Amazon

Amazon

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  This article isabout the corporation.For other uses, see Amazon (disambiguation). Amazon.com, Inc. Type Public Traded as NASDAQ: AMZN NASDAQ-100 Component S&P 500 Component Foundation date 1994 Headquarters Seattle, Washington, UnitedStates[1][2][3] Area served Worldwide Founder(s) Jef f Bezos Key people Jef f Bezos (Chairman, President & CEO) Industry Internet, onlineretailing Products A2Z Dev elopment, A9.com,Alexa Internet, Amazon.com,Amazon Kindle, Amazon Studios, Amazon Web Serv ices, Audible.com,dpreview.com, Endless.com,IMDb, LoveFilm, The Book Depository, Zappos.com, Woot,Junglee.com, goodreads.com, my habit.com,[4] askville[5] Revenue US$ 61.09 billion (2012)[6] Operating income US$ 676 million (2012)[6]
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  Net income US$−39 million (2012)[6] Total assets US$ 32.535 billion (2012)[6] Total equity US$ 8.19 billion (2012)[6] Employees 97,000 (June 2013)[7] Subsidiaries Amazon Instant Video Kindle Website Amazon.com (original USsite) v arious national sites Written in C++, Perl and Java Alexa rank 6 (September 2013)[8] Type of site E-commerce Advertising Web banners, videos Available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese Launched 1995 Amazon.com, Inc. is an American international multibillion dollar electronic commerce company with headquartersin Seattle, Washington, UnitedStates. It isthe world's largest onlineretailer.[9][10][11] Amazon.com started asan online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, VHSs, CDs,video and MP3 downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. Thecompany also producesconsumer electronics—notably the Amazon Kindle e-bookreader and the Kindle Fire tablet computer—and isa major provider of cloud computingservices. Jeff Bezosincorporated the company (asCadabra) in July 1994 and the site went onlineasAmazon.com in1995.[12] Thecompany was renamed after the AmazonRiver, one of the largest riversin the world,[12] which inturn wasnamed after the Amazons, the legendary nation of femalewarriorsinGreekmythology. Amazon hasseparate retail websitesfor United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan,China , Mexicoand Austria. withinternational shipping to certain other countriesfor some of its products.[6] In 2011, it had professed an intention to launchitswebsitesin Poland,[13] Netherlands, and Sweden, as well.[14] Contents [hide]
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   1 History o1.1 Acquisitions o 1.2 Inv estment o 1.3 Subsidiaries  2 Merchant partnerships  3 Locations o 3.1 Headquarters o 3.2 Sof tware dev elopment centers o 3.3 Customer Serv ice Centers o 3.4 Fulf illment and warehousing o 3.5 Other o 3.6 Closed f ulf illment, warehousing and customer serv ice locations  4 Products and serv ices o 4.1 Retail goods o 4.2 Consumer electronics o 4.3 Digital content o 4.4 Amazon Art o 4.5 Amazon Instant Video o 4.6 Amazon Prime o 4.7 Priv ate labels and exclusiv e marketing arrangements o 4.8 Computing serv ices o 4.9 Content production o 4.10 Donations o 4.11 AmazonLocal o 4.12 AmazonWireless o 4.13 AmazonFresh o 4.14 Other serv ices  5 Website o 5.1 Rev iews o 5.2 Content search o 5.3 Third-party sellers  6 Amazon sales rank  7 Amazon technology  8 Multi-lev el sales strategy  9 Rev enue  10 Controv ersies
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  o 10.1 Salesand use taxes o 10.2 Alleged tax av oidance in the UK o 10.3 Internet Piracy Issues in China o 10.4 Alleged Mistreatment of Indiv idual Sellers o 10.5 Poor working conditions o 10.6 Amazon UK  11 Lobby ing  12 Notable businesses f rom f ormer employ ees  13 See also  14 Ref erences  15 Further reading  16 External links History[edit source | editbeta] Amazon f ounder Jeff Bezos The company wasfoundedin 1994, spurred by what Bezoscalled his"regret minimizationframework", which described hiseffort sto fend off any regretsfor not participatingsooner in the Internetbusinessboom duringthat time.[15] In 1994, Bezosleft hisemployment as vice-president of D.E. Shaw, a Wall Street firm, and moved to Seattle. He began to workon a business plan for what would eventually become Amazon.com. After reading a report aboutthe futureof the Internet whichprojectedannual Web commerce growth at 2,300%,Bezoscreated a list of 20 productswhich could be marketed online. He narrowed the list to what he felt were the fivemost promising productswhi ch included: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezosfinally decided that hisnew businesswould sel l books online, dueto the largeworld-wide demand for literature, thelow price pointsfor books, along with thehuge number of titles availablein print.[16] Amazon[17] wasoriginally founded inBezos' garage inBellevue, Washington.[18] The company beganasan online bookstore.[19] In the first two monthsof business, Amazon sold to all 50 statesand over 45 countries. Within two months, Amazon'ssaleswere up to $20,000/week.[20] Whilethe largest brickand mortar bookstoresand mail order catalogs might offer 200,000titles, an online bookstore could "carry" several timesmore, since they had an almost unlimited virtual (not actual) warehouse: those of the actual productmakers/suppliers. Bezos wanted a name for hiscompany that beganwith "A" so that it wouldappear early inalphabetic order. He began looking through the dictionary and settledon "Amazon" because it wasa place that was"exotic and different"just ashe plannedfor hisstore to be, and he believedit wasthe biggest river in the world, and he planned to make hisstore the biggest in the world.[12] Since2000, Amazon's logotype hasfeatureda curved arrow leadingfrom A to Z, representing that they carry every product from A to Z, with the arrow shaped like a smile.[21] Amazon wasincorporated in1994, in thestate of Washington.In July 1995, thecompany beganservice and sold itsfirst bookon Amazon.com: DouglasHofstadter'sFluid Concepts andCreative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of
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  Thought.[22] In October 1995,the company announceditself to thepublic.[23] In 1996, it wasreincorporated in Delaware. Amazon issued its initial public offering of stockon May 15, 1997, tradingunder the NASDAQ stockexchange symbol AMZN, at a price of US$18.00 per share ($1.50 after three stock splitsin the late 1990s). Amazon'sinitial businessplan was unusual; it didnot expect to make a profit for four to five years. This"slow" growth caused stockholders to complainabout the company not reaching profitability fast enough to justify investingin, or to even survive in the long- term. When the dot-com bubble burst at the start of the 21st Century, destroying many e-companiesin the process, Amazon survived, and grew on past the bubbleburst to become a hugeplayer in onlinesales. It finally turned itsfirst profit in the fourthquarter of 2001: $5 million(i.e., 1¢per share), on revenuesof more than $1 billion. Thisprofit margin,though extremely modest, proved to ske pticsthat Bezos' unconventional businessmodel could succeed.[24] In 1999, Time magazine namedBezosthePerson of the Year, recognizing the company'ssuccess in popularizing onlineshopping. Barnes& Noble sued Amazon on May 12,1997, allegingthat Amazon'sclaim to be "the world'slargest bookstore" was false. Barnes and Noble asserted, "[It] isn't a bookstore at all. It'sa book broker." The suit was later settled out of court, and Amazon continued to make the same claim."[25] Walmart sued Amazon on October 16, 1998, alleging thatAmazon hadstolen their trade secretsby hiring former Walmart executives. Although thissuit was also settled out of court, it caused Amazon to implement internal restrictionsand the re-assignment of the former Walmart executives.[25] Acquisitions[edit source | editbeta]  1998: PlanetAll, a reminder service based in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Junglee, an XML-based datamining startup based in Sunnyvale;[26][27] Bookpages.co.uk,[28] a UK online bookretailer, which became Amazon UK on October 15, 1998.[29]  1999: Internet MovieDatabase (IMDb);[30] Alexa Internet,Accept.com, and Exchange.com[31]  2003: Online music retailer CDNow.[32] By 2011,the web site cdnow.com wasdefunct and inuse by a different company.  2004: Joyo.com,a Chinese e-commerce website.[33]  2005: BookSurge,[34] a print on demand company, and Mobipocket.com, an eBooksoftware company.[35][36] CreateSpace.com (formerly CustomFlix), a distributor of on-demand DVDs, based in ScottsValley, California.[37] CreateSpace hassince expanded to include on-demandbooks, CDs, and video.  2006: Shopbop, a retailer of designer clothing andaccessoriesfor women, based in Madison, Wisconsin.[38]  2007: dpreview.com,a digital photography review website based in London; BrillianceAudio,the largest independent publisher of audiobooksin the United States.[39]  2008: Audible.com; Fabric.com;[40] Box Office Mojo;[41] AbeBooks;[42] Shelfari;[43] (including a 40% stake in LibraryThing and whole ownership of BookFinder.com, Gojaba.com, and FillZ);Reflexive Entertainment,[44] a casual video game development company.  2009: Zappos,[45] an onlineshoe and apparel retailer[46] Lexcycle,[47] SnapTell, an image matching startup,[48] Stanza, a rival ebook reader to Amazon'sKindle.[49]  2010: Touchco.,[50] Woot,[51] Quidsi, BuyVIP, AmieStreet.  2011: LoveFilm,[52] TheBookDepository,[53] Pushbutton[54] Yap,[55]  2012: Kiva Systems,[56] Teachstreet[57] Evi[58][59]  2013: IVONA Software,[60] GoodReads[61] Liquavista [62] Investment[edit source | editbeta]  2008: Engine Yard, a Ruby-on-Railsplatform asa service (PaaS) company.[63]  2010: LivingSocial, a local deal site.[64] Subsidiaries[edit source | editbeta]  2004: A9.com, a company focused on researching andbuilding innovative technology.[65]  2004: Lab126, developersof integratedconsumer electronicssuch as the Kindle.  2007: Endless.com, an e-commerce brand focusing onshoes.[66]  2007: BrillianceAudio, thelargest independent audiobookproducer in theUS.[67] Merchant partnerships[edit source | editbeta] Until June 30, 2006, typing ToysRUs.com into a browser would bring up Amazon.com's"Toys& Games" tab; however, thisrelationship was terminated dueto a lawsuit.[68] Amazon also hosted and managedthe website for Bordersbookstores but thisceased in 2008.[69] From 2001until August 2011, Amazon hostedthe retail websitefor Target.[70] BenefitCosmetics, another merchant partner of Amazon, hasalso launched a major E-Commerce platform of their own based on Hybrisand arvato systems NA, in the US, EU and China.[71] Amazon.com operatesretail websitesfor SearsCanada, bebe Stores, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare, and Lacoste. For a growing number of enterprise clients, currently including theUK merchantsMarks & Spencer, Benefit Cosmetics' UK entity, edeals.com, and Mothercare, Amazon providesa unifiedmultichannel platform where a customer can interact withsome peoplethey call the reta il
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  website, standalonein-store terminals,or phone-based customer service agents. Amazon Web Servicesalso powersAOL's Shop@AOL. On October 18, 2011, Amazon.com announced a partnership withDC Comicsfor the exclusive digital rightsto many popular comics, includingSuperman, Batman, Green Lantern,TheSandman, andWatchmen. The partnershiphascaused well -known bookstoreslike Barnes& Noble to remove these titlesfrom their shelves. These titlesare available for purchase exclusively throughAmazon'sKindle Fire tablet.[72] Locations[edit source | editbeta] Amazon hasoffices, fulfillment centers, warehouses, customer service centers and software development centers across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.[73] Headquarters[edit source | editbeta] Amazon.com's former headquarters in the Pacific Medical Center building in Beacon Hill, Seattle. The company'sglobal headquartersare in 14 buildingsin Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. TheEuropeanheadquartersare in Luxembourg'scapital, LuxembourgCity. In Seattle, asof 2013, a 3-tower headquartersnear Amazon'sexistingbuildingswith a capacity of 12,000 employeeswasunder construction.[74] Software development centers[edit source | editbeta] While much of Amazon'ssoftware developmentoccursin Seattle, the company employssoftware developersin centersacross the globe. Someof these sitesare run by an Amazon subsidiary called A2Z Development.[75]  North America  USA: Cambridge, MA;[76] Charleston,SC;[77] Cupertino, CA;[75] Orange County, CA; San Francisco, CA; San LuisObispo, CA;[78] Seattle, WA;New York, NY and Tempe, AZ  Canada: Vancouver, British Columbia, Toronto downtown and Mississauga, Ontario  Europe  UK: Slough (England), London (England) and Edinburgh (Scotland)  Ireland: Dublin  Netherlands: Rijswijk  Romania: Iași  Asia  India: Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai  Japan: Shibuya (Tokyo)  China: Beijing  Africa  South Africa: Cape Town Customer Service Centers[edit source | editbeta]
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   United States:Kennewick, WA; Huntington,WV; Grand Forks, ND; Winchester, KY  India: Hyderabad  South Africa: Cape Town[79]  Philippines: ConvergysCebu, ConvergysBacolod  China: Chengdu  Germany: Berlin  Ireland: Cork  Morocco: Sala al Jadida  UK: Edinburgh, Scotland  Japan: Sapporo  Costa Rica: Heredia and Calle Blancos  Uruguay: Montevideo  Italy: Cagliari Fulfillment and warehousing[edit source | editbeta] Fulfillment centersare locatedin the followingcities, often near airports. These centersalso provide warehousing andorde r-fulfillment for third-party sellers:[80] Warehouses are large and each hashundredsof employees. Employeesare responsible for four basic tasks: unpacking and inspecting incoming goods; placinggoodsin storage and recording their location;pickinggoodsfrom their computer recorded locationsto make up an individual shipment; andshipping. A central computer which recordsthe locationof goodsand mapsout routesfor pickers playsa central role; employeescarry hand-held computerswhich communicate withthe central computer and monitor their rate of progress. A picker with their cart may walk10 or more milesa day. In the UnitedKingdom initial staffingwasprovided by Randstad Holding and other temporary employment agencies. Someworkers are accepted asAmazon employeesand granted pension andsharesof stock; others are dismissed. "When we have permanent positionsavailable, we lookto the top performingtemporary associatesto fill them."[81] Developmentof a high level of automation isanticipated inthe future following Amazon's2012 acquisitionof Kiva Systems, a warehouse automationcompany.  North America  USA  Goodyear, AZ  Phoenix, AZ  Patterson, CA  San Bernardino,CA  Tracy, CA (opening 2014)  Middletown,DE[82]  New Castle, DE  Jeffersonville, IN  Plainfield,IN  Whitestown, IN  Coffeyville, KS  Campbellsville, KY  Hebron, KY (near Cincinnati,OH)  Lexington, KY  Louisville, KY  Robbinsville, NJ (openingearly 2014)[83]  Fernley, NV
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   North LasVegas, NV  Nashua, NH  Breinigsville, PA  Carlisle, PA  Hazleton, PA  Lewisberry, PA  Lexington, SC[84][85]  Spartanburg, SC;  Chattanooga, TN  Lebanon, TN  Murfreesboro, TN  Irving, TX[86] (between Dallas and Fort Worth)  Chester, VA  Dinwiddie, VA (near Richmond, VA)  Sterling, VA  Bellevue, WA  DuPont, WA (opening Fall 2013)  Sumner, WA.[87][88]  Canada  Mississauga, Ontario  AnnacisIsland a part of Delta, British Columbia[89] Amazon.co.uk warehouse in Glenrothes, Scotland, UK  Europe  United Kingdom, asof 2013, 7 in operation with3 more planned.[81]  England  Marston Gate (near Brogborough)  Rugeley,[81] Staffordshire  Peterborough  Doncaster
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   Hemel Hempstead Scotland  Gourock (Inverclyde)  Dunfermline (Fife)  Wales  Crymlyn Burrows  Swansea[90][91] (near Jersey Marine)[92]  France  Boigny-sur-Bionne (2000)  Saran (2007)  Montélimar (2010)  Sevrey (Autumn 2012)  Lauwin-Planque (October 2013)  Germany  Bad Hersfeld (1996 and 2010) (Hessen)  Leipzig (2006) (Saxony)  Werne (2010) (North Rhine-Westphalia)  Rheinberg (2011) (North Rhine-Westphalia)  Graben (2011) (Bavaria)  Koblenz (2012) (Rhineland-Palatinate)  Pforzheim (2012) (Baden-Württemberg)  Netherlands  Amsterdam  Italy  Castel San Giovanni (2011) (Emilia-Romagna)[93]  Slovakia: Bratislava (2011)[94]  Spain  San Fernando de Henares(Madrid)  Asia  Japan  Ichikawa  Yachiyo  Chiba  Sakai  Daito  Osaka
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   Kawagoe  Saitama China  Guangzhou  Suzhou  Beijing  Chengdu  India  Mumbai Other[edit source | editbeta]  Audible.com (subsidiary) Headquartersat 1 Washington Parkin Newark, NJ.  Zappos.com Headquartersin Henderson, Nevada.  Woot Headquartersin Carrollton, Texas. Closed fulfillment, warehousing and customer service locations[edit source | editbeta] These US distribution centershave been closed: SDC Seattle Distribution Center, located inGeorgetown, just south of downtown Seattle; Red Rock, Nevada; Chambersburg, Pennsylvania;Munster, Indiana; and McDonough, Georgia.[95][96][97] From 2000[98] until February 2001, there wasan Amazon customer service based in TheHague,Netherlands.[99][100] Products and services[edit source | editbeta] Third-generation Amazon Kindle Retail goods[edit source | editbeta] Amazon product linesinclude books, music CDs, videotapesand DVDs, software, consumer electronics, kitchen items, tools, lawn and garden items, toys& games, baby products, apparel, sporting goods, gourmet food, jewelry, watches, health andpersonal-care items, beauty products, musical instruments, clothing,industrial & scientific supplies, and groceries. The company launched amazon.com Auctions, a web auctionsservice, in March 1999. However, it failedto chipaway at the large market share of the industry pioneer, eBay.Later, thecompany launcheda fixed-pricemarketplace business, zShops, in September 1999, and the now defunct partnership with Sotheby's, called Sothebys.amazon.com, in November. Auctionsand zShopsevolved into Amazon Marketplace, a service launched inNovember 2000that let customerssell used books, CDs, DVDs, and other products alongside new items. Today, AmazonMarketplace'smain rival iseBay's Half.com service. In August 2007, Amazon announced AmazonFresh, a grocery service offering perishable andnonperishable foods. Customerscan have orders deliveredto their homesat dawn or during a specifieddaytime window. Delivery wasinitially restricted to resid ents
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  of Mercer Island,Washington, andwaslater expanded to several ZIP codesin Seattleproper.[101] AmazonFresh also operatedpick-up locationsin the suburbsof Bellevue and Kirkland from summer 2007 throughearly 2008. In 2012, Amazon announced the launch of Vine.com for buyinggreen products, including groceries, householditemsand apparel. [102] It is part of Quidsi, the company that Amazonbought in2010that also runsthe sites Diapers.com (baby), Wag.com (pets) and YoYo.com (toys).[102] Amazon also ownsother e-commerce siteslike Zappos.com, Shopbop.com andWoot.[102] Amazon'sSubscribe & Save program offersa discounted price on an item (usually sold in bulk), free shipping onevery Subscri be & Save shipment, andautomatic shipment of the item every one, two, three,or six months.[103] In 2013, Amazon launched itssite in India, amazon.in. It hasstarted with electronic goods. However, it plansto expand into fashion apparel, beauty, home essentialsand healthcare categories by the end of 2013.[citation needed] Consumer electronics[edit source | editbeta] In November 2007, Amazon launched AmazonKindle, an e-bookreader which downloadscontentover "Whispernet", viathe Sprint Nextel EV-DO wireless network. The screen uses E Inktechnology to reduce battery consumptionand to provide a more legibledisplay. As of March 2011, the stated library numbersover 850,000 titles. In September 2011, Amazonannounced itsentry into the tabletcomputer market by introducing the Kindle Fire,which runsa customized version of the operating system Android.Theexceedingly low pricingof Fire ($199 USD) waswidely perceivedasa strategy backed by Amazon'srevenue from itscontentsales, to be stimulated by salesof Fire. Digital content[edit source | editbeta] Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9" Tablet In July 2010, Amazonannounced that e-booksalesfor its Kindlereader outnumbered salesof hardcover booksfor the first time ever during the secondquarter of 2010. Amazon claimsthat, during that period, 143 e-bookswere sold for every 100 hardcover books, includinghardcoversfor which there isno digital edition; and duringlate Juneand early July, salesrose to 180 digital bo oksfor every 100 hardcovers.[104] Amazon MP3, itsown onlinemusic store, launchedin the US on September 25, 2007,selling downloadsexclusively in MP3format without digital rightsmanagement.[105] (In addition to copyrightlaw, Amazon'stermsof use agreementsrestrict use of the MP3s, but Amazon doesnot use DRM to enforce those terms.)[106] Amazon MP3sellsmusic from the Big 4 record labelsEMI, Universal, Warner Bros. Records, and Sony Music, aswell asindependents. Prior to the launchof thisservice, Amazonmadean investmentin Amie Street, a music store with a variablepricing model based ondemand.[107] Amazon MP3wasthe first online offeringof DRM-free music from all four major record companies.[108][109][110][111] In January 2008, Amazon began rollingout itsMP3 service to subsidiary websitesworldwide.[112] In December 2008, AmazonMP3 was made availablein the UK. Amazon'sHonor System was launched in2001to allow customersto make donationsor buy digital content,with Amazoncollecting a percentage of the payment plusa fee. The service wasdiscontinued in 2008[113] and replaced by Amazon Payments. In 2011, Amazon announced thatit wasreleasing a Mac download store to offer dozensof gamesand hundredsof piecesof software for Apple computers.[114] On August 2012, Amazon announced it would beaddinga gamingdepartment to itscompany titled AmazonGameStudios. Amazon states that they will be bringing, "innovative, funand well-crafted games."[115] In January 2013, Amazon launchedAutoRip, a digital music service. The service allowscustomersto receive a free MP3 copy of select CDs purchased through Amazon.[116] Amazonannounced inSeptember 2013 thatthey would launchKindle MatchBookin October 2013, a similar service for booksallowingcustomerswho buy books from Amazon to acquire a e-bookcopy for free or at a discounted price of $3 or less.[117]
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  Amazon Art[edit source| editbeta] In August 2013 Amazon launchedAmazon Art asan online marketplacesellingoriginal and limited edition fine art from selected galleries.[118] The initial 40000itemslisted for sale includedNormanRockwell'spainting “Willie Gillis: Package from Home” pricedat $4.85 million, "L'Enfant a la tasse" by Claude Monet for $1.45 million and Andy Warhol's"Sachiko" for $45 000.[119] Amazon Instant Video[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Amazon Instant Video Amazon Prime[edit source | editbeta] Amazon Prime isa service of free two-day shippingon all eligible purchases, for a flat annual fee, aswell asdiscounted one-day shipping rates.[120] Amazonlaunched theprogram inthe contiguousUnited Statesin 2005, in Japan, theUnited Kingdom and Germany in 2007, in France (as"Amazon Premium") in 2008, inItaly in2011and inCanada in 2013. Amazon Prime membershipin the UnitedStatesalso provides Amazon Instant Video, theinstant streamingof selected moviesand TV shows at no additional cost, asof February 2011.[121] In November 2011, itwasannouncedthat Prime membershave accessto the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, whichallowsusers to borrow certain popular titlesfor free readingon Kindle hardware, up t o one book a month, with no due date.[122] Private labels and exclusive marketing arrangements[edit source | editbeta] In August 2005,[123] Amazonbegan sellingproductsunder itsown private label, "Pinzon";the trademarkapplicationsindicatedthat the label would be used for textiles, kitchen utensils, and other household goods.[123] In March 2007, thecompany applied to expand the trademarkto cover a more diverse list of goodsand to register a new design consisting of the "word PINZON in stylizedletterswith a notched letter "O" which appearsat the "one o'clock" position".[124] Coverage by the trademarkgrew to include itemssuch as paints, carpets, wallpaper, hair accessories, clothing, footwear, headgear, cleaning products, and jewelry.[124] In September 2008, Amazon filed to have the name registered. USPTO hasfinished itsreview of the application,but Amazon hasyet to receive an official registrationfor the name. AmazonBasicsisa private-label consumer electronicsproduct line.It sellsAV cables, blankDVD media andother electronicsproducts under the AmazonBasicsproduct label.[125] The linewaslaunchedin 2009.[126] An Amazon.com exclusiveisa product, usually a DVD, that isavailableexclusively on Amazon.com.SomeDVDsare produced by the owner of the film/product,while othersare produced by Amazon.com itself. The DVDsproduced by Amazonare madeusing their "CreateSpace" program,in whichDVDsare created, upon ordering, usingDVD-R technology. The DVDsare then shipped about two days later. Some DVDs(such as the Jersey Shore Season 1 or The UnusualsSeason 1) first release their DVD on Amazon asan Amazon.com Exclusivefor a limited time before being released elsewhere.On May 23, 2011, Amazon.com allowedcustomersto download Lady Gaga'sBorn ThisWay album for $0.99, resulting insome downloadsbeingdelayed, dueto an extremely highvolumeof downloads.[127] Amazon providesfast and inexpensiveself publishingservicesthrough one of its companies, CreateSpace, a member of the Amazon group of companies, allowing authorsto easily offer their content to millionsof customerson Amazon.com and other methods. [128] Computing services[edit source | editbeta] AWS Summit 2013 event in NYC. Amazon launched Amazon Web Services(AWS) in 2002, which providesprogrammatic accessto latent featureson itswebsite. Amazon Web Services(AWS) was first launchedasa public betaof Amazon Elastic ComputeCloudrunningMicrosoft WindowsServe r and Microsoft SQL Server.[129] Thiswas later expanded to several operating systems, includingvariousflavorsof Linux and OpenSolaris. In November 2005, amazon.com began testing AmazonMechanical Turk, an application programming interface (API) allowing programsto dispatch tasks to human processors.
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  In March 2006,Amazonlaunched an online storage service called Amazon SimpleStorageService (AmazonS3). An unlimitednumber of data objects, from 1 byte to 5 terabytesin size, can be stored in S3 and distributedvia HTTP or BitTorrent. The service charges monthly feesfor data stored and transferred. In 2006,Amazon introduced Amazon SimpleQueue Service (Amazon SQS), a distributed queue messaging service, and product wikis(later foldedinto Amapedia) and discussion forumsfor certain productsusing guidelines that follow standard message board conventions. Also in 2006, Amazon introduced Amazon Elastic ComputeCloud (Amazon EC2), a virtual site farm, allowing usersto use the Amazon infrastructure to run applicationsrangingfrom runningsimulationsto we b hosting. In 2008, Amazon improvedthe service by adding Elastic BlockStore (EBS), offeringpersistent storage for Amazon EC2 instances and Elastic IP addresses, and offering static IP addresses designed for dynamic cloudcomputing. Amazon introduced SimpleDB, a database system, allowingusersof its other infrastructure to utilize a high-reliability, high-performance database system. Amazon continuesto refine and addservicesto AWS, adding such servicesas Scalable DNS service (Amazon Route 53), payment handling, andAWS specific APIsfor their Mechanical Turkservice. In August 2012, Amazon announced AmazonGlacier, a low-cost online filestorage web service that providesreliabledata archiving, storage, and backup.[130] In November 2012 at AWS' web developer conference in LasVegasit announced it wastargeting large companiesascloud storage clients. It will further cut itsS3 pricesto customers with long-term contractsin its"Redshift" storage service launchingin 2013. In March 2013 Amazonannounced itsMobile AdsAPI for developers. The new AdsAPI can be used on appsdistributedon any Android platform aslong asthe app isalso availableon Amazon’sAppstore.[131] Content production[edit source | editbeta] Amazon Publishing isAmazon'spublishing unit.[132] It iscomposed of AmazonEncore,[133] AmazonCrossing,[134] Montlake Romance,[135] Thomas& Mercer,[136] 47 North,[137] and Powered by Amazon.Additional imprintsare planned. Launched in 2005,Amazon Shortsoffered exclusiveshort storiesand non-fiction piecesfrom best-selling authorsfor immediate download. By June 2007,the program had over 1,700 piecesand wasadding about 50 new piecesper week. The program was discontinuedon June 1, 2010.[138][139] In 2008, Amazon expandedinto film production, producing thefilm The Stolen Child with 20thCentury Fox.[140] Donations[edit source | editbeta] Amazon also created "channels" to benefit certain causes. In 2004, Amazonallowed customersto donate$5 to $200 to thecampaigns of 2004 US presidential hopefuls, providing linksthat raised $300,000 for the candidates.[141] Amazon hasperiodically reactivateda Red Cross donationchannel after crisessuch as the September 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the2004earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean.By January 2005, nearly 200,000 people haddonatedover $15.7millionin the US.[142] AmazonLocal[edit source | editbeta] AmazonLocal isa daily deal service launched inJune 2011 in Boise, Idaho.[143] Asof June 2012,AmazonLocal offersdaily dealsto over 100 regionsin 29 US states. AmazonLocal actsprimarily asa deal aggregator; some of the dealsare actually offered through LivingSocial, a firm inwhich Amazonhasheavily invested.[144] AmazonWireless[edit source | editbeta] In July 2009, Amazon.com launchedtheir AmazonWireless website,[145] which offerscellular devicesand service plansfor Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobilein the US.[146] AmazonFresh[edit source | editbeta] Main article: AmazonFresh Other services[edit source | editbeta] In 2007, Amazon launched Amapedia, a now-defunct wiki for user-generated contentto replaceProductWiki, and the video on demand service AmazonUnbox. Also in 2007, Amazonlaunched AmazonVine, whichallowsreviewersfree access to pre-release productsfrom vendorsin return for posting a review, aswell as a payment service specifically targetedat developers, Amazon FPS.[citation needed] IMDb and Amazon launcheda Web site calledSoundUnwound for browsing music metadata withwiki-like user contribution in September 2007; thisdata wasalso used for Amazon'sArtist Pages.[147] Soundunwound ceased existenceon June 18, 2012, andthe site redirected to Amazon. Amazon Connect enablesauthorsto post remarks on their bookpagesto customers. Amazon Webstore allowsbusinessesto create custom e-commerce websitesusing Amazon technology. Sellerspay a commission of 1- 2%, pluscredit-card processing feesand fraud protection, anda subscription feewhich rangesfrom $0 to $39.99per monthdepending on the bundle option for an unlimited number of listings.[148]
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  Website[edit source |editbeta] The domain amazon.comattracted at least 615 millionvisitorsannually by 2008,twice the number of Walmart.[149] Amazon attracts approximately 65 millioncustomersto itsUS website per month.[150] The company hasalso invested heavily on a massive amount of server capacity for itswebsite, especially to handle theexcessive traffic during the December Christmasholiday season.[151] In addition to amazon.com, there are different versionsof Amazon for several different countries, each varying inassortment and prices. Asof August 2013, in alphabetical order by region, these are:  Asia: amazon.cn or z.cn (China), amazon.co.jp(Japan), amazon.in (India).  Europe: amazon.fr (France), amazon.de, (Germany), amazon.it (Italy), amazon.es(Spain), amazon.co.uk(UK).  North America: amazon.ca(Canada), amazon.com.mx (Mexico).  South America:amazon.com.br (Brazil). Reviews[edit source | editbeta] See also: Amazon.comcontroversies#Amazon reviews Amazon allowsusers to submit reviewsto the web page of each product. Reviewersmust rate the product on a rating scale from oneto five stars. Amazon providesa badging option for reviewerswhich indicatethe real nameof the reviewer (based on confirmationof a credit card account) or which indicatethat thereviewer isone of the top reviewersby popularity. Customersmay comment or vote on the reviews, indicatingwhether or not they found ithelpful to them. If a review isgiven enough "helpful"hits, it appearson the front page of the product. In 2010, Amazonwasreported asbeing the largest single source of Internet consumer reviews.[152] Amazon'scustomer reviewsare monitored for indecency, butdo permit negative comments. When publishersasked Bezos why Amazon would publish negative reviews, he defended thepracticeby claiming thatamazon.com was"taking a differentapproach. ..we want to make every bookavailable – the good,the bad,and theugly...tolet truthloose".[153] Althoughreviewsare attributed to the credit-card name of thereviewer, there have been casesof positive reviewsbeing written and posted by a public relationscompany on behalf of itsclients,[154] and writersemployingpseudonymsto leave negativereviewsof their rivals' work.[155] Followinglisting for sale of Untouchable: The Strange Life andTragic Deathof Michael Jackson a disparaging biography of Michael Jackson by Randall Sullivan hisfans, organizedvia social media as"Michael Jackson’s Rapid Response Team to MediaAttacks" bombarded Amazonwith negativereviewsand negative ratingsof positive reviews.[156] Content search[edit source | editbeta] "Search Inside the Book" isa feature which allowscustomersto search for keywords in the full text of many booksin the catalog.[157][158] The feature started with 120,000 titles(or 33 million pagesof text) on October 23, 2003.[159] There are currently about 300,000 booksin the program. Amazonhascooperated with around130 publishersto allow usersto perform these searches. To avoid copyright violations, amazon.com doesnot return the computer-readable textof the book. Instead, it returnsa picture of the matching page,instructsthe web browser to disable printing, andputs limitson the number of pagesin a booka single user can access. Additionally, customerscan purchase online accessto some of the same books via the "Amazon Upgrade" program. Third-party sellers[edit source | editbeta] Amazon derivesabout 40% of itssalesfrom affiliate marketingcalled"AmazonAssociates" and third -party sellerswho sell productson Amazon.[160] Associatesreceive a commission for referring customersto Amazonby placinglinkson their websitesto Amazon, if the referral results in a sale. Worldwide, Amazon has"over 900,000members" in itsaffiliate programs.[161] Amazonreportedover 1.3 million sellers sold productsthrough Amazon'sWorld Wide Web sitesin 2007. Unlike eBay, Amazonsellersdo not have to maintain sepa rate payment accounts; all paymentsare handled by Amazon. Associates can access the Amazon catalogdirectly on their websitesby using the Amazon Web Services(AWS) XML service. A new affiliate product, aStore, allowsAssociatesto embed a subset of Amazon productswithin another website, or linked to another website. In June 2010, AmazonSeller Product Suggestionswaslaunched (rumored to be internally called "Project Genesis") to provide m ore transparency to sellersby recommending specific productsto third-party sellersto sell on Amazon. Productssuggested are based on customers' browsing history.[162] A January 2010 survey of third-party sellersby Auctionbytes.com[163] found that Amazon was4th overall.[164] Amazon.com placed second in "Profitability".Itslowest rating, but still aboveaverage, wasin "Ease of Use". Sellersfelt it had clearly definedrules, provided a steady stream of traffic to their listings, and put lessemphasison a community component. Amazoncame insecond in the Recommended Selling Venuecategory. Amazon sales rank[edit source | editbeta] The Amazon salesrank(ASR) providesan indication of thepopularity of a product sold on any Amazon locale.It isa relative indicator of popularity that isupdated hourly. Effectively, it isa "best sellerslist" for the millionsof productsstocked by Amazon.[165] While the
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  ASR has nodirect effect on the salesof a product, it isused by Amazon to determinewhich productsto include intheir best sellers lists.[165] Productsthat appear in these listsenjoy additional exposure on the Amazon website, and thismay leadto an increase in sales. In particular, productsthat experiencelargejumps(up or down) in their salesranks may be included within Amazon'slistso f "movers and shakers," and thisalso providesadditional exposure that may lead to an increase in sales.[166] For competitive reasons, Amazon doesnot release actual salesfiguresto the public. However, Amazonhasnow begun to release point of sale data viathe Nielsen BookScan service to verified authors.[167] While theASR hasbeen the source of much speculation by publishers, manufacturersand marketers, Amazon itself doesnot release the detailsof itssales rank calculation algorithm. In addition, it states: Please keep in mind that our salesrank figuresare simply meant to be a guide of general interest for the customer and not definitive sales information for publishers- we assume you have thisinformation regularly from your distributionsources —Amazon.com Help, [168] Amazon technology[edit source | editbeta] Customer RelationshipManagement(CRM) and Information Management (IM) support Amazon’sbusiness strategy. The core technology that keepsAmazon running isLinux-based. Asof 2005, Amazon hadthe world’sthree largest Linux databases, with capacitiesof 7.8 TB, 18.5 TB, and 24.7 TB.Thecentral datawarehouse of Amazon ismade of 28 Hewlett Packard servers with four CPUs per node running Oracle database software. Amazon’stechnology architecture handlesmillionsof back-end operationsevery day, as well asqueriesfrom more than half a millionthird-party sellers. With hundredsof thousandsof people sending their credit card numbersto Amazon’sservers everyday, security becomesa major concern.Amazon employsNetscape Secure Commerce Server using the Secure Socket Layer protocol which storesall credit card detailsin a separate database. Thecompany also recordsdata on customer buyer behavior whichenablesthem to offer or recommend to an individual specific item, or bundlesof itemsbased up on preferencesdemonstrated through purchasesor itemsvisited.[169] On January 31, 2013 Amazon experiencedan outage that lastedapproximately 49minutes, leavingitssite inaccessib le to some customers.[170] Multi-level sales strategy[edit source | editbeta] Amazon employsa multi-level e-commerce strategy. Amazon started off by focusing onBusiness-to-Consumer relationshipsbetween itself and itscustomers, and Business-to-Business relationshipsbetween itself anditssuppliersbut it then movedto incorporate Customer-to-Business transactionsas it realized thevalue of customer reviewsaspart of the product descriptions. It now also facilitates customer to customer with the provision of the Amazon marketplace whichact asan intermediary to facilitate consu mer to consumer transactions. The company letsalmost anyonesell almost anything using itsplatform. In additionto affiliate program that l etsanybody post Amazon linksand earn a commission on clickthroughsales, there isnow a program which let those affiliatesbuild entirewebsites based on Amazon’splatform.[171] Some other large e-commerce sellersuse Amazon to sell their productsin addition to sellingthem through their own websites. The sales are processed through Amazon.com and endup at individual sellersfor processing and order fulfillment andAmazon lease s space for these retailers. Small sellersof used and new goodsgo to Amazon Marketplaceto offer goodsat a fixed price.[172] Amazon also employsthe use of drop shippersor meta sellers. These are membersor entitiesthat advertise goodson Amazonwho order these goodsdirect from other competing websitesbut usually from other Amazon members. These meta sellersmay have millionsof pro ducts listed, have large transactionnumbersand are groupedalongside other lessprolific membersgivingthem credibility asjust someone who has been in businessfor a long time. Markup isanywhere from 50% to 100%and sometimesmore, these sellersmaintain that itemsare in stock when the opposite istrue. AsAmazon increasestheir dominancein themarketplace these drop shippershave become more and more commonplacein recentyears. The resultingdamage to a supply and demand marketplace remainsto be seen but advertising contractswith large search engineseliminatingsmaller websitesfrom overall exposure these practicesshould have a negative effect on the industry on the whole. Revenue[edit source | editbeta] Over the last decade,[when?] Amazon hasdeveloped a customer base of around 30 million people. Amazon.com is primarily a retail site with a sales revenue model. Amazonmakesitsmoney by taking a small percentageof the sale price of eachitem that issold t hrough its website. Amazon also allowscompaniesto advertise their productsby payingto be listed asfeaturedproducts.[173] In Q1 2012, Amazon reported a loss[174] due to itsstake in Living Social. Controversies[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Amazon.comcontroversies Since itsfounding, thecompany hasattractedcriticism and controversy from multiplesourcesover its actions. These include:luring customers away from the site's brick and mortar competitors,[175] poor warehouse conditionsfor workers; anti-unionization efforts; Amazon Kindleremotecontent removal; takingpublic subsidies; its"1-Clickpatent"claims; anti-competitiveactions; price discrimination; variousdecisionsover whether to censor or publish content such asthe WikiLeaks web site; LGBT booksales rank;,[176][177] and works containing libel, facilitatingdogfight,cockfight, or pedophile activities. In December 2011, Amazon faced
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  backlash from smallbusinesses for running a one-day deal to promoteitsnew Price Checkapp. Shopperswho used the app to check pricesin a brick-and-mortar store were offered a 5% discount to purchase the same item from Amazon.[178] Companieslike Groupon, eBay, and Taap.itcountered Amazon'spromotionby offering $10off from their products.[179][180] Sales and use taxes[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Amazon tax Amazon collectssalestax from just eight statesin the US. Amazon isunder increasinglegal and political pressure from state governments, traditional retailersand other groupsbecause of itsrefusal to collect salestax in 40 of the 45 stateswith a statewide sales tax (as of May 2011). Those 40 statesincludeat least 12 where Amazon hasa clear physical presence,[181] via distribution centersand wholly owned subsidiaries. Criticsof Amazon argue thatitsrefusal to collectsalestaxeshas given it an unfair advantage o ver traditional retailers. While customersare required to remit use tax directly to their state, few customersdo so. Amazon hassaid since at least 2006 that it wouldsupport a federal solutionto the salestax problem, aslong assuch legisl ation was fair and simple. The MainStreet FairnessAct failed incommitteein 2010, andseveral earlier versionsof the bill failedto ad vance. Amazon lobbyistsmet four timeswith membersof Congress or their aidesin 2010 regarding theMain Street FairnessAct. The company spent $610,000on lobbyingin 2010, although these expensesalso covered other billsdiscussed at the same time. Amazon has increased political contributionsto federal lawmakers. Amazon's political action committee spent $214,000 duringthe 2010 election cycle, doublewhat it spent for the 2008 elections.[182] Small businessadvocatesat the American Independent BusinessAlliance notethat whileproclaimingsupport for reform, Amazon has lobbiedto apply salestax collection dutiesto all businesses with $150,000or more in annual sales.[183] Sinceall major proposalsinclude an exemptionof at least $500,000 or $1 million, AMIBA says[181] thisimpedespassage of tax reform. Alleged tax avoidance in the UK[edit source | editbeta] In November 2012, the UK government announcedplansto investigate Amazon.com, along with Starbucksand Google, for tax avoidance.[184] Asa result, Amazon hasfaced a backlash and boycott from thegeneral public and other businessesin the UK.[185][186] Internet Piracy Issues in China[edit source | editbeta] The Chinese governmentisplanning to increase regulationof Amazon (along with Apple Inc.and Taobao.com) in relation to internet piracy issues. Amazon hasalready had to shut down third party distributorsdue to pressure from the NCAC.[187] Alleged Mistreatment of Individual Sellers[edit source | editbeta] Amazon hasfaced scrutiny from numerousindividual sellerswho have claimedthat Amazonunexpectedly closed their accounts, and subsequently withheldtheir fundsfor indefinitetime frames.[188] Accordingto Section5.kof the Amazon Seller'sParticipation agreement,[189] Amazon may earninterest on fundscollectedfrom buyersbefore they are disbursed to sellers, meaning Amazon can increase their earningsby delaying disbursement. Poor working conditions[edit source | editbeta] Amazon hasattracted widespreadcriticism by both current andformer employees,[190] aswell asthe media and politiciansfor poor working conditions. In fall 2011 it waspublicizedthat at the Allentown, Pennsylvania warehouse, workers had to carry out wo rk in 100 °F (38 °C) heat, resulting in employeesbecomingextremely uncomfortable and sufferingfrom dehydration andcollapse. Loading-bay doors were not opened to allow in fresh air as"managerswere worried about theft". Amazon'sinitial response wasto pay for an ambulance to sit outside on call to cart away overheatedemployees. Some workers, "pickers", who travel the buildingwith a trolley anda handheld scanner "picking" customer orderscan walkup to 15 milesa day backand forward, and if they fall behindon their targets, they can be reprimanded. The handheld scannersfeed b ackto the employeereal time information on how fast or slowly they are going,and also serve to allow Team Leadsand Area Managersto track the specific locationsof employeesand how much"idletime" they gain when notworking.[191][192] In a German televisionreport broadcast in February 2013, journalistsDiana Löbl and Peter Onneken conducted a covert investi gation at the distribution center of Amazonin the townof Bad Hersfeld in theGermanstate of Hesse. The report highlightsthe behavior of some of the security guardswho apparently either had a Neo-nazi background or deliberately dressed in Neo-Nazi apparel, andwho were intimidating foreign andtemporary femaleworkers at its distribution centres