Amazon Case Study

Amazon.Com is a leading online retailer company, offering many different items such as books, music, DVDs, videos, toys, electronics, software, video games and home improvement products. They have an estimated 22.5 million customers in 150 different countries. Amazon was founded in July 1995 by Jeff Bezos in the state of Washington. Jeff Bezos now 37 years old, received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University. His professional career started at Bankers Trust Company in 1988, where he became Vice President in February 1990. At the end of the same year he moved to D.E. Shaw & Co. a Wall Street investment firm and he became a Senior Vice President in 1992.

When internet business first started, Jeff noticed an important opportunity on the online commerce. He made a list of possible products that could be sold on line, including books, magazines, music, and many other items and finally he decided to start selling books. The main reasons of his choice were because there are more books to sell than music titles and also because the book publishing industry is easier to access than the music industry, which is controlled by six or seven big record companies. When he seen the opportunity he quit his job in June 1994 and moved to the West. He decided to move to Seattle because it was close to a major book distributor, Ingram’s Warehouse in Oregon. Business started to “flow” for Jeff when he moved to Seattle. This is when he named his e-commerce company Amazon. He got its name “from the river with the biggest water flow of the world, the Amazon River”. It started in a garage in Seattle, with four employees and now Amazon is one of the biggest of e-commerce book retailers.

With Amazon.com, customers can search at home a database of millions books, CD’s, DVDs, videos, software, video games, lawn products and even a pan for your kitchen. If you find the item you want, just add it to the shopping cart and then is needed to fill out an online form to specify the type of payment, shipment characteristics and even if it’s a gift, the type and color of wrapping paper. Also today it is possible to access used and collectible items through their zShops and Amazon Commerce Network or going to Amazon Auctions