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?'

Amazon Sues Scammers Targeting Authors

Amazon sues some 20 websites falsely claiming an affiliation with Amazon that are designed to lure authors into paying fees to publish. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-31 04:00:00 UTC ]
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World Literature Today to Co-host Online “RESISTIR Latin America” Poetry Event and Call for Peace

World Literature Today to Co-host Online “RESISTIR Latin America” Poetry Event and Call for Peace News and Events [email protected] Mon, 10/30/2023 - 15:47 On Saturday, November 18 at 12pm cst, the “RESISTIR Groupe” of Latin American PEN Centers,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-10-30 20:47:30 UTC ]
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World Literature Today to Co-host Online “RESISTIR Latin America” Poetry Event

World Literature Today to Co-host Online “RESISTIR Latin America” Poetry Event News and Events [email protected] Mon, 10/30/2023 - 15:47 On Saturday, November 18 at 10am cst, the “RESISTIR Groupe” of Latin American PEN Centers, World Literature... Continue reading at World Literature Today

Sales Rise, Profits Soar at Amazon

Total sales at Amazon increased 13%, to $143.1 billion, in the third quarter ended September 30, 2023, over the comparable period in 2022, and operating income jumped to $11.2 billion, from $2.5 billion in the third quarter 2022. Online sales rose 7%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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20 Must-Read Historical Fiction Books Set in France

These must-read historical fiction books set in France span more than 800 years, from the reign of Eleanor of Aquitaine to post-WWII Paris. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-26 10:31:00 UTC ]
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The Week in Libraries: October 20, 2023

Among the week's headlines: a congressional hearing in support of book bans; more librarian blowback for Scholastic Book Fairs over its optional collection of diverse books; and the Urban Library Council issues a report on AI in libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Tim O'Brien's first novel in 20 years is about America's 'mythomania'

Tim O'Brien, author of the great novel 'The Things They Carried,' explains how COVID and Trump spawned 'America Fantastica,' his first novel in 20 years. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-10-13 10:00:10 UTC ]
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The Whole of the 'Whole Earth Catalog' Is Now Online

The seminal DIY catalogs, journals, and magazines printed by the techno-hippie Whole Earth publishing house are finally available online in digital form, all for free. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2023-10-13 10:00:00 UTC ]
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The 35 best Amazon Prime Day deals to shop for right now

Amazon's second Prime Day sale event for 2023 kicked off in the wee hours this morning, and it's turning out to be a great opportunity to shop for your holiday gifts early — or get something for yourself. And if you missed out on any of the deals from Prime Day in July,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-11 00:21:03 UTC ]
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How to get Amazon Prime for free for October Prime Day

Amazon’s Prime Day sale is happening once again on October 10 and 11, and as always, you’ll need to be a Prime member to partake of the deals. Prime is Amazon’s $139-per-year service that provides two-day shipping on all orders, as well as a ton of extras like the Kindle lending library... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-10-10 16:04:22 UTC ]
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The best Amazon Prime Day deals for October 2023

Amazon's second Prime Day-like sale event is here, and if you're a Prime member, you could use it to get some of your holiday shopping done early. Arriving about three months after the main Prime Day in July, this year's "Prime Big Deal Days" has brought back some of the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-10 13:43:42 UTC ]
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The best early Amazon October Prime Day Deals for 2023

Amazon's second Prime-related event for 2023 is officially called Prime Big Deal Days and will happen October 10 and 11. This is the second year in a row for a fall-based, site-wide Amazon sale and we're already seeing discounts pop up. You'll need a Prime membership to... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-02 17:30:05 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Scribe is back on sale ahead of October Prime Day

Sales on Amazon products continue to roll out ahead of the official start of October Prime Day on everything from Blink cameras to Kindle Scribes. The 16GB Kindle Scribe is back on sale for 22 percent off, dropping to $265 from $340. It mirrors a recent sale on the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-02 14:01:15 UTC ]
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Amazon's Fire HD 8 tablet drops to $60 in early October Prime Day sale

Amazon has kicked off a new Fire tablet sale ahead of its Prime Big Deal Days event later this month. The discounts include the Fire HD 8 down to $60, the Fire HD 8 Plus for $70, the Fire Max 11 for $150, the previous-generation Fire HD 10 for $75 and the Fire 7 for $40,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-10-02 07:45:36 UTC ]
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AI Detection Startups Say Amazon Could Flag AI Books. It Doesn't

Amazon has taken some steps to stem the tide of books written with artificial intelligence, but another solution may already exist. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2023-09-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Business Applauds Government Lawsuit Against Amazon

"What took so long?" That was the prevailing sentiment among many industry members upon hearing the news that the FTC had filed an antitrust lawsuit against the nation's largest e-tailer and dominant bookseller. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The best October Amazon Prime Day early access deals for 2023

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[ Engadget | 2023-09-22 16:30:31 UTC ]
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Eliza Clark Was ‘Really Online.’ Now She’s Looking Past the Internet.

Eliza Clark’s debut novel was a hit on TikTok. With her next book, “Penance,” she aims for literary longevity over viral success. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-09-21 04:01:24 UTC ]
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Amazon restricts authors from self-publishing more than three books a day after AI concerns

The company announced the new limitations after an influx of suspected AI-generated material was listed for sale but said that ‘very few’ publishers will be affectedAmazon has created a new rule limiting the number of books that authors can self-publish on its site to three a day, after an... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-09-20 16:22:58 UTC ]
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Amazon hardware event 2023 liveblog: Live updates on new devices and services

After Apple's iPhone event and just before Microsoft shows off new Surface devices, Amazon is set to reveal its latest arsenal of hardware. As it typically does every September, Amazon is hosting an event to unveil the goods, only this time it's doing so not in Seattle,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-09-20 14:00:09 UTC ]
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