Earlier this week, we learned that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will step down as chief executive of the e-commerce giant that started in his garage nearly 30 years ago.
It will pave the way for Andy Jassy, currently head of Amazon’s cloud computing business, to take control of everyday life.
Billionaire Bezos will not give up on the reins entirely, instead he will assume the role of executive chairman.
Today, Amazon is one of the most valuable public companies on the planet, with Bezos competing with Tesla’s Elon Musk for the title of richest man in the world.
What started as a small online book retailer has become a global phenomenon, encompassing home delivery, cloud computing, advances in artificial intelligence and streaming movies and sports.
And that has brought much criticism to Amazon, from accusations of having contributed to the decline of High Street to complaints about working conditions in its vast warehouses.
So, how was the Amazon empire built?
Amazon’s innovation can be seen clearly in its financial results.
In 2018, it became the second public company in the world to be valued at $ 1 trillion, after Apple, and today has the third highest market valuation in the U.S., after Apple and Microsoft.
The huge success of the online giant is also evident in its revenue.
Sales in 2020 reached US $ 386 billion, compared to US $ 280 billion a year earlier. Net income almost doubled to $ 21 billion.
Bezos’ success was driven by the company’s global expansion, but mainly by expansion in a wide variety of other sectors.
Video streaming devices and services, cloud services and, more recently, groceries (with the acquisition of Whole Foods Market) have allowed the company to compete directly with tech giants like Facebook, Apple, Google and Netflix.
And it all started with selling books.
1995: Amazon launches with online book sales
“When we started selling books four years ago, everyone said, ‘Look, you are just guys from the computer and don’t know anything about selling books.’ And that was true, “said a young Jeff Bezos in 1999.
However, the huge storage space the company had at the time in the United States helped Amazon to become an industry leader and allowed it to offer a wider selection of books than its traditional rivals.
Then, e-books arrived and Amazon was smart enough to become an important player in this market.
1999 – Amazon becomes the world’s largest online sales platform
In the late 1990s, Amazon decided to start selling other products, starting with music and DVDs.
Soon, the Bezos empire grew to include electronics, toys and kitchen utensils.
The growing network of deposits in the United States helped to extend what the company could offer, dramatically increasing its popularity with customers.
Ten years later, Amazon has become the largest online seller in the United States and worldwide.
2005 – Amazon launches Prime subscription
After the creation of the Amazon Marketplace in 2000 – which opened the platform to thousands of small businesses – Amazon felt the need to increase its delivery service to loyal customers.
Amazon Prime was launched in 2005, offering faster shipping for selected items. This boosted sales of all types of products.
More than 100 million paying customers are now members of the Amazon Prime subscription service, which also offers streaming video and music.
It is the second largest paid membership program in the world.
2007- Amazon launches its first consumer product: the Kindle
Amazon has never forgotten its origins in book sales. When e-books started to become popular, Bezos launched the Kindle in 2007, becoming the global leader in the industry.
Amazon’s smart device department has grown exponentially, facing stiff competition from Apple and Google in the early 2010s.
Amazon, however, was the first company to launch an intelligent device: the Echo speaker, equipped with the company’s own artificial intelligence system, Alexa.
It is now the third largest seller of smart devices in the United States.
Today, Amazon’s future looks a little more complicated than just selling products on the internet.
Having successfully mastered online retailing, the company is now focused on expanding its services – and perhaps surprisingly, in physical stores – to create a new way of shopping.