Swot Analysis Of Costco
Costco: Steering Into the Blue Ocean
Background: Costco’s first location opened in 1976 in Moreno Boulevard, San Diego. Costco was originally named Price Club and later merged with Costco in 1993 by 1997 all the warehouses were renamed Costco Wholesale Warehouses. Costco was a small business but was very ambitious and thus expanded into warehouse clubs. Currently, Costco operates more than 663 warehouses and is a global powerhouse. Its total sales have surpassed $64 billion in recent years.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Costco offers a variety of products at competitive prices usually much lower than direct competitors. They have control over their volume purchasing and have efficient distribution centers that enable them to provide low …show more content…
prices. Another strength for Costco is their value -added services. The company offers two types of memberships, Business and Gold Star members. These membership fees account for 2.2% of net sales however provide close to 80% of the net profit. Costco’s financial performance has been profitable over last few years (“Costco”). There was a 7.1% increase in revenue as well as a .9% increase in profits from 2013-2014. Costco focuses on a smaller number of products 4,000 versus the 100,000 that a typical Walmart carries; this eliminates consumers from not making a purchase because they can’t decide between different options. The Company’s product categories include Food, Sundries, Hardlines, Fresh Food, Softlines, Ancillary and other which appeal to a broad consumer base. Weaknesses: A weakness of Costco is their over dependence on the North American Market. Their net sales and operating income in North America currently account for 87% and 83% respectively (“Costco”). Another weakness is an aging target market. Currently Costco appeals to an older base (baby boomers). Moreover, Costco has limited product choices. Competitors such as home depot offer more than 40000 product choices as supposed to Costco with approximately 3700 (“Costco”).
Opportunities: Costco has an opportunity in online sales. There is a high percentage of people shopping on-line roughly 51% in ages 16-34 (“Costco”). Another opportunity for Costco is expanding into existing and new markets. This would provide a closer proximity to customers and increased sales and profits. Costco can also prosper from the increasing demand in private labels. Private label sales have increased over the years, in periods of negative economic growth (“Costco”). Another opportunity for Costco would be appealing to a broader consumer base.
Threats: A big threat for Costco is the intense competition from companies such as Amazon and Walmart. Another threat are risks associated with suppliers; Costco depends on supplier’s ability to deliver goods at minimum costs (“Costco”).
PEST Analysis:
Political: As Costco operates globally, regulations in different countries will greatly affect the business. The company has to establish good corporate relationship with labor organizations and governments by following rules and regulations. Despite Costco being headquartered in the United Stated, it also must be cautious of the legal environment in several of its host countries.
Economic: The retail industry is mainly affected by the economic environment of operations and its suppliers in the host country. “When markets dip, purchasing trends follow, putting pressure on the company’s bottom line.” When “the economy is taxing than retail sales are down for all major retailers,” Costco remains consistent in opening warehouses and the growing their membership; this helps the company to be consistent through changes in the economy. (Taking Stock in Costco Wholesale Corp (COST), 2008) Since the business operates everywhere in the world, other economics factors will also affect Costco’s performances such as the tax payment systems, fiscal and monetary policies, and rates of exchange, etc. For example, the exchange between the US dollar and other currency can fluctuate dramatically. The difference between the exchanges will affect Costco’s income statement.
Sociocultural: Income levels of families of developed and developing countries are different, which will greatly affect Costco’s position in the market. Costco’s revenue comes primarily from its membership fee however, the price Costco charge is different due to the different region. For example, in the US, it charge $55 per year for Gold Star or Business membership. However, it only charge MXN 50 (30 dollars) for Mexican. In the United Kingdoms, the membership only costs 20 euro and is restricted to certain groups only. When Costco sets its membership, it has to take cultural factors into consideration. Therefore, cultural diversity is a significant factor that affects the business.
Technology: There are many online competitors threatening Costco’s sales. In addition, the shift in consumer behavior favors shopping on apps on their mobile devices. At present Costco’s mobile app only shows in store coupons and warehouse locations. If a customer wants to order something the app opens up a web browser to go to the costco website. The app needs to be revamped, streamlined and allow for customers to purchase items directly from within the app. Costco should also allow for site to store pickup.
7 Porters Analysis:
The bargaining power of buyers in the wholesale industry is high. The customers are free to choose what to buy and they also have a low switching cost if they decide to shop somewhere else. On the other hand, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. Wholesale stores have a large variety of suppliers to choose from and each of the products that the stores sell have a large number of substitutes, which allows them to have a low switching cost. The suppliers for these wholesale stores must also be able to supply in large quantities because of how the stores sell products.
The threat of substitutes in the wholesale industry is high. There are many other stores that the customers can shop at. The switching cost for the customers is low because the companies in the wholesale industry sell similar products at similar prices. In contrast to substitutes, there are no complements for the wholesale industry because of the large variety of products that are offered in the industry.
The threat of new entrants is low because the barriers to entry are high. The start-up cost in the wholesale industry is very high. The start-up cost includes not only the cost to buy or rent the land needed for the store, but also the large quantities of products one would need to buy for selling in the store. Another barrier to entry is obtaining good vendor relationships. To be able to buy in bulk at a discount price, one would have to compete with the larger and more powerful wholesale companies for contracts with the vendors or suppliers.
The influence of the government is low to medium. The wholesale industry must comply with the regulations and laws the government has set out. For example, minimum wage laws affect many of the companies in the wholesale industry because many of them pay their employees close to minimum wage. If the minimum wage were to be raised, then those companies will be affected. Costco is an exception to the minimum wage laws because they pay their employees more than the minimum wage at an average of $ 20 per hour.
Overall, the intensity of the rivalry in this industry is high. All the companies in the wholesale industry are competing for lower prices, which drives the prices in the market down. The switching costs for the buyers are very low, so they can easily switch between stores. All of these factors contribute to the fierce competition that exists in this industry.
Competition
Costco’s main competitors are Walmart and Amazon. Walmart started 21 years earlier than Costco and was one of the first companies in the industry to take advantage of technological advancements. By adapting new technology, Walmart was able to gain better control of its inventory, drive down costs and increase productivity, efficiency and profit margins. Walmart is also known to build relationships with its associates as well as suppliers. The company does not emphasize a hierarchy in the company and creates partnerships with its long time suppliers.
Amazon is another competitor in this industry and its advantage is its focus on their customers by providing great customer experience, great customer service, quick shipping and recommendations that are convenient for customers when they shop. Amazon is different from its competitors in this industry as it operates on a completely online business model. They compensate for this by using showrooms where the public can test products. Furthermore Amazon created an app that allows a consumer to scan any barcode and find the item on Amazon; consumers can compare the price of a TV from inside a Costco to Amazon.
Demographics
Since Costco first opened, its shoppers’ demographics have not changed. Costco aims towards high income customers that are willing to pay to shop at their store. Therefore, 54% of the shoppers are affluent or wealthy, and 15% considered poor. In 2002 Costco focused mainly on college educated households with $70,000 to $80,000 household income (Morris). Since 2002, the average household income of shoppers has only increased. 73% of the shoppers are women under the age of 55 (Morris). Costco’s most important set of customers are businesses. Businesses account for 24% of the Costco Wholesale Club (CWC). Even though that is less than half of its members, it drives 60% of Costco’s revenue. Business consumers buy not only for their businesses, but for themselves and families as well. Because Costco sells its merchandise in bulk, attracts these small business, and large households. One of Costco’s main competitors Walmart, has opposite demographics. Walmart targets low-income families with its slogan “Always low prices...always.” Thus, 39% of Walmart’s demographics consist of being “getting by” and “poor” (Morris). On the other hand Amazon’s demographics, are similar to Costco’s. Based on research, Amazon customers’ average household income is about $89,000 (MarketingCharts Staff). Moreover, the high income customers also sign up for Amazon Prime, which has a yearly membership fee higher than Costco’s base membership. This method of paying to shop is similar to Costco’s basic idea of paying to be apart of CWC. Costco’s demographics of high income level consumers and business owners yet have allowed their business to expand tremendously over the last couple of decades.
Cost Structure
The most important costs inherent to the Costco business model are the cost of products and the salaries paid to employees. Costco typically sees markups of 8-10% on their products; with the except of Kirkland branded items in which case the markup is 15%. These low margins results in Costco being cost driven and barely breaking even on their product sales; therefor Costco does not make a profit from its merchandise sales. The biggest source of their profits are their membership fees. With 64 million members, a 90% renewal rate and a fee of $ 55 or $ 110 the membership fees account for 80% of gross profits. Costco has 129,000 full and part time employees with an average starting salary of twenty dollars per hour. This results in selling and general administrative costs of almost $ 11 billion dollars. This human capital cost is by far the most expensive resource for Costco.
Revenue Streams
Margins are priced very low; to the point that Costco makes a meager profit from sales on an individual item. Costco customers seek to buy high quality items at affordable prices. The only forms of payment accepted are cash, checks, debit cards and Costco branded American Express credit cards. By not accepting all credit cards, Costco frees itself from having to pay merchant fees on all transactions. These savings are then passed on to the members. They also track any issues with bounced checks and do not let members continue to stop at Costco unless they’ve resolved the bounced check issue. The current partnership with American Express is set to expire March 31, 2016. Costco is set to begin a new partnership with Visa and Citi Bank. This impact will be significant. American Express stock value dropped almost 6% as soon as the announcement was made. Visa is not as selective as American Express to approving new lines of credit. This will result in more members able to shop on credit. If a member does not have cash or funds in their checking account they will be able to buy on credit. The result is an increase in purchases.
Strategy:
Currently, Costco’s strategy consists of excellent customer service and being a well-respected employer by offering their employees full benefits and salaries much higher than their competitors. They also offer a limited number of products to increase sales volume and drive discounts. Costco currently appeals to an older, wealthier and college-educated consumer base. Costco should broaden their appeal to younger consumers. It would benefit from targeting college students in particular. One way they can do this is by offering student level memberships at a discounted rate similar to what Amazon Student Prime is currently offering. By halving the cost for a student membership Costco would get many more new members and by retaining 90% (standard retention rate) of those members when they finish school, this will greatly increase their revenues. In addition to student memberships, Costco should also provide home deliveries for a certain radius around Costco warehouses for those without cars such as students, single moms and senior citizens. The students can be convinced to shop at Costco with the previously mentioned student membership discount as well as a pizza delivery service that could branch off of their current fresh pizza offering. Costco pizzas are very popular with college students and is already one of the largest pizza chains in America with more locations than California Pizza kitchen but trailing Chuck E Cheese. Pizza deliveries would be very beneficial for Costco’s sales because no other wholesale company offers food delivery for their food court items. This would be a blue ocean that Costco can sail on.
Another important thing to note is that online shopping continues to grow rapidly and has become an expected option in the minds of consumers. Costco should take advantage of this by increasing their online sales and offer site to store pickup. They can facilitate the increase in online sales by offering more items for sale through their website only. It would be unrealistic to expect Costco to carry musical instruments in all their stores, but by offering them on their website they can avoid having to give store space to niche items but still capture those sales that they are currently losing to their competitors such as Amazon.
Costco’s business model revolves around making the bulk of their profits from their membership fees, by expanding the demographics they target through select blue ocean strategies they will drive in many new members and greatly increase net revenue.
Works Cited
"Costco Wholesale Corporation." One Source. Avention, Inc, 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.
"2013 10K." Form 10K. SEC, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
"Costco Income Statement." COST Income Statement | Costco Wholesale Corporation Stock Yahoo! Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
Luling, Todd Van. "11 Things You Didn 't Know About Costco." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
"AmEx-Costco Divorce Shakes Up Card Industry." WSJ. Wallstreet Journal, 12 Feb. 2015. Web.
02 Mar. 2015.
“Are More Affluent People Hard Hearted? The Marketplace of Life: Costco.” One Woman Life Post themarketplace.com, 13 Jan. 2011
“Taking Stock In Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST)” Grufocus, NurseB911 Post. grufocus.com/news, 21 Oct. 2008
MarketingCharts Staff. "Amazon Attracting High-Income Customers." MarketingCharts. N.p., 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.
Morris, Tim. "Understanding Costco." Coriolis Research 23.2 (2004): n. pag. Web.
Roth, Carol. "Amazon 's Secret Weapon (No, It 's Not Drones)." CNBC. CNBC LLC., 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 03 Mar.
2015.
Background: Costco’s first location opened in 1976 in Moreno Boulevard, San Diego. Costco was originally named Price Club and later merged with Costco in 1993 by 1997 all the warehouses were renamed Costco Wholesale Warehouses. Costco was a small business but was very ambitious and thus expanded into warehouse clubs. Currently, Costco operates more than 663 warehouses and is a global powerhouse. Its total sales have surpassed $64 billion in recent years.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Costco offers a variety of products at competitive prices usually much lower than direct competitors. They have control over their volume purchasing and have efficient distribution centers that enable them to provide low …show more content…
prices. Another strength for Costco is their value -added services. The company offers two types of memberships, Business and Gold Star members. These membership fees account for 2.2% of net sales however provide close to 80% of the net profit. Costco’s financial performance has been profitable over last few years (“Costco”). There was a 7.1% increase in revenue as well as a .9% increase in profits from 2013-2014. Costco focuses on a smaller number of products 4,000 versus the 100,000 that a typical Walmart carries; this eliminates consumers from not making a purchase because they can’t decide between different options. The Company’s product categories include Food, Sundries, Hardlines, Fresh Food, Softlines, Ancillary and other which appeal to a broad consumer base. Weaknesses: A weakness of Costco is their over dependence on the North American Market. Their net sales and operating income in North America currently account for 87% and 83% respectively (“Costco”). Another weakness is an aging target market. Currently Costco appeals to an older base (baby boomers). Moreover, Costco has limited product choices. Competitors such as home depot offer more than 40000 product choices as supposed to Costco with approximately 3700 (“Costco”).
Opportunities: Costco has an opportunity in online sales. There is a high percentage of people shopping on-line roughly 51% in ages 16-34 (“Costco”). Another opportunity for Costco is expanding into existing and new markets. This would provide a closer proximity to customers and increased sales and profits. Costco can also prosper from the increasing demand in private labels. Private label sales have increased over the years, in periods of negative economic growth (“Costco”). Another opportunity for Costco would be appealing to a broader consumer base.
Threats: A big threat for Costco is the intense competition from companies such as Amazon and Walmart. Another threat are risks associated with suppliers; Costco depends on supplier’s ability to deliver goods at minimum costs (“Costco”).
PEST Analysis:
Political: As Costco operates globally, regulations in different countries will greatly affect the business. The company has to establish good corporate relationship with labor organizations and governments by following rules and regulations. Despite Costco being headquartered in the United Stated, it also must be cautious of the legal environment in several of its host countries.
Economic: The retail industry is mainly affected by the economic environment of operations and its suppliers in the host country. “When markets dip, purchasing trends follow, putting pressure on the company’s bottom line.” When “the economy is taxing than retail sales are down for all major retailers,” Costco remains consistent in opening warehouses and the growing their membership; this helps the company to be consistent through changes in the economy. (Taking Stock in Costco Wholesale Corp (COST), 2008) Since the business operates everywhere in the world, other economics factors will also affect Costco’s performances such as the tax payment systems, fiscal and monetary policies, and rates of exchange, etc. For example, the exchange between the US dollar and other currency can fluctuate dramatically. The difference between the exchanges will affect Costco’s income statement.
Sociocultural: Income levels of families of developed and developing countries are different, which will greatly affect Costco’s position in the market. Costco’s revenue comes primarily from its membership fee however, the price Costco charge is different due to the different region. For example, in the US, it charge $55 per year for Gold Star or Business membership. However, it only charge MXN 50 (30 dollars) for Mexican. In the United Kingdoms, the membership only costs 20 euro and is restricted to certain groups only. When Costco sets its membership, it has to take cultural factors into consideration. Therefore, cultural diversity is a significant factor that affects the business.
Technology: There are many online competitors threatening Costco’s sales. In addition, the shift in consumer behavior favors shopping on apps on their mobile devices. At present Costco’s mobile app only shows in store coupons and warehouse locations. If a customer wants to order something the app opens up a web browser to go to the costco website. The app needs to be revamped, streamlined and allow for customers to purchase items directly from within the app. Costco should also allow for site to store pickup.
7 Porters Analysis:
The bargaining power of buyers in the wholesale industry is high. The customers are free to choose what to buy and they also have a low switching cost if they decide to shop somewhere else. On the other hand, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. Wholesale stores have a large variety of suppliers to choose from and each of the products that the stores sell have a large number of substitutes, which allows them to have a low switching cost. The suppliers for these wholesale stores must also be able to supply in large quantities because of how the stores sell products.
The threat of substitutes in the wholesale industry is high. There are many other stores that the customers can shop at. The switching cost for the customers is low because the companies in the wholesale industry sell similar products at similar prices. In contrast to substitutes, there are no complements for the wholesale industry because of the large variety of products that are offered in the industry.
The threat of new entrants is low because the barriers to entry are high. The start-up cost in the wholesale industry is very high. The start-up cost includes not only the cost to buy or rent the land needed for the store, but also the large quantities of products one would need to buy for selling in the store. Another barrier to entry is obtaining good vendor relationships. To be able to buy in bulk at a discount price, one would have to compete with the larger and more powerful wholesale companies for contracts with the vendors or suppliers.
The influence of the government is low to medium. The wholesale industry must comply with the regulations and laws the government has set out. For example, minimum wage laws affect many of the companies in the wholesale industry because many of them pay their employees close to minimum wage. If the minimum wage were to be raised, then those companies will be affected. Costco is an exception to the minimum wage laws because they pay their employees more than the minimum wage at an average of $ 20 per hour.
Overall, the intensity of the rivalry in this industry is high. All the companies in the wholesale industry are competing for lower prices, which drives the prices in the market down. The switching costs for the buyers are very low, so they can easily switch between stores. All of these factors contribute to the fierce competition that exists in this industry.
Competition
Costco’s main competitors are Walmart and Amazon. Walmart started 21 years earlier than Costco and was one of the first companies in the industry to take advantage of technological advancements. By adapting new technology, Walmart was able to gain better control of its inventory, drive down costs and increase productivity, efficiency and profit margins. Walmart is also known to build relationships with its associates as well as suppliers. The company does not emphasize a hierarchy in the company and creates partnerships with its long time suppliers.
Amazon is another competitor in this industry and its advantage is its focus on their customers by providing great customer experience, great customer service, quick shipping and recommendations that are convenient for customers when they shop. Amazon is different from its competitors in this industry as it operates on a completely online business model. They compensate for this by using showrooms where the public can test products. Furthermore Amazon created an app that allows a consumer to scan any barcode and find the item on Amazon; consumers can compare the price of a TV from inside a Costco to Amazon.
Demographics
Since Costco first opened, its shoppers’ demographics have not changed. Costco aims towards high income customers that are willing to pay to shop at their store. Therefore, 54% of the shoppers are affluent or wealthy, and 15% considered poor. In 2002 Costco focused mainly on college educated households with $70,000 to $80,000 household income (Morris). Since 2002, the average household income of shoppers has only increased. 73% of the shoppers are women under the age of 55 (Morris). Costco’s most important set of customers are businesses. Businesses account for 24% of the Costco Wholesale Club (CWC). Even though that is less than half of its members, it drives 60% of Costco’s revenue. Business consumers buy not only for their businesses, but for themselves and families as well. Because Costco sells its merchandise in bulk, attracts these small business, and large households. One of Costco’s main competitors Walmart, has opposite demographics. Walmart targets low-income families with its slogan “Always low prices...always.” Thus, 39% of Walmart’s demographics consist of being “getting by” and “poor” (Morris). On the other hand Amazon’s demographics, are similar to Costco’s. Based on research, Amazon customers’ average household income is about $89,000 (MarketingCharts Staff). Moreover, the high income customers also sign up for Amazon Prime, which has a yearly membership fee higher than Costco’s base membership. This method of paying to shop is similar to Costco’s basic idea of paying to be apart of CWC. Costco’s demographics of high income level consumers and business owners yet have allowed their business to expand tremendously over the last couple of decades.
Cost Structure
The most important costs inherent to the Costco business model are the cost of products and the salaries paid to employees. Costco typically sees markups of 8-10% on their products; with the except of Kirkland branded items in which case the markup is 15%. These low margins results in Costco being cost driven and barely breaking even on their product sales; therefor Costco does not make a profit from its merchandise sales. The biggest source of their profits are their membership fees. With 64 million members, a 90% renewal rate and a fee of $ 55 or $ 110 the membership fees account for 80% of gross profits. Costco has 129,000 full and part time employees with an average starting salary of twenty dollars per hour. This results in selling and general administrative costs of almost $ 11 billion dollars. This human capital cost is by far the most expensive resource for Costco.
Revenue Streams
Margins are priced very low; to the point that Costco makes a meager profit from sales on an individual item. Costco customers seek to buy high quality items at affordable prices. The only forms of payment accepted are cash, checks, debit cards and Costco branded American Express credit cards. By not accepting all credit cards, Costco frees itself from having to pay merchant fees on all transactions. These savings are then passed on to the members. They also track any issues with bounced checks and do not let members continue to stop at Costco unless they’ve resolved the bounced check issue. The current partnership with American Express is set to expire March 31, 2016. Costco is set to begin a new partnership with Visa and Citi Bank. This impact will be significant. American Express stock value dropped almost 6% as soon as the announcement was made. Visa is not as selective as American Express to approving new lines of credit. This will result in more members able to shop on credit. If a member does not have cash or funds in their checking account they will be able to buy on credit. The result is an increase in purchases.
Strategy:
Currently, Costco’s strategy consists of excellent customer service and being a well-respected employer by offering their employees full benefits and salaries much higher than their competitors. They also offer a limited number of products to increase sales volume and drive discounts. Costco currently appeals to an older, wealthier and college-educated consumer base. Costco should broaden their appeal to younger consumers. It would benefit from targeting college students in particular. One way they can do this is by offering student level memberships at a discounted rate similar to what Amazon Student Prime is currently offering. By halving the cost for a student membership Costco would get many more new members and by retaining 90% (standard retention rate) of those members when they finish school, this will greatly increase their revenues. In addition to student memberships, Costco should also provide home deliveries for a certain radius around Costco warehouses for those without cars such as students, single moms and senior citizens. The students can be convinced to shop at Costco with the previously mentioned student membership discount as well as a pizza delivery service that could branch off of their current fresh pizza offering. Costco pizzas are very popular with college students and is already one of the largest pizza chains in America with more locations than California Pizza kitchen but trailing Chuck E Cheese. Pizza deliveries would be very beneficial for Costco’s sales because no other wholesale company offers food delivery for their food court items. This would be a blue ocean that Costco can sail on.
Another important thing to note is that online shopping continues to grow rapidly and has become an expected option in the minds of consumers. Costco should take advantage of this by increasing their online sales and offer site to store pickup. They can facilitate the increase in online sales by offering more items for sale through their website only. It would be unrealistic to expect Costco to carry musical instruments in all their stores, but by offering them on their website they can avoid having to give store space to niche items but still capture those sales that they are currently losing to their competitors such as Amazon.
Costco’s business model revolves around making the bulk of their profits from their membership fees, by expanding the demographics they target through select blue ocean strategies they will drive in many new members and greatly increase net revenue.
Works Cited
"Costco Wholesale Corporation." One Source. Avention, Inc, 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.
"2013 10K." Form 10K. SEC, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
"Costco Income Statement." COST Income Statement | Costco Wholesale Corporation Stock Yahoo! Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
Luling, Todd Van. "11 Things You Didn 't Know About Costco." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
"AmEx-Costco Divorce Shakes Up Card Industry." WSJ. Wallstreet Journal, 12 Feb. 2015. Web.
02 Mar. 2015.
“Are More Affluent People Hard Hearted? The Marketplace of Life: Costco.” One Woman Life Post themarketplace.com, 13 Jan. 2011
“Taking Stock In Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST)” Grufocus, NurseB911 Post. grufocus.com/news, 21 Oct. 2008
MarketingCharts Staff. "Amazon Attracting High-Income Customers." MarketingCharts. N.p., 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.
Morris, Tim. "Understanding Costco." Coriolis Research 23.2 (2004): n. pag. Web.
Roth, Carol. "Amazon 's Secret Weapon (No, It 's Not Drones)." CNBC. CNBC LLC., 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 03 Mar.
2015.