Started as an online book store in 1994, Amazon expanded its portfolio of commodities- from

books to toys, electronics, household appliances, et al- in the dot com boom era. It also acquired

“1-Click” patent, a technology that prompts the users to purchase more and allows the company

to collect their data, for the checkout system. The 20th century concluded with the launch of

marketplace model which allowed third-party sellers to hunt for used merchandise and this move

resulted in a huge increase in the volume of transactions on the site. Even though Amazon didn’t

maintain a continuous line of success after the dot com burst, it successfully ventured into retail-

fashion, unveiled Kindle which put the booklovers at convenience with electronic handheld

device and plethora of e-books, e-magazines to explore from the kindle store, acquired Audible

to enter into audiobooks market. The introduction of Kindle fueled the growth of its ecommerce

platform (e-books) and increased the overall user-base with Goodreads integration. The biggest

spun-off was the launch of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a pay-for-what-you-use service for

servers and data centers. It was followed by Amazon’s S3 storage which significantly increased

the power of computing for the startups who relied on such utility computing methods for a high

bandwidth and to serve a vast audience.

Amazon continued its growth streak with the launch of Prime membership and the bouquet of

services (Music, Video, expedite shipping) it offered with the membership. It has set to become

a technology conglomerate with the introduction of voice-powered AI-assistant (Alexa) which is

integrated with all the subsidiary apps, Echo home powered by Alexa for smart home systems,

Fire TV stick for home entertainment, robots to optimize the warehouse operations. Alexa-

powered devices such as Echo and Fire TV stick indirectly contributed to its growth of Prime

membership subscription with more users subscribing to music and video services.

References: Wikipedia, Wired, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes

Across the eras, Amazon consistently diversified its portfolio across various commodities and

sectors. It moved fast throughout, till date, and didn’t deter to innovate after multiple failed

experiments. Amazon succeeded because of its high-risk appetite since its inception, constant

experimentation and vertical expansion of its product portfolio. It believes in “Think Big” ideology

and strives to deliver the products of the highest standards, resulting in the exponential growth.

Amazon has always been a consumer-centric and data-driven company and this approach is

imperative to its continued growth. Principles such as understanding the consumer and working

backwards towards the new product development, giving ownership to the employees and

innovating from the top are core to the company’s continued growth.

References: Wikipedia, Wired, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes