Amazon.com Sitting Pretty 10 Years Later

Associated Press via MyWay.com ^ | July 5, 2005 | Elizabeth M. Gillespie

[RayChuang88]

SEATTLE (AP) - Soon after Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) debuted 10 years ago, Jeff Bezos and his handful of employees spent late summer nights packing books in a tiny warehouse, scrambling to ship a growing gush of orders. Today, the man who has grown accustomed to being hailed the king of Internet commerce runs a global powerhouse that did nearly $7 billion in sales last year, dealing in everything from banjo cases to wild boar baby back ribs.

As more businesses beef up their online operations, is the company that helped get it all started in danger of seeing its dominance eroded by the competitors it helped spawn?

Time will tell, but industry experts say Amazon is well positioned to maintain a firm grip on its title as the undisputed e-commerce leader.

[RayChuang88]

What I find interesting is that Amazon.com--thanks to visionary and careful management--not only successfully avoided the dot-com implosion but has become one of the most recognizable brand names in the world.

Amazon.com has totally changed the bookselling and music selling business, that's to be sure. It may have driven a lot of smaller bookshops and record stores out of business, probably boosted the fortunes of several companies involved in the package shipping business (especially the US Postal Service and United Parcel Service) and the ranking of the success of selling your book or music album on Amazon has become almost as powerful as the New York Times bestseller list or the Billboard magazine sales rankings.

In many ways, the success of Amazon.com paved the way for a lot more online stores, let alone the rise of eBay.

[Altair333]

I love the way Amazon remembers your credit card number and address so you basically just have to click "send me this book" and it's at your front door in a few days.

[wallcrawlr]

I havent kept up the past couple years. When exactly did they start making a profit?

[RayChuang88]

I think it was back in 2002 that Amazon.com finally started to become profitable.

[Cincinatus]

I've been an Amazon customer since its earliest days and I have to say that I've noticed a precipitous decline in the quality of its service lately. In a recent example, I wanted a book that was somewhat obscure. They accepted my order, then informed me that the book would be sent in 6 weeks. I went to Barnes and Noble online and had it in my hands in 24 hours.

Amazon built up a loyal customer base with quick service, low prices and wide selection. They seem complacent and lackadaisical in keeping up that high standard. I now think twice before ordering from Amazon, something I thought I never would do previously.

[ken5050]

"profitable" only under some very weird accounting rules..

[RayChuang88]

I do agree that Amazon's customer service may not be perfect (I had one situation where it took me nine days to get my two-book order) but you have to admit that Amazon's success has paved the way for the rise of online retailing on a truly huge scale.

Indeed, a lot of mail-order stores have gone online since the late 1990's to emulate the success of Amazon; Dell Computer has vast majority of its sales done online, and mail-order retailers of photographic equipment have also transitioned successfully to online sales (Camera World in Portland, OR is a great example of this).

[Jakarta ex-pat]

For a great educational read on the dot.com crash of 1999-2000, I recommend the book "Dot.Bomb" written with an inside view by J.David kuo.

No wonder Amazon won the war with opposition like "ValueAmerica"!

[Dane]

Wow does time fly. It was 10 years ago, that I still had a Prodigy account, getting AOL disks everyday in snail mail, and then subscribed to an ISP called Netcom.

[Paradox]

A bump for my ole buddy Jeff, who went to the same High School as I did and was in a couple of classes with me. A genuinely nice guy, a person with the intellectual capacity of any geek, but with a "regular guyness" that made him friendly and easily accessible.

[q_an_a]

about the time most "normal" companies did - years 5-6. What freaked so many was that they sold a billion dollars in product, but not making a profit and nobody had ever seen those kind of numbers.

[hobbes1]

You've got to be kidding...Sometimes you can do a bit better on the price, sometimes.....

BUT....With the introduction of their premium service, (Free two day shipping, 3.99 overnight) it is near impossible to beat them on anything.

With so many items, you think about making the trip to find it at the store, and now Boom, one-click, and the day after tomorrow, there it is. Books,CD's I even get coffee pods that way...and have more than recouped the fee in terms of shipping charges, and time saved by not leaving the house.

[Cincinatus]

No, I am not kidding -- Amazon's a great company, but their standard of service is declining. I used to order stuff and get it almost immediately, within a day or two. Now, even when I pay for expedited shipping, it hangs around their warehouse for up to a week, for no good reason that I can ascertain.

In contrast, anything in stock that I order from Barnes and Noble comes to my house the next day. I still like Amazon; I just think that they are getting a little less responsive than they used to be. If B&N continues to fill my orders better, they will be getting more of my business in the future.

[hobbes1]

Yes, they do seem to be a tad slow actually getting the merch out of the warehouse, and on to the truck lately.


Though I have found that for most stuff, its about a 24hr delay...

[sharktrager]

I saw a Biography of Bezos today. The thing that really struck me was that after 6 months he had been offered as much as $25 million for a company he started in his garage. He could have sold and retired comfortably. But he didn't cash in and quit. He's still there and, of course, much wealthier.

Damned If I Know