Amazon

Amazon.com is the largest on-line retailer in the world. Created in 1995, Amazon.com was created as an on-line book store, but has grown to feature CD’s, DVD’s, games, toys, and other retail products sold through its website. Amazon.com has separate websites for more than seven different countries, with warehouses and call centers located throughout the world. Amazon.com has yearly revenue stream of over $48 billion dollars, and employs over 68, 000 employees. Amazon.com has the most visited website of any retailer on the internet. Amazon.com is a bookstore without walls, all products are ordered and sold via the internet, and customers receive or return their items through general post or package shipping. Amazon.com has grown exponentially since its inception, selling thousands of products to customers, offering expedited shipping options, and its own internet company credit card.

Amazon.com has succeeded when other companies have failed. “According to Efuture center (2008) some types of goods are ideal for selling over the Internet; others are less suitable. For example, Amazon.com aims to make book buying fast and easy. Most people buy books based on the information contained on the jacket, or after reading a book review. Or, they may simply like the previous work of the author. Because all of this information can be displayed effectively on an e-business, selling books over the web works well.” (Heydari, A., Teimouri, M., Jamehshooran, B., 2011) Amazon.com has altered the way in which customers shop and purchase. “While the last few years have witnessed the emergence of a vibrant research stream about social networks, less attention has been given to the analysis online product networks. This is especially surprising given their ubiquity and potential influence on business.” (Oestreicher-Singer, G., Sundararajan, A., 2012) Amazon.com has revolutionized on-line shopping. Many traditional brick and mortar companies use the internet as an...