Detailed Cased Study of Amazon.com by Sigma Consultancy
Uploaded by SarahO on Dec 26, 2004
Case Study of Amazon.com
[i:f058c4963e]Study performed by Sigma Consultancy[/i:f058c4963e]
Table of Contents
Introduction
Industry Sector
Legal/Political Sector
Cultural Sector
Physical Resource Sector
Economic Sector
Technology Sector
Human Resources Sector
Consumer/Client Sector
Conclusions with Discussion
Recommendations with Discussion
Alternative Courses of Action
Introduction to Amazon.com
The Internet has changed the way that we perceive business and the way that we as consumers may make our purchases. In fact, the online consumer today knows the convenience of purchasing a book online and having it delivered to their door in a matter of a few days. There is no more need to fight crowds, find a parking spot, and deal with traffic (E-Commerce, 2000). The high street and mail order systems still have a place in the mix of purchase routes, however it is no longer the only method of making purchases. The Internet revolution has seen a massive increase in the long distance purchases made by consumers, as geographical barriers are no longer as important as they were. The lack of geographical importance has influenced the strategy of Internet companies. One of the first companies that took advantage of this was the online bookshop Amazon.com.
Amazon.com is an organization that offers a broad range of services to consumers and is considered an online leader of pure-plays - pure online merchants. Amazon.com was founded in July of 1995 with a mission to fully utilize the Internet to make book buying fast, easy, and all in all, a very enjoyable experience. They currently have 29 million customers in 160 different countries, making Amazon.com one of the leading online merchants. It is rated third in business-to-consumer online revenue as of June 20, 2000 (Interactive Week 7, 2000). Amazon.com represents the ideal e-Commerce company. It was one of the first to demonstrate the potential for "virtual" upstarts and turned the market on end - even leading the "bricks and mortar" companies. In the book selling industry, Barnes & Noble has been the market leader with 1011 "bricks and mortar" stores with Borders a close second. Barnes & Noble has fought back vigorously on its own and Amazon.com's turf, while Borders has taken a go-slow approach.
The continued success of Amazon.com can be attributed to its diversity in terms of geography as well as it's diverse selection of merchandise, ranging from media such as books, CD's, and videos to online auctions and house wares. Amazon.com currently operates four international websites in France, Britain, Germany and Japan giving it global Internet...