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

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Retail in Seattle: In the Shadow of Amazon

On the surface, Seattle might seem like a tough area to ply the independent bookselling trade. Yet many Seattle booksellers are upbeat about the prospects ahead. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Online Retailers, E-books Gained in 2012

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jingdong Battles Dangdang, Amazon for China’s Online Book Buyers

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ PC World | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Top retail m.d. urges government to tackle 'Amazon problem'

A leading retail m.d. has said the government must "address the Amazon problem" in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon 'charging publishers 20% for ebook VAT'

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Prime Lending Library Collection Now Viewable Online

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[ PC World | 2011-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Acquire U.K. Online Book Seller and Publisher

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[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has '80% online share', claims new survey

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Prime Day 2022: Everything you need to know about Amazon’s shopping event

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[ PC World | 2022-06-17 00:30:49 UTC ]
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Amazon is bringing mobile games to its Amazon Kids+ service

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[ Engadget | 2022-04-14 13:00:13 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2020-02-27 11:38:07 UTC ]
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Amazon is opening a store across the street from Nashville’s Parnassus Books, because Amazon is bad.

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[ Literrary Hub | 2019-08-26 16:58:35 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing Launches Amazon Crossing Kids

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Titles Dominate Amazon E-book Bestseller List

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launches Amazon Video Direct

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[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon VP On Amazon's New Bookstore: 'We Have No Idea What's Going to Happen'

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon rebrands Cloud Player with launch of Amazon Music 3 for mobile and desktop

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[ Betanews | 2014-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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