Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world and a well-known supplier of cloud services (Amazon.com). Together with Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Google, Amazon is one of the five “major” businesses in the American technology sector.
It is regarded as one of the most powerful economic forces in the world and has a big impact on how we live and shop. Amazon began as an online bookstore but has now evolved into a web-based company primarily specializing in cloud computing, digital streaming, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence (AI) services.
The company, which uses an Amazon-to-buyer sales model, has a massive product selection and inventory that allows customers to purchase almost everything, including electronics, toys, clothing, furniture, books, jewelry, movies, pet supplies, household products, and gourmet food.
Amazon has regional websites, customer support centers, software development centers, data centers, and fulfillment centers all over the world in addition to its Seattle headquarters.
Jeff Bezos launched Amazon on July 5, 1994. Because Microsoft was located nearby, he chose the Seattle location for its wealth of technical expertise.
In May 1997, Amazon went public. In 1998, it started to sell music and movies. To start its global operation, it bought German and British online bookshops in 2003.
The following year, it started selling software, games, consumer goods, home improvement products, toys, video games, and music.
It introduced Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2002, with the intended goal of giving web developers access to APIs so they could build web apps on top of Amazon’s e-commerce platform. In 2004, AWS integrated web crawler data and website popularity information from the Alexa Web Information Service.
Later, AWS turned its focus to offering business services, launching Simple Storage Service (S3) in 2006 and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) in 2008. These services allowed businesses to hire Amazon for data storage and processing capacity. Amazon also introduced the Fulfillment by Amazon program in 2006, enabling individuals and small businesses (sometimes known as “third-party sellers”) to sell goods using Amazon’s distribution centers and infrastructure. Amazon implemented hazard pay of $2 per hour, modifications to overtime pay, and a policy of unlimited unpaid time off until April 30, 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic. Both the paid time off policy and the increase in hazard pay were set to expire in June 2020.
Even with these temporary sales limitations on non-essential items, Amazon increased employment in the US and Canada by 100,000 people. Some Amazon employees in the US, France, and Italy criticized the firm for choosing to “run normal shifts” even though many COVID-19 instances were successful.
The business has received legal accusations in Spain for its practices. In an open letter to Bezos in March 2020, several US senators raised worries about worker safety.
On February 2, 2021, Amazon announced that Jeff Bezos would step down as CEO and become executive chair of the board effective in the third quarter of that year. Amazon is presently run by Andy Jassy, a former CEO of AWS. Amazon announced job cutbacks for more than 18,000 employees in January 2023 to reduce costs.
Amazon revealed intentions to fire 10,000 employees from its business and technical teams on November 14, 2022.
The company continues to invest in innovative strategies to change how customers and sellers interact, including Amazon Prime or Amazon FBA. Amazon is most recognized for revolutionizing the e-commerce sector.
Customers may now quickly and easily find the things they’re looking for in a digital environment thanks to the solution. In addition, anyone looking to sell their goods online can use Amazon to have immediate access to a wide variety of buyers.
Amazon claims that its sellers have all the tools necessary to market their goods, control reviews, monitor sales, and evaluate performance. Since they began doing business on Amazon in 1999, third-party merchants have increased to represent nearly 58% of all transactions. Also, compared to Amazon’s sales, which rise at a pace of only 25% annually, third-party sales on Amazon are growing at a rate of about 52% annually.
Features of Amazon
Amazon.com
There is no need to introduce Amazon.com. It serves as the company’s main location. Currently, it transacts dozens of products from every retail category imaginable every second.
Choose a Book
A digital library service, Prime Reading. It allows you to check out and check back in magazines, books, and comics from Amazon’s library. Any device that has the official Kindle app is compatible with it. Spain, the US, Italy, the UK, France, and India all offer the service.
Amazon Video
Every Amazon Prime member has access to Prime Video. You’ll discover a mixture of TV series, Amazon Originals, and movies; it’s comparable to Netflix.
Amazon Pictures
If you have an Amazon Drive account and reside in the United States The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, India, or Japan, you will also have access to Prime Photos. It is an opponent of Google Photos. Citizens of the United States and Canada can even get prints of their images using the Amazon Prints service.
Amazon Prime
In the United States, Amazon Prime debuted in 2005 as a two-day fast shipping service. More than 200 nations currently have more than 100 million customers in the program. The delivery advantages are still there, but Amazon has now added many more services.
Amazon Music
Whether you reside in Canada, Austria, the United States, India, Germany, the United Kingdom, or Japan, your subscription will grant you access to Prime Music. Two million pieces of music are accessible for free on it.
Prime Pantry
Prime users in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, Italy, Japan, Spain, and India, and Prime Pantry, France, is a shopping service. For a set price, food and other non-perishable items are provided in a single package. The box can be filled with your own choices, and the on-screen graphic will show you how much room is still available.
Twitch
Amazon acquired Twitch in the middle of 2014 for roughly $1 billion. The live-streaming service mostly focuses on material with a gaming theme. You may view eSports matches, head-to-head league action of different games, and live streams of certain players. There are also talk shows and other entertainment with a gaming theme.
Amazon Drive
The company’s cloud storage app is called Amazon Drive. The US, Canada, the majority of Europe, Japan, Australia, China, and Brazil all sell it. Users of Prime receive 5GB for free. At $11.99 annually for 100GB of space or $59.99 for 1TB, everyone else must pay.
Prime Now
For the Amazon Essentials line, Prime Now offers immediate delivery. Products can be delivered in an hour for a price or in two hours at no charge. There are only a few big cities where you can get it.
Amazon Restaurants, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Flex are other divisions of Prime Now that provide fresh grocery delivery to customers in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan, respectively (a platform for independent delivery services).
Amazon Key
The company’s delivery personnel can leave a package for you in your home or vehicle with the help of Amazon Key.
Advantages of Amazon
Free Shipping on Marked Items
Online shopping can occasionally be difficult because you need to do a few more orders in addition to your primary purchase to qualify for free shipping. Nevertheless, there is no need to add these extra things if you are an Amazon Prime member. Within two delivery days, prime items will be delivered gratis.
Kindle Firsts and the Kindle Lending Library
If you have Amazon Prime, you can read up to two novels without charge each month. Through Kindle Firsts, four new e-books will be made freely downloadable each month before they are made available to the wider public. Members of the Kindle Lending Library can read their second book. Also, you will be able to take out one free book loan every month.
The Dictionary Function
Oxford English Dictionary is already included with Kindle. The dictionary feature is beneficial and increases vocabulary. When your cursor is near a word, the definition appears right away. You get to make huge time savings. You can look up the definition of the word in the built-in dictionary without going further.
Portable
Unlike a physical book, a Kindle is extremely lightweight and portable. A Kindle is similar to a tablet in that you can bring it wherever you go. If you’re a voracious reader and are traveling, you’ll need to put books in your luggage; an e-reader like the Kindle is far more portable. Travelers will find the memory capacity of the Kindle to be very useful, and it’s wonderful to always have a book nearby when you’re standing in line or stuck in traffic.
Anti-Glare Screen
Even in bright sunlight, you can read on the Kindle’s screen without glare because of its strong contrast. The vivid display and readable text provide an experience similar to reading a print book. It’s easy to read on a Kindle even in direct sunlight, so you don’t need to read in the dark. To fit your chosen reading level, you can adjust the brightness.
Availability of Prime Videos
Members also get free two-day shipping and access to over 41,000 movies and videos with Amazon Instant Video. As a result, they will receive unrestricted access to all of their Amazon devices that are connected. The majority of movies and TV shows are available in the video library and may be downloaded for offline viewing on any devices bearing the Amazon brand.
Disadvantages of Amazon
Is Only Made for Shopaholics
It wouldn’t be good to only shop there 12–15 times annually because you wouldn’t get your money’s worth from your membership fee back. Even while Amazon Prime is an option, you could be better off paying for postage on each package separately.
Restricted Functioning
The Amazon Kindle offers a few extra features in addition to acting as an e-book reader. It must include functionality similar to tablets, such as the ability to install other programs, play videos, browse the web, take photos, etc. Contrarily, rival devices like the Apple iPad offer greater functionality by allowing the download of additional software that enables the use of the device for activities other than reading e-books.
Harmful to Local Retail
It will be detrimental to the local economy if you order a US$3 item from Amazon because it may be delivered in just two days. For shoppers, having an Amazon Prime membership should be ideal.
There may, however, be certain benefits and drawbacks that await its clients. The advantages and disadvantages listed here may be sufficient justification to decide whether or not this should be a viable alternative.
Kindles Cannot Be Lent Like Real Books
You can lend genuine books to friends, coworkers, or family members, but not Kindles. The benefit of real books is that you can borrow them rather than having to pay for them in full. Before you can loan out books, others must have access to your device.
Book Collection
Many book lovers enjoy the hobby of book collecting. You don’t need a physical library because Kindle allows you to store thousands of books in one location, eliminating the need for one. Instead of worrying about whose Kindle the book is now on, it’s far simpler for a family to just have a book on the shelf where everyone can read it whenever they want.
Effects on Eyes
Paper books are better for the eyes because using an electronic gadget doesn’t cause eye strain. Continuously looking at a screen negatively impacts eyesight and irritates the eyes. It can also occasionally cause headaches. One should wear blue light-reducing lenses or filters to safeguard their eyes.
