Amazon.Com—Not Your Average Bookstore
Amazon.com—Not Your Average Bookstore
Jeffrey Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon.com, is running what some people refer to as the “world’s biggest bookstore.” The story of Bezos’s virtual bookstore teaches many lessons about online business. Out of nowhere, this digital bookstore turned an industry upside down. What happened here was more than just creating a Web site. Bezos conceived and implemented an intelligent, global digital business. Its business is its technology; its technology is its business. Shocking traditional value chains in the bookselling industry, Amazon opened thousands of virtual bookstores in its first few months of operation.
Bezos graduated from Princeton and was the youngest vice president at Banker’s Trust in New York. He had to decide if he would stay and receive his 1994 Wall Street bonus or leave and start a business on the Internet. “I tried to imagine being 80 years old, looking back on my life. I knew that I would hardly regret having missed the 1994 Wall Street bonus. But having missed being part of the Internet boom—that would have really hurt,” stated Bezos. One evening he compiled a list of 20 products he believed would sell on the Internet. Books, being small-ticket items that are easy and inexpensive to ship, were on the top of the list. It was also apparent that no book- store could conceivably stock more than a fraction of the 5 million books published annually. Bezos, who had never sold a book in his life, developed a strategic plan for selling books on the Internet. Amazon launched three years later. In the fall of 1994, Amazon filled its first book order—personally packaged by Bezos and his wife.
Amazon’s E-Business Strategy
Amazon does not operate any physical stores. All of its sales occur through its Web site. It is consistently pushing the technological envelope in its search to provide a satisfying, personalized experience for its customers. What started as a human-ed- ited list of product suggestions morphed into a
Jeffrey Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon.com, is running what some people refer to as the “world’s biggest bookstore.” The story of Bezos’s virtual bookstore teaches many lessons about online business. Out of nowhere, this digital bookstore turned an industry upside down. What happened here was more than just creating a Web site. Bezos conceived and implemented an intelligent, global digital business. Its business is its technology; its technology is its business. Shocking traditional value chains in the bookselling industry, Amazon opened thousands of virtual bookstores in its first few months of operation.
Bezos graduated from Princeton and was the youngest vice president at Banker’s Trust in New York. He had to decide if he would stay and receive his 1994 Wall Street bonus or leave and start a business on the Internet. “I tried to imagine being 80 years old, looking back on my life. I knew that I would hardly regret having missed the 1994 Wall Street bonus. But having missed being part of the Internet boom—that would have really hurt,” stated Bezos. One evening he compiled a list of 20 products he believed would sell on the Internet. Books, being small-ticket items that are easy and inexpensive to ship, were on the top of the list. It was also apparent that no book- store could conceivably stock more than a fraction of the 5 million books published annually. Bezos, who had never sold a book in his life, developed a strategic plan for selling books on the Internet. Amazon launched three years later. In the fall of 1994, Amazon filled its first book order—personally packaged by Bezos and his wife.
Amazon’s E-Business Strategy
Amazon does not operate any physical stores. All of its sales occur through its Web site. It is consistently pushing the technological envelope in its search to provide a satisfying, personalized experience for its customers. What started as a human-ed- ited list of product suggestions morphed into a