The Amazon story
Post 1 of 6
There is a famous saying that “Rome was not built in a day”, in reference to the fact that a vast empire takes time to build and cannot happen overnight. Perhaps Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, had this phrase at the back of his mind when he was drawing up the business plan for Amazon.com (the company did not make its first profit for 10 years). Do you think your business could survive so long without making a profit, or would the investors run away long before?
Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, making it one of the first companies to sell goods over the internet. A common rumour is that the Bezos wrote the Amazon business plan while he and his wife were in a car en route to Bellevue, Washington (next to Seattle) from Texas. This business plan was rather unusual – the company was not expected to turn a profit for four to five years! Incredibly, it was not until 2003 that it made its first annual profit, having survived the dot com bubble burst of 2001.
The company started by selling books, but diversified its product line when they realised the business model was a winner: they now sell movies, music, computer software, video games, electronics and many more products. They also now have separate websites for Canada, the UK, Germany, Austria, France, China and Japan.
It is no surprise that Time Magazine named Bezos its 1999 Person of the Year in recognition of the company’s success in popularising online shopping.
Amazon is renowned for making excellent use of technology to maximise sales. When customers buy a book, they are automatically told about other books that may be of interest to them, based on the spending habits of other consumers who have already bought that book. Naturally, this creates millions of impulse purchases annually.
Another Amazon success is their Affiliate scheme, where 40% of their sales come from. This is where individual website owners are encouraged to direct their site visitors to Amazon.com to buy related books – not unlike the traditional agent/commission business model.
Recently, Amazon announced Amazon Fresh, a grocery service offering fresh and non-perishable foods. Customers can pick up orders or have them delivered to their homes. Delivery is initially restricted to residents of Mercer Island, Washington, a wealthy suburb of Seattle, but who knows: soon they may be delivering to an area near you!
Jeff Bezos must be glad he kept the company going, after years of making a loss: Amazon is now not just profitable, but is also a top 30 website. Would you have the confidence to run a company making a loss for so long, or would you have given up long before Jeff did?
26 Aug 2007 18:26
Post 2 of 6
Replying to [Admin]:Learn from Jeff Bezos. He is a strong man. I want to be a cinderellaman in business.![[em3]](http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_grin.gif)
09 Oct 2007 02:21
Post 3 of 6
We're building Amazon's model online store in indonesia. We name it Khatulistiwa Online: www.khatulistiwa.net
01 Dec 2007 20:58
Post 4 of 6
Replying to [Admin]:
It is an Amazing story,....... cool
It is an Amazing story,....... cool
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About Our Company
RYU MEI CO LTD
Ryu Mei is a health and food trading company in Kobe, Japan. Ryu Mei a Japanese food specialist company with products like Kurobuta (Berkshire) , Wagyu (Kobe Beef) , Shochu, Organic Green Tea and Black Vinegar Ku...
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13 Jan 2008 23:20
Post 5 of 6
This is an inspiring story and am interested in starting the Turkish
Amazon site. Would you let me know on how I can go about it and what do I have to do?. Thanking you in advance and looking forward to establishing long term collaborations on mutually beneficial grounds.
Dr Z. Ali Mohamed.
abcsupeersonic@gmail.com
13 Dec 2008 15:10
Post 6 of 6
Quoting from [Admin]:There is a famous saying that “Rome was not built in a day”, in reference to the fact that a vast empire takes time to build and cannot happen overnight. Perhaps Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, had this phrase at the back of his mind when he was drawing up the business plan for Amazon.com (the company did not make its first profit for 10 years). Do you think your business could survive so long without making a profit, or wlong, or would you have given up long before Jeff did?This story was written in August 2008, and in today's application, changes takes place, especially in the delivery media.A Japanese company has taken up the rights of selling stories to Cell Phones. Young Japanese spend many hours on the train travelling to work and back home. They have no time to read a book, least take a seat in the train, which is the cheapest means of transport for the working cl *.The system is 3G and above, it has high speed broadband, and there is no printed pages, all on the screen. This is the new age selling of story books.SS
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About Our Company
Tijit Pte Ltd
Motto: Digital is our name : Portable is our game
Tijit provides service and supply to Marine Shipping Industry both here in Singapore and abroad focused on portable instruments.
We provide Customer Service for...
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19 Dec 2008 16:17
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