Mane Product & Technology Issue 6 - February 2019 | Page 6

6 | MANE PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY | FEBRUARY 2019

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Simply Amaz-on

How has Amazon grown into one of the biggest companies in the world?

was announced which provided customers with free

shipping on orders over $99, something other retailers were not offering at the time, keeping Amazon’s service unique once again. Just a few years later in 2005, their famous “Amazon Prime” service was launched, providing free shipping for over a million items. Today, Prime supports more than 30 million items and has an estimated 66 million members, thus showing the popularity free shipping can bring.

With the developments in technology came the introduction of the iPhone. Apple revolutionized how we interact with mobile phones, introducing the world to 'apps'. From this, Amazon’s mobile app is now being used by over 50% of US shoppers. In 2007, Amazon honoured their roots when they unveiled the Kindle, an electronic reading device which was a hit amongst buyers. Users could download books, magazines and news articles and read them on the go. In the years following on from the Kindle launch, Amazon acquired many different companies ranging from the audiobooks company Audible to robotics company Kiva Systems, these were all used to boost Amazon’s service.

In 2013, Amazon started to deliver packages on Sundays. At this time the share price rose to over $350, a huge growth on the $18 share when Amazon first went public. Incredibly, Amazon launched their first physical bookstore in 2015, and now have fifteen bookstores across the US as of 2018. The well-known Amazon Echo was launched in 2014 and has proved to be a worldwide success as it is now the platform for Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant and therefore the key to a wealth of consumer data and purchasing decisions.

6 | MANE PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY | FEBRUARY 2019

Amazon was first launched in 1995, but back then it was a site that sold only books. Within its first month of trade, Amazon had already shipped books to over forty different countries. Jeff Bezos financed the company with only $10,000 from his own pocket. He spent Amazon’s early days working in his garage with only a few staff. In 1997, Amazon went public at $18 per share, giving it a valuation of $300 million. Over the years, Amazon opened additional facilities to cope with the demand. A key year for Amazon’s growth was 1998 when they announced the intention to move beyond just being a book store. Amazon eventually expanded to several categories and subcategories ranging from books to food.

Over the years, Amazon has updated the service they provide, for example In 2002, “Free Super Saver Shipping”