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Title: How Amazon Keeps Cranking. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.newdc.oum.edu.my/bsi/detail?sid=83a0efc3-bbc0-4c8e99771e1df1192990%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=102&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwJn NpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#db=buh&AN=58619682 Authors: Cendrowski, Scott Source: Fortune; 2/28/2011, Vol.

163 Issue 3, p18-18, 1p, 1 Chart Document Type: Article Subject Terms: *ELECTRONIC commerce KINDLE (Electronic book reader) Company/Entity: AMAZON.COM Inc. DUNS Number: 884745530 Ticker: AMZN WAL-Mart Stores Inc. DUNS Number: 051957769 Ticker: WMT BEST Buy Co. Inc. Ticker: BBY NAICS/Industry Codes : 425110 Business to Business Electronic Markets 454111 Electronic Shopping Abstract: The article discusses online retailer Amazon.com's success. The company's Kindle electronic-book reading device has become very popular. Amazon's devotion to customer service is reflected in survey data compiled by the National Retail Federation. Amazon often offers lower prices on merchandise than do retailing rivals Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Full Text Word Count: 459 ISSN: 0015-8259 Accession Number: 58619682 Persistent link to this record (Permalink): http://ldms.oum.edu.my/oumlib/ezproxylogin?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.newdc. oum.edu.my/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip&db=buh&AN=58619682&site=b si-live Database: Business Source Premier Publisher Logo:

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INNOVATE ATTACK COMPETITORS HEAD-ON OFFER SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE TOTAL REVENUE in billions

FIRST: WORLD'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANIES | TOP PERFORMERS NO. 5 It led a revolution in books. Now it sells toys and toiletries too. But analysts say the $34 billion king of e-commerce is just getting started. Led by CEO Jeff Bezos, Amazon made a high-profile debut in the top five of Fortune's Most Admired Companies ranking. Here's why INNOVATE Critics said the Kindle would never be able to compete with Apple, but Amazon's handheld e-reader is a runaway hit. The company sold 7 million Kindles last year, analysts estimate, making it Amazon's bestselling product. That's fewer than Apple's 15 million iPads, but the Kindle has allowed Amazon to stake out an early lead in e-books: Since 2010, it has sold three times as many e-books as hardcovers, and it dominates the fast-growing new market. "By creating the hardware, they almost created the industry," says Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt. COMPANY SNAPSHOT // HEADQUARTERS SEATTLE EMPLOYEES 33,700 THE BUSINESS FOUNDED IN 1994 BY JEFF BEZOS AS AN ONLINE BOOKSTORE ONLY (REMEMBER?), AMAZON IS NOW THE INTERNET'S LARGEST RETAILER. ATTACK COMPETITORS HEAD-ON Amazon has grown bigger more quickly than any company in retail history. (In inflationadjusted dollars, it took Wal-Mart 27 years to hit $30 billion in sales; Amazon did it in 16.) It has obviously benefited from a massive shift to online retail--e-commerce is now 7% of total U.S. retail sales, up from 3% in 2005. But Amazon sees the brick-and-mortar giants as its biggest competitors, and it beats them at their own game: In a Morgan Stanley survey of 50 products, Amazon sold items for 6% less on average than Wal-Mart and 9% less than Best Buy. By acquiring niche sites like Diapers.com in November and expanding into luxury apparel and high-end electronics, Amazon could surpass Sears, Best Buy, and Target in revenue in four years, predicts Morgan Stanley. OFFER SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE Service is all in retail; Amazon's customer-centric approach has come to rival longtime retail legends like Nordstrom. Amazon's customer service (along with its subsidiary Zappos's) ranked higher than any other retailer's, according to a recent National Retail Federation survey (Nordstrom was No. 9). Amazon Prime, which offers free shipping for a $79 yearly fee, is a hit with customers and a way for Amazon to boost repeat sales across its categories-a difficult feat for online retailers. TOTAL REVENUE in billions

Electronics and other general merchandise [gadgets, apparel, home goods, etc.] 2005 $8.5 2010 $34.2 27% 54%

Media [books, DVDs, music] 70% 44%

other 3% 3%

REVENUE CHART SOURCE: COMPANY FILINGS. PERCENTAGES ADD UP TO MORE THAN 100 BECAUSE OF ROUNDING. KINDLE SALES ~~~~~~~~ By Scott Cendrowski

Copyright Time Inc., 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be duplicated or redisseminated without permission.

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