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?'


BBS to begin online auction of non-book stock

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 03/03/2011 - 05:36 The administrators of British Bookshops and Stationers will begin an online auction of non-book stock, including forklift trucks and office equipment, on Tuesday (8th March). Interested parties will be invited to view the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british bookshops #online auction #interested parties #book stock


Cutting Out Middleman to Sell Small Ads Online

Online publishers like CBS and Forbes are selling the tiny ads on their Web sites, rather than letting a third-party network promote teeth whitening and herbal remedies. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online publishers #web sites


Retailers finalise World Book Night plans

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 24/02/2011 - 09:42 Final preparations are underway for a medley of events planned to celebrate World Book Night, with independent and national retailers planning to host author readings, quizzes and book swaps. On 5th March, 20,000 participants... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #events planned #5th march #million books #adult literature


Kobo opens door to UK retailers

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 08:39 Canadian ebook retailer Kobo has said that it would be keen to partner a UK retailer in an effort to establish a presence in the market. Michael Tamblyn, vice-president of content, sales and merchandising at Kobo... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #uk retailers #michael tamblyn #rights deals


Amazon appoints three to UK team

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 10/02/2011 - 16:03 Amazon has appointed three staff to roles in the UK team. John Gahagan will head up Amazon’s UK Books business, with both the UK Books and print on demand teams reporting to him. Amy Worth will now lead the UK Kindle content... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penton Launches Online Auction Business

For many publishers, "e-commerce" means dabbling in sales of intellectual property, such as work plans (August Home Publishing, Hanley Wood). Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #intellectual property #hanley wood


Non-agency authors are Amazon UK’s bestselling ebooks

Written By: Lisa Campbell Amazon.co.uk has reiterated its opposition to agency pricing as it revealed its top-selling ebook authors are not governed by the model. Last week Amazon.com announced ebooks had begun to outsell paperbacks in the US for the first time, with 115 ebooks bought for every... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iPhone app store, Amazon Kindle: Why ebook sellers should stop playing by Apple's rules.

Over the last few months the tech industry has been inching toward ebook nirvana. For one thing, gadget makers keep improving e-readers while slashing prices. (I'm going to renew my bet that Amazon will begin selling the Kindle for less than $100 by the end of the year.) The bigger story,... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Claims E-book Sales Beat Paperbacks

The ebook sales milestone "has come even sooner than we expected," CEO Bezos says. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle sales outstrip paperbacks as Amazon has first $10bn quarter

Written By: Lisa Campbell Kindle ebooks have overtaken paperback sales at Amazon.com, as the internet retailer revealed sales topped $10bn for the first time in its latest trading quarter. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Kindle Book Sales Soar

Online retailer reports sales of its digital ebooks has outstripped those of traditional paperbacks. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital ebooks


2010 retailer discounts total £600m

Written By: Philip Stone and Lisa Campbell Retailers slashed a total of £600m from the price of books in 2010 as book-buyers enjoyed their best year for bargains since records began. The average discount given off a book's r.r.p. last year was 26%— slightly deeper than in 2009, when books were... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #philip stone #records began


Amazon rolls out the first 'Kindle Singles,' short form ebooks

By Tim Conneally, Betanews Wednesday, Web retailer Amazon launched its Kindle Singles line of literature designed specifically for consumption on e-readers. The works, priced between $1.00 and $3.00, include original works of prose, essays and theses, and the the first TEDBooks.Last October,... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #russ grandinetti #vice president #kindle content #business leaders #copyright betanews


Amazon Ups Its Edge

Apple caused a stir last week when it announced that it sold 7.3 million iPads in the quarter ended December 25, bringing the number of devices it has sold since it released the iPad last April to nearly 15 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson moves into online tutoring

Sanchia Berg reports on the publishing company Pearson who have bought a majority stake in an Indian online tutoring company Tutorvista Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2011-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #majority stake