Amazon at 20: what has the online giant ever done for retail?

The e-commerce site is 20 years old this week. So what influence has it really had on the retail and internet industries?It was originally billed as “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore” and featured over one million titles. Twenty years later it boasts over 270m active accounts and claims to have more than 2m third-party vendors selling millions of products through the marketplace platform. In that time it has been both lauded and vilified, most recently over corporation tax and staff working conditions but Amazon is quite clearly one of the biggest success stories of online commerce. So what has been its lasting impact? Can it maintain this growth or have we seen the best of it?Amazon was born in July 1994, with the online site launching as Amazon.com a year later. In 1995, Bill Gates, founder and CEO at Microsoft, reportedly paid The Rolling Stones $3m (£1.9m) for the rights to use Start Me Up to launch Windows 95. It was also the year eBay launched as AuctionWeb (a bit later in September) and there were, according to IDC, 16m global internet users compared with over three billion today. Related: Has Net-a-Porter found the holy grail of 21st-century fashion? Related: To avoid Blockbuster's fate, your business needs a chief futures officer Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2015-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #corporation tax #lasting impact #bill gates #reportedly paid #holy grail

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Amazon at 20: what has the online giant ever done for retail?'


Lindles: Jeremy Lin, Amazon Kindle, And The Rise Of Insta-Authors

Jeremy Lin has inspired a lot of rabid fans, magazine features, and six-figure book deal offers. But he's also fueled a new breed of lightning-fast ebook authors. Alan Goldsher, author of "Linsanity: The Improbable Rise of Jeremy Lin," is one of the fastest (and slickest). In the days before... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ryan gosling #tim tebow #mental health #getty images


UK publishers' "concern" over Amazon ebook removals

UK publishers have expressed concern Amazon’s use of “power” to remove the e-... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #uk publishers


Amazon takes a company's ebooks out of stores after disagreement

When the Independent Publishers Group couldn't come to terms with Amazon, the bookselling giant took 5,000 IPG titles out of their Kindle ebook store. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon takes #bookselling giant


iMedia Revenue Ltd. Provides Newspaper Publishers With Forum For Online Business Opportunities

Research Triangle, NC –February 21, 2012 – iMedia Revenue Ltd., a company dedicated to delivering the latest advanced editorial and advertising solutions to local newspaper agencies, today announced the launch of a BloggingWriters ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #newspaper publishers #company dedicated #advertising solutions #today announced


Amazon's Kindle Ice Queen Is Back, Now With a Couple of Kids

After seeing Samsung's spirited swing at Apple users, Amazon's continuing anti-Apple pandering just feels weak. The new ad for the Kindle Fire pits a dorky, single iPad user against a Kindle-reading mom in a bikini—the same ice queen from the 2010 spot, though now she's warmed up a bit and seems... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #apple users #losing money #publishing industry


ABA joins Amazon boycott

The American Booksellers Association has joined the growing list of US retailers to boycott the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #growing list


HC: digital 'at 20%' of UK revenues

HarperCollins' financial performance continues to be unclear, with parent company News Corp... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Amazon Adds to Prime

In a deal with Viacom, Amazon Prime members will be able to stream TV shows from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon adds #comedy central #tv land


Retail sales see 'second worst January' since records began

UK retail sales returned to negative like-for-like growth last month, in what was described as... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #retail sales #records began


French chain Decitre launches online community

The Decitre chain of bookstores has created an online community to help consumers find books to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online community


Indigo and Books-a-Million join boycott of Amazon print titles

Canadian bookselling chain Indigo Books and Music and Books-a-Million have joined ranks with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #joined ranks


Hodder launches online sf community

Hodder has launched its first online science-fiction, fantasy and horror community, Hodderscape,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Tough Week for Amazon

Despite posting a 35% sales increase for the fourth quarter and earnings that were better than expected (if still down compared to a year ago), last week was a tough one for Amazon. Analysts and investors were disappointed in the quarterly report, and the stock price for the nation’s largest... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #earnings report #52-week high #fourth quarter #quarterly report #stock price #bounced back #recent report


Amazon launches India e-commerce site

Amazon has this morning launched an e-commerce site in India called Junglee.com. The platform... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #e-commerce site


Amazon ups UK ebook sales five-fold

Amazon.co.uk increased Kindle ebook sales by five times in its fourth quarter but its parent... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fourth quarter


VIDEO: Amazon expects low growth for late 2011

Amazon has been pushing into new markets with products like the Kindle ebook, but investors are worried that the expansion is coming at the expense of profits. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2012-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kindle ebook


Barnes & Noble, Taking On Amazon in the Fight of Its Life

As Barnes & Noble fights for its future, the publishing industry is holding its breath. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2012-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #barnes noble #publishing industry


Anobii chief says drop DRM to fight Amazon

Matteo Berlucchi, chief executive of the social e-retailer Anobii, has urged publishers to drop... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fight amazon #matteo berlucchi #urged publishers


Amazon strikes print deal with HMH

Amazon.com has struck a print licensing agreement with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which will... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Faber launches online project hub for YA readers

Faber and Faber has set up a social media hub, The Spark, for teenagers to get involved in Faber... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ya readers