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Daquilanea

Denise Daquilanea
Padgett
ENGL 102-027
November 22, 2016
The Amazon Effect
Amazon.com is one of the Worlds most innovated companies, providing services to
consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators. A company that began in 1994 selling
books has grown to a company selling over 200 million different products ranging from clothing,
electronics, to food items. The company sells the most products in the United States. In Mexico,
China, and Brazil, they only sell about 1.5 million products, which is over 200 million less than
the United States. Furthermore, the company operates through two different segments, the North
American segment that focuses on retail sales and consumer products through North American
sites. The second segment is the international segment, which focuses on international focused
locations and looks at export sales outside the United States and Canada. Despite Amazons
struggles in the eastern countries, the company still reigns as one of the most successful
companies in the world through its marketing techniques and focus on customers.
What sets Amazon apart from other companies, and is a primary explanation to their
success is their focus on the consumers. The companys current business statement is We seek
to be Earths most consumer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find
and discover anything they might want to buy online. The company puts their focus on their
consumers and what they do like, do not like, what they want to see happen and what they want
to change. This method works for the company; it is what helped them become one of the most
successful companies in the world. In Amazon: Love Them? Hate Them? Lets Follow the

Comment [ES1]: This paragraph does a good job of giving a


good description of the company and how it has improved
over the years.

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Money, Treanor discusses Amazons three primary consumer sets: consumer customers, seller
customers, and developer customers. Rather than viewing their customers as a whole, the
company views them in three different subgroups, which helps them cater to the needs and
desires for each group. All three of the the consumer sets use the website for different reasons,
therefore their perspective on the company will vary.
The Kindle is known as Amazons biggest marketing strategy. Released in 2010, the
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers specialized for Amazon. In 2013, the Kindle devices
brought in about $3.9 billion in revenues. The device initially came from an attempt to compete
with Apples success with the iPads and iPhones. Kindles mission to offer every book, ever
written, in any language, all available within 60 seconds, has made it successful all over the
world. On June of 2013, two types of Kindle products were released in China after several years
of negotiation. The products ranged from around $130-$300, which was comparable to its prices
in North America and sold over 500 products per day, mainly in Beijing and Shanghai. Though
the product was seen as being successful, the Kindle still struggled. A Chinese company called
Dangdang released an e-reader, called Docon2, around the same time that the Kindles were
released in Chin18a. Their products were lower in prices and had better mounting. Once again,
Amazon seems to struggle in China.
The biggest reason reason why Amazon is unable to become successful in China is
Alibaba. This company is virtually unknown to most people in the United States, but in China, it
is their biggest online commerce company.

Comment [ES2]: Elaborate more as to why the kindle did


not do well in China. Bring in some direct quotes.

Daquilanea

Unlike Amazon, 80% of Alibabas merchandise are fake products, such as a Gucci purse being
sold for 300 Yuan, which is about 50 US dollars. Comparably, an authentic Gucci bag goes for
around $800-$2000. In Humbled Amazon Turns to Rival Alibaba for Help in China,
Cendrowski argues how even though the majority of the websites products are counterfeit, they
still sell. The reasoning behind this is because essentially, the Chinese are cheap. In America,
consumers typically look for the quality over the product over the price of the product. While
they still may not purchase the most expensive, top rated product, they still purchase a product
that is authentic and reliable. In China, consumers look for what is cheapest. Name brands and
authenticity is not important to them. Cendrowski states that he relies on Alibaba more than
Amazon for the prices, only using Amazon as a back-up for when he cannot find a product on
Alibaba.
Although Chinas economy is expanding at one of its slowest pace yet, revenues in
online shopping is soaring, and is expected to almost double in the next few years. In fact, China
is considered the leading country in e-commerce by a landslide. The main reason why the
countrys numbers in e-commerce is so high is because a vast majority of their retailers operate

Comment [ES3]: Compare to the consumers of the U.S

Daquilanea

through Alibabas business-to-consumer website. 75% of Chinas e-commerce is through

Comment [ES4]: Make sure to explain the graphs and their


significance.

Alibaba. In comparison, in the United States, only 26% of e-commerce transactions are
conducted through Amazon. Centralizing their e-commerce platform allows them to make sales
without the effort of competing with other sites. Additionally, online is essentially the only place
where the Chinese are able to buy name-brand, international products. For example, Nike
products, or Calvin Klein items may be easy to purchase in the United States, but in China, the
only place to access these type of items are through the internet. Another factor explaining
Chinas rise in e-commerce is their mobile usage. According to South China Morning Post, a
Hong Kong English language newspaper, 87% of people are internet users, as opposed to the
United States 74% of total internet users. This information is significant because 55.5% of
mobile e-commerce sales comes from online retail shopping.

Comment [ES5]: Overall good topic, there is a lot of good


information here. I would suggest to add in more synthesis,
so include more direct quotes and use the attribution verbs
to describe them. Also, when you include more quotes I
think it will be easier to figure out the different points of
view.

Daquilanea

Work Cited Page


Cendrowski, Scott. "Humbled Amazon Turns to Rival Alibaba for Help in China." Fortune.
Fortune, 05 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Donici, Andreea Nicoleta, et al. "E-Commerce Across United States Of America:
Amazon.Com." Economy Transdisciplinarity Cognition 15.1 (2012): 252-258. Business
Source Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
Lei, Jessica Ya. "AmazonS Day One In China: The Role Of Amazons Kindle In China."
Publishing Research Quarterly 29.4 (2013): 365-370. Academic Search Complete. Web.
19 Oct. 2016.
Loeb, Walter. "10 Reasons Why Alibaba Blows Away Amazon and EBay." Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Perez, Bien. "China's Mobile E-commerce Market Miles Ahead of US, to Grow to US$505
Billion by 2016." South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post, 4 Aug. 2015.
Web. 16 Nov. 2016.
"The Man Who Sells Everything." Foreign Affairs 94.1 (2015): 2-6. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Treanor, Ted. "Amazon: Love Them? Hate Them? LetS Follow The Money." Publishing
Research Quarterly 26.2 (2010): 119-128. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct.
2016.

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