Cossa. ru (http://cossa. ru/articles/216/12005 /) talks about becoming the leader of e-commerce Amazon. com.
beginning.
The story begins in the Amazon in 1994, in the garage, where an American entrepreneur Jeffrey Bezos (Jeffrey Bezos) placed three homemade desk with computers and server. Next, he rented a small room, and it became the first headquarters of a startup. The project is developed by talented programmers in Silicon Valley.First orders from an online store there in the summer of 1995. Amazon was the first money from his mother and adoptive father Bezos - they have invested about 300 thousand dollars and bought his son a car.
According to Jeffrey, one of the major issues for him was the choice of specialty stores. Books were the best option: they do not necessarily need to see before buying (as opposed, for example, clothing) - just read the abstract and look at the cover. This product has quickly become screwed. The first book sold through Amazon, was «Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought» Hofshtadera Douglas (Douglas Hoftstadter). In the first month off of Amazon products in all U.S. states and in more than 40 other countries. By September, the weekly earnings have amounted to $ 20,000.
Bezos was first introduced a system of reviews, although vendors and tried to dissuade him, believing that the negative comments scare off customers. But sales continued to grow, and site traffic increased by users of communication.
ideology.
In an interview with «US News and World Report» Jeffrey said:.
In business, you can focus on the competitors or customers. Those who are guided by competition, losing the initiative.
The concept of Amazon encoded in its name and logo: First, the letter A stands at the beginning of the alphabet and provides the company with leading positions in various directories. Secondly, the Amazon - the largest river in the world, which, according to the creators of the store, metaphorically comparable to the Internet: the eternal within. Smile - arrow below the word, which appeared in 2000, symbolizes the fact that the directory has everything from A to Z.
Amazon 's marketing strategy includes six items:.
Goods and services in the public domain.
Intuitive client interface.
The expansion comes from small to larger.
Worldwide.
Modern methods of communication.
Universal behavior and thinking.
Amazon well suited to their marketing campaigns, adapting to changing market. The company focus on Internet communication, strong partnerships (eg with companies Target, Sears Canada, Bebe Stores, Timex Corporation and Marks. More importantly, Amazon aims to outperform the market, much of marketing has been borrowed by followers.
Internet giant.
Three days before the release of the IPO, May 12, 1997, the company Bezos received a lawsuit from a competitor «Barnes. The conflict was settled out of court, but Bezos went on to call his shop the largest. May 15 Amazon released an IPO, it rated as successful, and the profit the store in the last quarter was $ 66 million.
1998 marked the expansion of the company. Amazon Sales at the beginning of the year amounted to 1% of all books sold in the U.S. online store has entered in the three largest book retailers, every day, selling more than 55,000 titles. October 15 Amazon swallowed bookpages. co. uk - the British company became the official representative of the owner. In addition, at this time was a branch in Germany. At the same time Amazon gets a new lawsuit, this time from the network Wal-Mart Stores, which stated that the company stole trade secrets Bezos Wal-Mart, hiring former employees of the company. This case is also not gone to trial, but in the Amazon An internal reshuffle. Remember the 1998 expansion of the range: Amazon now has to trade audio and video products.
In October 1999 amazon. com has become one of the 25 most visited sites on the Internet (about 1.9 million. daily visits ), and the number of people in the customer base was more than one million. The company grew rapidly, but at the same time the business plan did not expect a quick profit, and was designed for long -term, sometimes displeased investors. Nevertheless, it is such a strategy is considered, allowed the company to survive the dotcom crisis. Although the loss of half a billion dollars. In particular, this ... He had an outstanding entrepreneurial abilities, and in an interview with «Business Week» said:. Out of any situation you can find a way. When we first tried to attract buyers, we had no money on advertising. Therefore, we developed a program of cooperation. We were placed on popular Web sites their banners and listed them part of the income. Then we devised a system of buying a single click. All this did not require large investments. We had to think and just focus on customer needs.
In 1999, Amazon bought the Internet company Internet Movie Database, and Alexa Internet. With the assistance of a second later, Bezos launched a multi- A9 search engine.
promotion.
Today, Amazon makes extensive use of Google AdWords, paying for each transition. The company sees no point in ...
Amazon now spends millions of dollars to continually improve the capabilities of the interface. Internet - an environment that requires daily changes. In 2001, the amazon. com ahead of closest rivals in terms of usability by 65%. In addition, Amazon pays great attention to the mobile version of site.
In the fourth quarter of 1999, Amazon spent on offline advertising $ 80 million. In the next year - $ 50 million. In 2008 - $ 36 million. , And by August 2009 the share fell to $ 9.4. Meanwhile, the Internet took more money.
Special attention is paid to the marketing strategy affiliate program. Employers can post a link to specific products in the Amazon on the site, receiving money for each transition.
One of the biggest names online store - Amazon Kindle, an e-book, published under the name of the company. According to management, in its advertising was not spent a cent all have customer testimonials.
Since 2006, the Amazon is actively engaged in the provision of services in iCloud. Company representatives said that soon a business based on this technology can become a major source of income Amazon.
According to Finmarket, in the fourth quarter of 2011 net profit fell in the Amazon 2.4 times compared to the fourth quarter of 2010 - from $ 416 million. , Or $ 0.91 per share, to $ 177 million. , Or $ 0.38 per share. The company's revenue grew at the same time by 35 % - to $ 17.4 billion.
In the first quarter 2012 earnings forecasts in the Amazon range from $ 12 billion. to $ 13.4 billion. , Which is 22-36 % higher than the same period last year.
Amazon 's headquarters is located at the Pacific Medical Center in Seattle.
