Reviewing Amazon’s Success as Earth’s



Amazon has become a global e-commerce company offering a broad array of services and products from groceries, digital content, and online retail to electronics and computing services. In the United States, Amazon is the leading e-retailer, generating $386 billion in 2020. With about 200 million Amazon Prime members across the world, the brand is considered one of the world’s most valuable.

Amazon’s existence can be traced back to its founder Jeff Bezos’ time at the D.E. Shaw hedge fund. After joining the company, Jeff Bezos rose quickly through the ranks to become a vice president. His new job description included making note of novel business opportunities for the Internet. Accordingly, Bezos made a list of 20 products he believed could successfully be sold online. However, the company did not believe in the products. Convinced that the Internet was a revolutionary thing, and that not participating in it might prove to be a huge mistake, Jeff Bezos left the company.

Interestingly, Amazon did not quite begin as Amazon. Bezos had named it Cadabra Inc., playing off the magical chant abracadabra. But his lawyer was not enchanted by the idea, as he thought “cadabra” sounded a lot like “cadaver” on the phone. Jeff Bezos contemplated further two options - Relentless and Amazon. While Jeff Bezos settled on Amazon, Relentless did not drop out of the picture altogether. Typing Relentless.com into one’s browser sends the person to Amazon.com.

On November 1, 1994, Jeff Bezos registered Amazon.Com. And out of the 20 products he had compiled in the list, Jeff Bezos chose to sell books. There was and remains a universal demand for books. And unlike traditional bookshops, Amazon had nearly no limit to the variety of books it could offer. In July 1995, Amazon touted itself as “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” when it opened for business. By 1997, Amazon offered about 2.5 million titles to over 1.5 million customers in more than 150 countries. That same year, Amazon grossed about $148 million in sales.

As Amazon's growth took off, Bezos needed more capital to fund the business. In 1997, he oversaw the company’s IPO at $18 per share. According to Investopedia, if an investment of $10,000 were made that day at that stock price, as of May 2020, it would have been worth $12 million. That year, Amazon was able to raise $54 million.

Amazon’s success stems largely from constantly creating a seamless online shopping experience for its customers. In 1999, Amazon customers could order online quickly with its “1-Click” checkout system. In 2002, customers could enjoy free shipping on orders above $99, as Amazon introduced the “Free Super Saver Shipping.” In 2005 Amazon created Amazon Prime, enabling subscribers to get items delivered to them in two days for a flat fee of $79 per year.

Customers who possessed e-readers favored Amazon because it made buying books easier and offered e-books at a cheaper rate. Although Barnes and Noble began offering online reservations and in-store pick up to drive its store traffic, customers were often disappointed to discover that the cost of the books did not match the price advertised online. Because traditional bookshops had higher overhead, books could cost as much as 50 percent more. Amazon created an alternative market for consumers by offering books at better prices while providing an ideal online shopping experience.

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