Anyone who’s familiar with the Internet has heard of Amazon. Alongside Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook, Amazon is one of the Big Five or Tech Giants of the information technology industry. It is one of the largest and most dominant companies in the IT industry and is among the most valuable public companies in the world. But how did Amazon get to that level of success? Here’s how Amazon managed to become one of the top companies in the IT industry.
What is Amazon?
Amazon is a multinational multi-industry company which focuses on a multitude of things; e-commerce, online streaming, cloud computing as well as artificial intelligence. The company is said to be the world’s most valuable brand. It has several widely known product lines and services such as Amazon Prime, Alexa, Appstore, Echo, Kindle and many, many more. Amazon also owns over 40 subsidiaries including Audible, IMDb, Goodreads and Twitch to name a few. The company uses its own logistics services to transport and deliver packages, such as Amazon Air and Amazon Logistics.
The History of Amazon
Amazon, or formerly known as Cadabra, Inc. from 1994-1995 was founded by Jeff Bezos in July of 1994 in a garage in Washington. The company began as an online marketplace for books, and went public in 1997. The company quickly expanded to sell other things- video and music sales began in 1998. In 1999, they began selling items such as video games, consumer electronics, home improvement items, software, games, and toys.
Amazon Web Services was launched in 2002, providing data on website popularity, internet traffic patterns and other statistics for developers and marketers. A decade and a half later, in 2017, Amazon went on to purchase the Whole Foods Supermarket chain. In February of 2021 Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon announced that he would be stepping down as CEO and would be transitioning to Executive Chair of Amazon’s board in the third quarter of 2021.
The Expansion of Amazon
Amazon’s expansion began in 1998, when they expanded to the UK and Germany. In 2000, the company expanded to France and Japan, followed by Canada in 2002. In 2004, they successfully expanded to China. 2010 marked the beginning of their rapid expansion to other countries, starting with Italy. Over the course of the next decade, Amazon would expand to an additional 13 countries across the globe, in every single continent.
Amazon’s website had attracted at least 615 million visitors annually as early as 2008. At the start of 2016, more than 130 million customers were visiting the U.S. site alone each month, which led the company to invest heavily in servers to withstand the amount of people visiting their site, especially during festive seasons such as Christmas. Amazon.com is the third most popular website in the United States, and ranked the 11th most popular website in the entire world.
Amazon's Marketing Strategy
The company’s main marketing mission is to be the most customer-centric company in the world, where customers are able to find whatever they want online and at the lowest possible prices. Part of their marketing strategy is to have a huge product mix. A wide selection of products and service broadens their target audience as diversification addresses different market needs. Amazon also provides a membership programme, which includes the shipping cost for customers who purchase through their retail website.
Amazon also uses different tactics in order to convince customers to visit its website and pay for its goods and services. This is done through advertising, sales and promotions, public relations and personal selling. Amazon forms partnerships with other website owners to display their products and link to their website in order, which allows them to reach many more target customers. The company also uses special discounts or offers, attracting more customers and generating more sales.
Why Amazon is so Successful
Amazon’s success can be attributed to three main things: its large selection, low price and fast delivery. People want to pay as little as possible for the things they want, and they want it delivered at their doorstep as quickly as possible. When you think about it, Amazon is a consumer paradise as they promise so much more than other stores and retailers, and charge much less. Customers are given what they want right away, making shopping on Amazon a very seamless and user-friendly experience.
There you have it, the story behind Amazon’s success, and why customer satisfaction is so important for your business. As former CEO Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”