[Link] - Inc. 2004 [Link]
com/Pres
Dustin Nadeau, Donatas Sumyla, David Deprey and Jaime Rodriguez Bus 411, April 2006
Case-Study Overview
Existing Condition Amazon overview Industry overview History, Key Facts, Goals and Objectives and Stock Information Amazon Proposed Vision and Mission External opportunities and threats CPM EFE Financial Ratios Internal strengths and weaknesses IFE
Analysis SWOT Matrix SPACE BCG IE matrix Grand Strategy Matrix QSPM Possible strategies Recommendations Strategic implementation and desired results Show Cost Annual objectives (goal) and polices Evaluation Procedure Current Update
Amazon Overview
Founded in 1994; Started selling books online and now operate Web sites that offer various products and services, which include: music, DVDs, videos, electronics, camera and photography, clothing apparel, shoes, etc. Features include: one-click shopping, customer review and e-mail order verification. The company is in coalition with other retailers and offer various new, refurbished, and used items in categories. Headquarters is in Seattle (Washington) with an additional office in Coffeyville, Kansas. It has six global websites to serve domestic customers in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Japan and Canada
Key facts
Index Membership: S&P 500, S&P 1500, Super Comp NASDAQ 100 Sector: Technology Industry: Internet Software & Services 2002: Number 492 in the Fortune 500 list Full Time Employees:7,800 The 57th most-valuable brand worldwide 2002: 31 millions active customers Sales: First seven years: $0 => $3.2B 2002-2003: $3.93B => 5.26B 2004: revenues of $6.9 billion (growth of 31.5 from 2003 to 2004)
History
November 1994 CEO Jeff Bezos and two associates set up shop in a converted garage. Founder and Bezos opened the virtual doors of [Link]'s online store in July 1995 and began selling public. In May 1997 [Link] completed its initial public offering (IPO). April 1998 the company acquired online bookstores in U.K. and Germany (Bookpages and Telebuch): first international expansion In 1999 the company launched its own auction site In 2000 [Link] launched [Link] and [Link] (Japan and France) In 2002 e-commerce strategic alliances were performed with Virgin and Office Depot. In January 2003 announced the Free Super Saver Shipping September 2003 launched new Sporting Good store.
Acquisitions/ Partnerships
Acquisitions:
Bookpages (April 1998, [Link]) Telebuch (Telebook) Inc. (April 1998, [Link]) Paid $200M to acquire eNiche, Inc., Music Find, [Link], and Alexia Internet Company (1999) Introduced zShops; [Link] online mall (1999) Partnerships:
Bought 46% of [Link] (1999) Bought 50% of [Link] (1999) Gained a 1.7% stake in Sothebys Holdings and formed a joint online auction site (1999, [Link]) Bought 35% of [Link] (1999) Bought 49% of [Link] (1999) Offered a co-branded credit card with Nextcard (1999) Annouched plans to open a Target store at [Link] (2001) Others partnered with: BabiesRUS, ToysRUS, and Borders Group (2001)
Historical Product Introduction and Geographical Diversification
Company Structure
Amazon Stock (AMZN) Info
Trading on NASDAQ, ticker symbol AMZN.
IPO: 1997 ($18 per share)
Dividends have never been declared or paid on the common stock. Reason: Earnings are retained to finance future growth and therefore do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company currently does not offer a Direct Stock Purchase Plan.
Stock Price Performance
Industry Overview
The World Wide Web might have been built to support geek-speak, but today it is used to transmit information anyone can understand. Aside from possibly E-mail and instant messaging, accessing online content is the main reason most people use the Internet today. It is estimated that a billion people around the world have some kind of Internet access, either at work or at home, and most are going online to read the news, to get product information or for multimedia entertainment. Some of the largest content providers are Yahoo, MSN, and America Online. Some other traditional media companies like Walt Disney Internet Group operate some of the top destinations on the Web, such as [Link] and ABC News. With Internet access continuing to grow and advertising rates stabilizing, online content is developing and expanding on several fronts. One of the most exciting areas of development is streaming audio and video content, which has become increasingly popular with the rising use of broadband Internet connections. While sites run by online and traditional media companies will most likely continue to command the lion's share of audience and advertising revenue, there are some grass roots efforts that are beginning to challenge that dominance.
Compared to S&P 500
Compare to Industry
Economic Performance
Top Internet Retailing Sites in terms of Unique Visitors
(Source: Media Matrix)
Goals & Objectives
We seek to be Earth's most customercentric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavor to offer customers the lowest possible prices.
Vision Statement
Our vision is to be Earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
Mission Statement
The companys six core values: customer obsession, ownership, bias for action, frugality, high hiring bar, and innovation. The company motto: Work Hard, Have Fun, and Make History.
Proposed Vision
To continue expanding in all countries with Internet access, while maximizing total commitment in becoming the number one company in Internet transactions.
Proposed Mission
To continue to offer quality products and services using the best technology available and at a reasonable price. This results in highly loyal customers, while maintaining shareholders interest and company profits in mind. We also want to expand geographically, increasing the number of customers and to keep improving our main competitive advantage - infrastructure. By working hard and having fun we seek to offer the best working environment to our employees, promoting career opportunities, and to increase our responsibility towards environment and the society.
External opportunities and threats
OPPORTUNITIES:
Construction of an extensive community of buyers Positive changes in the business model of the book market Internet taxes prohibited by the Internet Tax Freedom Act (1998) and its extensions (2001 and 2003) Growth of internet users in the next five years, predominantly in the international market E-commerce expansion in Asia and the Pacific Several product categories with high penetration of retail on-line sales 13% jump of Latinos going online in 2003 in the US since 2001
THREATS:
eBay, Barnes & Nobles, and Wal-Mart Possible rejection to on-line sale in international markets if new taxes (Value Added taxes: VAT) in products are levied Population segment not targeted to online sales due to their lack of internet access Weak economic performance of Germany and France in the last year Competition will increase due to the low barriers to entry in the market: offline companies are coming online
EFE Matrix
Direct Competitors Comparison (2006)
AMZN = Amazon Inc. BKS = Barnes & Noble Inc. EBAY = eBay Inc. Industry = Internet Software & Services
(Source: [Link]
Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM)
Internal strengths and weaknesses
STRENGTHS:
Strong brand name * Large product selection * Pricing policy with discounts Corporate culture High quality management team Customer service support (Highest score in 2002 American Customer Satisfaction Index) Strong Infrastructure: Effective automated distribution centers in the US and overseas (Competitive Advantage) Developed and upgraded technology: software and hardware Pioneer in the syndicate selling on the Web Two segments: B2C and B2B e-commerce. In the process of building efficiencies of scale
WEAKNESSES:
Lack of Spanish website version (Latino and Hispanic Americans are the fastest-growing online ethnic group) Low finance performance (high debt level) Risk of introduction of wrong new categories which could damage companys brand Companys offered free shipping might affect future financial outcome Certain products (high volume/weight) have high shipping costs which could confront with local offline retailers
IFE Matrix
Amazon Key Ratios (2006)
Overall Key Ratios (2006)
SWOT Analysis
SPACE Matrix
* Y axis: - Financial Strength: +3 - Environmental Stability: - 2 * X axis: - Competitive Advantage: - 1 - Industry Strength: +6 => Y coordinate: + 1 => X coordinate: + 5 STRATEGY: AGGRESIVE
Business Structure
Operating Segments:
- BMVD = Books, Music, and Video/DVD: Include retail sales from the different websites and commissions - ETK = Electronics, Tools, and Kitchen: Includes sales from [Link], mail-order catalog sales, and commissions - International segment: Includes all retail sales from the international sites - Services segment: consists of commissions, fees, and other amounts earned from other service business
Operating Results:
North America: [Link], [Link], and mail-order catalogs. International: [Link], [Link], [Link], and [Link]
Business Structure
Gross Profit (2003)
31 %
North America International
69%
Net Sales (2003)
North America International
38%
62%
Sales: Amazon vs eBay
Net Sales (2003)
$ Millions
6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 International 0 North America
Amazon
eBay
BCG Matrix
North America International
INTNL: 31% NA: 69%
40 30 20 10 0 1 0.8 0.6 -10 -20 -30 -40 0.4 0.2 0
Relative Market Share (X)
CASH COWS
Industry Sales Growth Rate (%) (Y)
STARS
QUESTION MARKS
DOGS
IE Matrix
The Grand Strategy Matrix
Potential Strategies: - Market Development - Market Penetration - Product Development - Backward Integration - Concentric Diversification
Matrix Analysis
QSPM
Decisions
Primary: Expanding to emerging Asian Markets Alternative:
Introducing new product categories Expanding to Central and South American markets Research and Development to increase the innovation and quality of customer services provided Increasing marketing expenditures in order to reach new population segments and fastest growing trends and tendencies
Showing Cost: EPS-EBIT Analysis
Implementation
Objectives:
1. Increase net income by 5% in the first year and 15% in the overall period of 3 years
Increase the net profit margin to 5% Increase total revenue in Asian market by 30% Use increased income to pay down long-term debt Keep operating costs low (efficiencies of scales)
1. Decrease longterm debt 1. Create different website versions based on the five most common language in Asian region 2. Focus marketing strategies on customer feedback to find out what Asian customers tend to buy
Evaluations
Financial reports annually and quarterly if necessary Customer feedback program Top level management meetings to assure goals are achieved Determine corrective actions after the first year if annual objectives werent accomplished
Update: 2004-2005
2004
Expansion in China ([Link]) buying a Chinese e-commerce website Debuted [Link]: company focused in researching and building innovative technologies: Search Inside the Book and Find It on the Block Launched Presidential Candidates feature Set up an online donation channel to American Red Cross (Tsunami in the Indian Ocean) Set up an online donation channel to American Red Cross (Tsunami in the Indian Ocean)
2005
References
[Link] 2004 Amazon Inc. Annual Report [Link]: a business history. To appear in e-commerce management: text and cases; by Sandeep Krishnamurthy (last updated on September 27, 2002) Strategic Management : Concepts and Cases (10th Edition) by Fred David. Prentice-Hall Strategia e Sistemi di Pianificazione; E-strategy: Il caso Amazon. By Prof. Cassia and Fattore. Universita di Bergamo [Link] (images)
Thank you!
Questions? Comments?
