Amazon is a company that has changed the way people buy and sell products. The e-commerce giant has been in business since 1994 and is the world’s largest online retailer. Its products include books, movies, music and other items for sale.
Amazon has a thriving marketplace that includes third party sellers, which have helped the company grow at warp speed. These outside vendors sell a wide variety of goods, including shoes, clothing and electronics.
The company also has a large retail division that operates stores around the country and a fast-growing subscription service called Amazon Prime. Its business model is based on the idea that people will pay for a monthly subscription to receive free shipping and other benefits.
In 2007, the e-commerce giant launched its first Kindle e-reader, which helps users browse, buy and read e-books. The device also allows customers to watch TV shows and other video content.
Over time, Amazon has acquired other businesses and merged them into its portfolio. Some of these acquisitions include the online database IMDb, which offers listings on movies, TV and celebrity news, as well as Audible, an audiobook service. The company has even purchased Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer.
These acquisitions bolstered the company’s already impressive product offerings and expanded its reach to a new audience. The company was also able to gain an edge in negotiating with suppliers and shipping companies, which helped it grow its customer base.
By the end of the 2000s, Amazon had grown to become a complete software-as-a-service platform. Its cloud computing, storage and analytics offerings were a vital part of its strategy.
The next year, the e-commerce giant rolled out a new feature called Prime Instant Videos that allowed its customers to watch movies and television shows in a streaming format on their devices. The result was a huge surge in Prime memberships and a new revenue stream for Amazon.
Another acquisition came in 2010 when Amazon bought Woot, a retail website that specializes in refurbished and new products. The shop has a wide range of items and is designed to rotate its inventory on a weekly basis, so it always has something fresh to offer.
Among other things, Woot offers limited-time discounts on certain items that sell quickly. Its employees also provide customer service and help customers return items.
Amazon has a large network of warehouses and fulfillment centers throughout the world that it uses to ship products. Its warehouses are packed with a wide array of merchandise, from hard goods to electronics.
As the number of people who shop on Amazon grew, the company needed to expand its selection of items to meet demand. This meant adding a wide variety of new items, many of which are niche or unusual.
In the mid-2000s, the e-commerce giant began offering free two-day shipping for customers who signed up for its membership program. This helped it increase its customer base, but it also put a strain on couriers and other employees.
