1. Amazon
Case Presentation
Sean Lane
Marketing 476

2. Overview and History
• Amazon is an American Multinational electronic
commerce company
• Headquartered in Seattle, Washington
• Worlds largest online retailer
• Started as an online bookstore, but later
expanded, selling DVDs, CDs, video and MP3
downloads, software electronics, apparel and
much more
• Also produces consumer electronics, notably the
Amazon Kindle e-book reader and the Kindle Fire

3. Overview and History
• Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in July 1994 and the site
went online as Amazon.com in 1995.
• Company was named after the Amazon River, one of the largest
rivers in the world.
• Has separate retail website for US, Canada, United Kingdom,
France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain Brazil, Japan, and China.

4. Chaordic Structure
• Because of the massive volume of product it sells 24/7/365,
Amazon maintains 80 enormous warehousing and fulfillment
centers scattered around the known universe.
• These multi-football arena sized premises take care of sourcing,
organizing, packing and shipping millions of orders a day… And
surprisingly, they do it with a vast number of workers who use
simple barcode scanners to find, and expedite on its way, any
item in the warehouse
The seemingly counter-productive thing about Amazon’s
warehousing system is that it relies on something described as
"Chaotic Storage” where products are shelved at random, and
because items are stored randomly rather than categorically
there’s a more efficient use of shelf space.

5. Competitors
Amazon.com being a multi-national e commerce site has
many competitors in different categories

6. Partners
Amazon.com operates retail websites for Sears Canada,
bebe Stores, Timex, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare, and
Lacoste.
Amazon provides a unified multichannel platform where a
customer can interact with some people they call the retail
website, standalone in-store terminals, or phone-based
customer service agents.
Amazon Web Services also powers AOL's Shop@AOL.
On October 18, 2011, Amazon.com announced a
partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights
to many popular comics

7. Customers
Over 200 million active user accounts
Main customers are 30-50 years old
Tech savy users and early technology adopters
Buyers who want the ease of purchasing a product online
Seller customers

8. Stakeholders
Distributors, suppliers, merchant program, shareholders,
Software Development Centers, Call Centers,
Warehouses
Has 28 acquisitions, such as, Internet Movie Database
(IMDb), Audible.com, and Zappos
Investments in Engine yard, a Ruby-on Rails platform as a
service company. LivingSocial, a local deal site
4 Subsidiaries
Merchant Partnerships: Amazon.com operates retail
websites for Sears Canada, Bebe Stores, Timex, Marks
and Spencer, Mothercare and Lacoste.

9. Competing in the Eco System
Third party is a key seller of growth for Amazon. It allows
Amazon to increase selection and grow faster. It also helps push
down prices on Amazon as third parties fight for buyers
When Amazon was established, customers had an issue
trusting the e-commerce retailer. Amazon then came up with the
idea of customer reviews. When people see other peoples
reviews, they feel more comfortable making a purchase
Amazon found out that when there is more involvement in the
brand, consumers will act as a brand ambassador. Amazon
created affiliated marketing, where people recommend the
books they like to others and get an income out off it
Amazon has a bottom-up approach where every decision is
driven by the customers needs

10. Assets
Amazon has a bottom-up approach where every decision
is driven by the customers needs.

11. Assets
Amazons Innovations:

12. Amazon Products
Amazon Kindle is an e-
book reader that allows
users to stream all types of
digital media
The kindle surpassed
paper book sales for the
first time 2010

13. Revenue Model

14. Unique Features
In 2007 Amazon launched
Amazon payments to directly
compete with PayPal. This
created a barriers to entry for
new competition as the will
have to adjust to current
payment methods. The new
payment selection worked as
an add on to customer
service.
Introduced Amazon gift card to
induce trial and repeat
purchase
Amazon made it difficult for
customers to switch platforms
for reading their e-book
through their proprietary
format
Personalized store: Tracks
past purchase behavior and
uses a modern alogorithm to
give recommendations
Look and feel of the page
keeps changing to give
modern outlook
Annual subscription saving
schemes for loyal customers
Vertical Integration: Kindle
became another reason for
customers to return to
Amazon

15. Intellectual Property
The technology that operates the kindle relies on many
patented features and processes
One-click Ordering: A patented delivery process that
allows the customer to save their billing information and
shorten the checking out process
Amazon’s internet based customer referral system is a
patented process that allows other websites to market
their books for a commission

16. Reference List
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24854038/Amazon-Strategic-
Plan
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/a
mazon_inc/index.html
http://mashable.com/category/amazon/