アマゾンが世界的小売の巨人になるまでのサガ

It is a typical rag to riches story. Amazon, the global e-commerce behemoth had shipped in excess of 400 items per second at its peak. How did it grow from bookseller to retail giant? The Guardian article reveals as to how Jeff Bezos's empire became the world's most valuable retailer. Jeff Bezos has been so effective at branching the firm out into new horizons that Amazon has a recognized effect on the stock market when it announces it is foraying into a new segment. For instance, the report says that the day after Amazon announced it was forming a venture to provide healthcare for its employees, many US healthcare firms saw billions wiped off their market caps. A year earlier, the same thing happened with retail stocks, when Amazon acquired Whole Foods, noted the report.As per the report, Amazon is now the fourth most valuable firm in the world, valued at $700 billion. What is more, Amazon is bigger than the 13 global retailers shown right combined. Despite their combined total market value of $503 billion, Amazon is worth $237 billion more. To be precise, the market value of Amazon is $740 billion with $177.9 billion in net sales over 2017, up from $136 billion in the previous year. The market value of other players includes $257.6 billion for Walmart, $85.3 for Costco, $51.8 for TJ Maxx, $37.7 for Target and others. In 2000, Amazon Marketplace was rolled out letting third-party sellers list items for sale. Two years later, the firm rolled out Amazon Web Services (AWS), which now powers sites such as Netflix, Airbnb, and the Guardian. In 2005, Amazon Prime was unveiled, which now boasts in excess of 90 million subscribers. In 2007, it introduced Kindle e-reader and Amazon now controls an estimated 80% of all ebook sales. Three years later, the e-commerce giant launched Amazon Studios in order to create original television content such as The Grand Tour and Mr. Robot. Last, but not the least, in 2017 Amazon acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods, which specialized in organic products.

Wide footprintAccording to the report, Amazon now has domains in 15 nations, covering more than half of the world's population. Furthermore, its steady migration across the globe masks a more rapid growth of some of its services. Amazon's cloud computing arm, AWS and Amazon Prime Video, its streaming platform are also available globally. Very recently, Amazon rolled out a new feature to make it easier for users not served directly by its retail arm to fill their baskets anyway, noted the report.TimelineIf you the timeline of Amazon, it is really amazing to see the steady progress the e-commerce behemoth has made over these years. Amazon.com, the online firm was launched in 1995 and three years later it forayed into the UK and German markets in the month of October. In 2000, Amazon penetrated the French and Japanese markets in August and November respectively. In 2011 Amazon.es follows in September, in 2012 Amazon.com.br rolled out in December, in 2013 domains go live in India, Mexico, and Australia. In 2014 The Netherlands store rolled out in November and last year, the Singapore domain went live.