Essay about Financial Analysis of Amazon.Com

Amazon is a Fortune 500 e-commerce company based in Seattle, WA. It is one of the top companies that sells the most goods over the internet.

As of January 2010, Amazon.com has three times the Internet sales revenue of the runner up, Staples. By offering a large amount of varied categories through its website and other international ones (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.co.fr, and so on), it has managed to grow to a customer based company with over 30 million people. In addition, the online retail format enables the company to reduce costs of managing inventory (Amazon.com; online bookstore, 2008).

Amazon.com, Inc., on May 28, 1996, started offering a range of products and services through on-line webpages. This new company began to offer products including merchandise and content that was purchased for resale from multiple vendors and sellers ranging from lots of third-party ways. The Amazon.com business has three different segments within its operating environment: Amazon Web Services, North America, and International make up the operating areas. The North American area for Amazon has segments that focus on the sales from retailers of consumer items or product from sellers through its website Amazon.com.

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer that was launched in 1995 (Rouse, 2014). Amazon was mainly a book selling company that has enlarged its’ business by selling a variety of goods. The company sells all types of technology devices such as cell phones, games, televisions, movies, cameras, computers,

Amazon focuses on global reach, putting customer first,, and extensive selection of products through its vision which is “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online” (Gregory 2016).

Headquartered in Settle, Washington DC, Amazon.com is a cloud computing electronic and commerce company (Amazon, 2016). The company is one of the largest internet based retailers both in the US and globally based on total sales and market capitalization. The company does a majority of its business through online retail websites throughout the United States and with more that ten countries throughout World. In 2015, Amazon overtook Wal-Mart to become the most valuable retailer by market capitalization.

Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos opened the virtual doors of Amazon.com's online store in July 1995. The company was incorporated in 1994 in the state of Washington and reincorporated in 1996 in Delaware. The Company's principal corporate offices are located in Seattle, Washington. Amazon.com completed its initial public offering in May 1997, and its common stock is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the ticker symbol AMZN. Amazon.com's fiscal year is based on the calendar year, and the last day of the fiscal year is December 31. The closing stock selling price for February 1, 2006 was $43.98. Amazon has never declared or paid cash dividends on its common

Amazon is an online retailer focused on selection, price and convenience. Incorporated in May 1996, Amazon.com offers programs that allow sellers to sell products on the website and have the fulfillment performed by the seller. In addition to the online marketplace, Amazon also manufactures and sells Kindle devices. Through the different programs offered by Amazon, the company has the edge over their competitors. They are able to secure the lowest price, fastest shipping and offer incentives to the customer, such as Amazon Prime (Amazon, 2014).

Amazon is an American commerce company based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The company used to be only a bookstore, but now it diversified into difference type of products. The goal of Amazon is to provide one stop shop experience where the customer can find everything on Amazon as earth’s biggest selection (Warman 2012). Amazon operates as a pure internet retailers that does not have retail store at all while the delivery will be done through Amazon’s networks of distribution centres. This operation makes the company is able to provide wider range of goods and lower cost of products with high quality. Moreover, it is also increase customer satisfaction as it supports customer convenience.

Amazon’s core competencies are in its ability to effectively use and develop technology to drive site traffic and enhance the customer experience. Their distinctive use of website real estate coupled with their ability to leverage their brand and effectively use that leverage to deliver low prices and high quality products, makes them a leader in online retailing. Their partner brands and their ability to adapt and recognize deficiencies enable them to effectively cut out the middle man, or at the very least, partner with them.

Retailers have adapted to the online marketplace out of necessity and opportunity. The great recession placed many retail companies in financial hardship and while some failed, others innovated and became some of the largest companies in America such as Amazon. A recent trend is consumers are buying more products online than ever before. As a consumer, I enjoy shopping in the convenience of my home and having the items delivered to my doorstep in 48 hours or less. Global internet access continues to increase, with mobile devices and affordable internet for the home, consumers will continue to shift and buy products online rather than in retail brick and mortar locations. Online sales in the United States have increased over 250% in the last ten years, accomplishing $250.0 billion in 2012 (Tehrani, 2014). Therefore, Amazon is in a solid market position to capitalize on the future trends and booming ecommerce

The company has many strengths. First, Amazon is the world’s leading online retailer. According to the 2016 Annual Report, Amazon had total net sales of US $135, 987 million in 2016. These total net sales include three segments which are North America, International, and AWS. Second, in comparison to many companies, Amazon has a superior logistics and distribution system, which allows the company to actualize improved customer fulfillment. Third, with its prolonged strategic drive on low-cost, differentiation, and focus, Amazon offers a wide range of product at low prices to customers. Fourth, Amazon enjoys global recognition from its customers. As stated earlier, Amazon built a strong brand in very little time. Finally, the

Amazon, is one of the most widely used online shopping websites as well as a name that people trust for most of their online shopping needs. The Amazon website is a world on its own, with millions of products based on every customer need. It is not only that it has millions of products to choose from

Amazon.com is a Fortune 500 company that has revolutionized the retail industry. In recent years, Amazon has faced increased competition in the highly competitive online retail space as competitors invested heavily in their online storefronts and infrastructure. Positioned in a highly fragmented industry, Amazon must find solutions that can sustain its long term profitability and maintain its market share. To that end, Amazon should grow the Amazon Prime membership base and expand on its media and mobile offerings.

Amazon has grown up from a normal online website to an ecommerce and broadcasting partner to development platform being driven by the spirit of innovation. Amazon is a service based company offering customers best services and providing more types of products, at lower prices and with proper reviews. Their innovations towards the technology increase the growth of Amazon. Since 1995, Amazon has significantly expanded international retail websites, its product selection, customer service centers and worldwide network (AmazonJobs).