Marketing Plan for Amazon.com

Introduction

Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, initially operating purely as an online book retailer. It was novel in its approach, in that it allowed consumers to read and write reviews on books before they decided to purchase. Following a difficult period of trading in the 1990s, Amazon underwent some extensive cost-cutting in 2001, and refocused on becoming a portal, acting as the middleman between buyers and sellers. The company also launched Amazon auctions in order to compete with eBay. Amazon currently has websites operating in Austria, France, Canada, China, Japan, Germany, the UK, the US and Spain.

In 2007, Amazon launched Kindle in the US. This is an eBook reader with a difference, in that it allows readers to download books to their e-reader on-the-go by connecting to wireless mobile networks. This is a feature which is not offered by any of its competitors. Amazon has a history of growth through acquisition. In July 2009, Amazon purchased Zappos.com, a US-based online clothing and footwear retailer, for a reported US$847 million. In October 2008, Amazon also began selling clothing in the UK, stocking well-known brands such as Timberland, Versace and Nike (Whiting, 30).

Background

Amazon is an online shopping website with one of the largest product supplies online. Amazon is involved in selling products directly or providing a platform for selling a wide range of products. The company is named after the Amazon River, which is one of the largest rivers in the world. It started as an online book store, but soon diversified and started selling CDs, DVDs, videos, computer software etc. Amazon has established itself in a number of countries such as Italy, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan and United Kingdom. It also provides shipping facilities in many countries and charges for it. Following is the Amazon customer review (iwsun4.infoworld.com).

Discussion

Management Approach

Amazon has managed to continue to grow in the US retail market due to its adaptability and changing online offering, which continues to attract more and more consumers. Amazon.com also achieves a great deal of its growth through the acquisition of smaller retailers. This saw the company join forces with audio book provider audible.com, the creator of the iPod Touch Lexcycle and iPhone application Stanza, which allows consumers to download e-books to read on their phones.

In 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos.com, strengthening its clothing and footwear offering. 2010 saw Amazon once again achieving growth through acquisition, with the purchase of online “deal-a-day” site woot.com. Amazon plans to let Woot continue to operate independently. Woot has a specific operating model, in that it offers a deal each day, selling an item for a specified reduced price for just 24 hours, or until the item sells out. Woot is also a wholesale distributor which sells to Amazon and other retailers. January 2011 also saw Amazon buying outright the British DVD rental company, LoveFilm, in which it had previously owned a 42% share (Sweat, 42).

Reasons for Amazon's Success

The Amazon brand has established high levels of recognition around the world, making it ...