Amazon is an E-commerce company whose headquarters are in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest online retailer in the world.
Apart from the United States, the company has retail websites in nine other countries namely the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and China (Johnson, Whittington and Scholes 2011). This presentation shall analyze the elements that give the company a competitive advantage.
In order to establish dominance in its line of business, Amazon had to maintain long-term market leadership. This was achieved through a focus on fast-moving products, adoption of a diversification strategy and the avoidance of debt.
Strategy
Amazon’s stability has been grounded on a three-pillar strategy whose key constituent elements are selection, price and convenience (Johnson, Whittington and Scholes 2011). In terms of selection, the company’s success has come through the provision of a wide selection of products (Saunders 2001).
The company has also developed its own electronic products, notably the Kindle e-book reader and the Kindle Fire tablet computer (Spector 2000; Mara 2004). This, in addition to the provision of cloud-computing services, has made the company grow from strength to strength.
Amazon has also managed to maintain a competitive edge through offering prices that buyers regard as favorable (Daisy 2002). Unlike its competitors, the company has ensured that the quality of service provided is superior even when they offer discounts and other forms of price reduction (Kalpanik and Pamela T 2011).
For instance, there are situations in which the company offers free shipping for products bought through its various websites. In such cases, the company still provides a quality guarantee even when this is bound to reduce the profits made from the sale (Marcus 2004).
The other element that has made the company continue with its strong growth is ensuring that the demand for convenience by customers is well met.
This has been achieved by constantly seeking customer feedback, something that has helped the company make informed decisions, including the opening of new storage facilities (Brandt 2011).
For instance, in 2008 after analyzing customer feedback, the company opened warehouses in Hazleton and Arizona to help deal with growing customer demands (Schepp, Schepp and Richardson 2009). It is also by listening to customer demands that the company moved to open branches in other countries.
Financial might
In terms of financial strength, the company has managed to maintain a constant cash-flow without depending on borrowed finances for its day- to- day running.
This stability in operating finances has helped the company build a name as an unshakeable establishment, a reputation that has seen its stock exchange presence grow to impressive levels (Sherman, J 2001).
Reference List
Brandt, R 2011, One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com, Portfolio, New York.
Daisy, M 2002, 21 Dog Years, Free Press, New York.
Johnson, G, Whittington, R & Scholes, K 2011, Exploring Strategy: Text & Cases, Pearson Education Limited, Essex.
Kalpanik S & Pamela, T 2011, Inside the Giant Machine: An Amazon.com Story, CreateSpace, Washington.
Mara, M 2004, Amazon.com for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, New Jersey.
Marcus, J, 2004, Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot.Com Juggernaut, W. W. Norton, New York.
Saunders, R 2001, Business the Amazon.com way: secrets of the world’s most astonishing Web business, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey.
Schepp, B, Schepp D & Richardson, G 2009, Amazon Top Seller Secrets: Insider Tips from Amazon’s Most Successful Sellers, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, New York.
Sherman, J 2001, Jeff Bezos:King Of Amazon.Com, Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis.
Spector, R 2000, Amazon.com-Get Big fast: Inside the Revolutionary Business Model That Changed the World, Harper Collins Publishers, New York City.