The Information Systems of Amazon Inc

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The Information Systems of Amazon Inc

Amazon.com, Inc. is the leading online retailer of books. The ¡§Earth¡¦s Biggest Bookstore¡¨ opened its virtual doors in July 1995 with a mission to use the Internet to transform book buying into the fastest, easiest, and most enjoyable shopping experience possible1. Amazon still holds their commitment to customer satisfaction and the delivery of an educational and inspiring shopping experience in high regard today and it is now one of the most widely known, used and cited commerce sites on the World Wide Web (WWW).

Amazon has grown rapidly since their inception. The company experienced a surge is sales of 313% until 1998, supported by 8.4 million customer accounts in over 150 countries, of which 60% accounted for ¡§repeat¡¨ customers. Although the company has grown rapidly, it has incurred losses every year since then5. In January 2002, Amazon finally reported a net profit of $5 million3. They earned this profit by employing operational efficiencies, heads-down cost cutting, and savvy partnership deals.

Amazon strives to offer its customers value through a broad selection of products, a high level of personalized customer service and competitive pricing. Innovative uses of technology and the Internet enable the online book seller to offer millions of titles, easy-to-use search and browse features, email services, personalized shopping services, web-based credit card payments and direct shipping to customers. The company has since expanded their business to various other products such as electronic greeting cards, online auctions, CDs, videos, DVDs, toys and games, electronics, kitchenware, computers and more. Customers access this vast selection of merchandise through an efficien...

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...ence on the Internet.

Bibliography:

References

1 Author Unknown. About Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/misc/company-info.html/ref=gw_bt_aa/103-2331310-8759862

2 Author Unknown. ¡§Boss Talk.¡¨ The Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2002.

3 Hof, Robert D. & Green, Heather. ¡§How Amazon cleared that hurdle.¡¨ Business Week, February 4, 2002.

4 Shankland, Stephen & Kane, Margaret & Lemos, Robert. ¡§How Linux saved Amazon millions.¡¨ CNET News.com, October 30, 2001.

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-275155.html.

5 Shrikhande,Aarti & Gurbaxani, Vijay, ¡§Competing in book retailing: The case of Amazon.com.¡¨ Centre for Research on Information Technology and Organizations, June 1999.

6 Wolverton, Troy & Sandoval, Greg, ¡§Amazon reiterates year-end goals.¡¨ CNET News.com, June 5, 2001. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-267854.html.

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