU5 4RW
 j) Gdańsk, Poland Aleja Grunwaldzka 472 80-309
k) Gourock, UK 2 Cloch Road PA19 1BQ
l) Hemel Hempstead, UK. Eastman Way HP2 7EA
m) Munich, Germany, Marcel-Breuer-Str. 12 80807
n) Rugby, UK, Rugby 90, Gateway, Rugby, Warwickshire CV23 0WE
o) Rugeley, UK Rugeley Towers Business Park. Power Station Road. WS15 1LX
p) Swansea, UK Kenfig Industrial Estate. Margam. Port Talbot. SA13 2PE
q) Tilbury, UK Dock road RM18 7AN

North America

a) Arlington, WA
b) Auburn, WA
c) Bainbridge Island, WA
d) Bellevue, WA
e) Bothell, WA
f) Brampton, Canada
g) Delta, Canada 450 Derwent Place V3M 5Y9
h) DuPont, WA
i) Edmonds, WA
j) Everett, WA
k) Herndon, VA
l) Kent, WA
m) Kirkland, WA
n) Lynnwood, WA
o) Mill Creek, WA
p) Milton, Canada 2750 Peddie Rd. L9T 6Y9
q) Mississauga, Canada 6363 Millcreek Dr. L5N 1L8
r) New Westminster, Canada109 Braid Street V3L 5H4
s) Newcastle, WA
t) Port Orchard, WA
u) Puyallup, WA
 v) Redmond, WA
w) Renton, WA
5. Amazon’s expansion mode

Global selling

Amazon also sells products to customers around the world via Global Selling, a cross-border
operation to ensure that many non-Prime customers are able to purchase books, games, and other
goods via the Amazon.com website.

6. Amazon’s Target market

Amazon (AMZN) is targeting a demographic that doesn't have to struggle with a mortgage or
household bills, and are among the most digitally savvy consumers: America's teenagers. 

The online retail giant is rolling out a new service for teenagers that allows them to shop on
Amazon with their own login. Teens can stream or shop independently, although parents can
approve the orders after teens hit the "place order" button. After a teen places their order,
Amazon sends an email or text to the parents, who then make the final decision. Parents can also
set pre-approved spending limits, Amazon said. 

The service is targeted to 13- to 17-year-olds, who are part of Generation Z, the demographic
group that's on track to surpass the millennials in size and, someday, spending power. Already,
Generation Z is the largest media audience, comprising 26 percent of all viewers, or four
percentage points more than millennials, according to Nielsen. Introducing teens to Amazon by
providing them with their own logins may capture a generation that's notoriously connected to
their phones and devices. 
7. Amazon’s Expansion Strategies

 Market Penetration

Growth through market penetration does not involve moving into new markets or creating new
products; it's an attempt to increase market share using your current products or services. Carry
out this strategy by lowering the price of a product or service, or by increasing marketing efforts
to lure customers away from competitors.

 Product Development

Product development means creating new products to serve the same market. For example, a
company that produces ice cream for institutional buyers expands its line to include gelato and
sorbet. The company can sell these new products to existing customers and grow its business
without tapping new markets.

 Market Development

Market development involves introducing your products or services to new markets. You may
want to enter a new city, state or even country. Or you can target a market segment. For instance,
a bakery that produces breads for the consumer market could enter into the commercial market
by baking breads for restaurants and retailers.

 Diversification

Diversification is the most radical form of growth. It involves creating a totally new product for a
completely new market. This is the riskiest growth strategy because it's the most uncertain.
Failure is a distinct possibility, although the potential of a high payoff may be worth the risk for
companies with sufficient financial means.

8. 3 Amazon’s competitors
A. Walmart.

Walmart is another global giant. This big-box department store generates $514.41 billion in net
sales per year. That’s more than double Amazon, although a large percentage of Walmart’s sales
obviously come from brick-and-mortar purchases.
There are more than 11,000 Walmart physical store locations across 27 countries.

While Walmart is best-known for its physical department stores, this retail giant also has a
significant presence online. Behind Amazon, Walmart is the second most popular online store in
the United States in terms of ecommerce revenue.  

With Walmart’s international presence and customer base, they will be a continuous threat to
Amazon in the ecommerce space.

Walmart’s online sales are growing at 40% year-over-year. At this pace, you can expect this
giant to take away even more Amazon business in the coming years.

B. Alibaba / Aliexpress.

Alibaba is a China-based online retailer. This international giant specializes in wholesale selling
online, which is a differentiation factor compared to Amazon.

Another unique difference between Alibaba and Amazon is its overall business model. While
Amazon is run entirely under one roof, Alibaba is split into separate businesses:

 Alibaba.

 Taobao.

 Tmall.

Alibaba is the B2B focus of the company, while the other branches focus on B2C and
multinational brands, respectively.

As of June 2019, there are 755 million Alibaba users worldwide. The company is responsible for
58% of all online retail sales in China.

Alibaba sold $30.8 billion of products on November 13, 2018, the Chinese version of Black
Friday known as “Singles Day.”

With an international presence, a dominant market share in China, and B2B sales in addition to
B2C focus, Alibaba is a force to be reckoned with. Plus, any website that can do $30 billion in
one day can definitely win against Amazon.
 C. Otto.

Otto is a European online retailer. The company is best known for innovation throughout the
years to keep pace with the times. At its core, Otto is a trading company, meaning that it sells
products from other brands on its ecommerce platform.

It’s essentially a one-stop-shop for buying online in Europe. Some of Otto’s top categories
include fashion, electronics (like Apple and Microsoft products), home goods, and sports.

One of the reasons why Otto is so popular is due to its user-friendly interface. The platform
makes it easy for consumers to shop online.

In 2019, Otto generated roughly $3.8 billion in revenue from online sales. While this may seem
marginal compared to Amazon, it’s still extremely impressive.

Otto has a 13.7% annual growth rate. 72% of their sales come from furniture, appliances, and
fashion purchases. This makes them unique compared to Amazon.

9. Proposal for Amazon

Build phones and tablets more like the Echo

The Echo is a premium product, ahead of most of its competitors in terms of voice recognition
and sound quality. And it doesn’t constantly bombard you with advertising as you use it. Sure,
it’s deeply tied to the Amazon ecosystem, but compared too many of Amazon’s other consumer
devices, it seems elegant and practically agnostic.

If Amazon wants to be a serious player in the world of smartphones and tablets, it needs to go
beyond inexpensive devices subsidized by ads and make world-class devices to compete with
Apple and Samsung (but not explode). Being the cheap alternative for people who don’t mind
being assaulted by ads is not the long-term answer, and it’s not up to the company’s standards in
other areas.