How amazon works

How amazon works

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  How amazon Works
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  Contents ・Introduction to HowAmazon Works ・Basics ・Technology ・E-commerce ・Tools, Marketing and Community ・Lots More Information
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  Introduction to How AmazonWorksIn 1995, Amazon.com sold its first book, which shipped from Jeff Bezos' garage in Seattle. The story is an e-commerce dream, and Jeff Bezos was Time magazine's Person of the Year in 1999. The innovation and business savvy that sustains Amazon.com is legendary and, at times, controversial: The company owns dozens of patents on e-commerce processes that some argue should remain in the public domain. In this article, we'll find out what Amazon does, what makes it different from other e-commerce Web sites and how its technology infrastructure supports its multi-pronged approach to online sales.
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  Basics Amazon.com sells lotsand lots of stuff. When you arrive at the homepage, you'll find not only special offers and featured products, but if you've been to Amazon.com before, you'll also find some recommendations just for you. Amazon knows you by name and tries to be your personal shopper. Customer tracking is an Amazon stronghold. If you let the Web site stick a cookie on your hard drive, you'll find yourself on the receiving end of all sorts of useful features that make your shopping experience pretty cool, like recommendations based on past purchases and lists of reviews and guides written by users who purchased the products you're looking at.
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  Technology The massive technologycore that keeps Amazon running is entirely Linux-based. As of 2005, Amazon has the world's three largest Linux databases, with a total capacity of 7.8 terabytes (TB), 18.5 TB and 24.7 TB respectively [ref]. The central Amazon data warehouse is made up of 28 Hewlett Packard servers, with four CPUs per node, running Oracle 9i database software. Amazon's Progress Amazon has four software development centers worldwide. These units are constantly creating new features for Amazon.com and developing the technology to support them.
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  E-commerce Amazon.com has alwayssold goods out of its own warehouses. It started as a bookseller, pure and simple, and over the last decade has branched out into additional product areas and the third-party sales that now represent a good chunk of its revenue (some estimates put it at 25 percent).
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  Tools, Marketing andCommunity The goal is pretty straightforward: "To be Earth's most customer-centric company where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online." The implementation is complex, massive and dynamic. Amazon's marketing structure is a lesson in cost-efficiency and brilliant self-promotion. Amazon's associates link to Amazon products in order to add value to their own Web sites, sending people to Amazon to make their purchases. It costs Amazon practically nothing. Some associates create mini-Amazons -- satellite sites that do new things with Amazon data and send people to the mothership when they're ready to buy. Amazon Light, built and maintained by software developer Alan Taylor, is one of those satellite sites.
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  A Few Highlights 1994:Amazon.com is incorporated. 1995: It sells its first book. 1996: It launches its affiliate program ("Associates Program"). 1997: It goes public. 1998: It buys the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and opens two new Amazon stores: Music and DVD/Video. 1999: It launches Amazon Auctions and zShops and opens six new stores: Consumer Electronics, Toys & Games, Home Improvement, Software, Video Games and Gift Ideas. 2000: It launches Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Amazon Marketplace and opens two new stores: Kitchen and Camera & Photo. 2001: It introduces the "Look Inside the Book" function and teams up with Target stores. 2002: It launches Amazon Canada and Amazon Web Services and opens two new stores: Office Products and Apparel & Accessories. 2003: It launches Amazon Service s and A9.com subsidiaries and opens three news stores: Sports & Outdoor, Gourmet Food and Health & Personal Care. 2004: It buys Joyo.com (which becomes Amazon China) and opens one new store: Beauty. 2005: It buys BookSurge LLC.
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  Lots More Information RelatedHowStuffWorks Articles How eBay Works How E-commerce Works How Encryption Works How Patents Work How PayPal Works How Phishing Works More Great Links Amazon.com: Amazon Web Services ISP Glossary: Database Management System CNET News: How Amazon puts Linux to the test Technology Review: Amazon: Giving Away the Store Wired News: Amazon Knows Who You Are Sources "After Many Years, Turbolinux Finally Goes Public." The Linux Beacon, Volume 2, Number 36. September 27, 2005. http://www.itjungle.com/tlb/tlb092705-story05.html "Amazon Knows Who You Are." Wired News. http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,67034,00.html