Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and initially started as an online bookstore. It has since expanded to become the largest online retailer, selling a wide variety of products. Its logo represents selling everything from A to Z and the smile customers feel when shopping on Amazon. In entering the Indian market, Amazon will face strategic issues around gaining market share from competitors and understanding cultural differences across India. It will also need to manage ethical issues regarding stakeholders, suppliers, customers, employees and society.
2. The Amazon logo was created to represent the
message that it sells everything from A to Z (the
arrow connects the two letters) and also represents
the smile that customers would experience by
shopping on theAmazon.com Web site (the arrow
becomes a smile).
3. Company Overview
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is an American-
based multinational electronic commerce company.
Headquartered -Seattle, Washington.
America's largest online retailer.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com, Inc. in 1994 and launched it
online In 1995. It started as an online bookstore.
With 2.5 million titles, it became the “Earth’s Biggest
Bookstore”.
4. • Vision & Mission Statement
Vision
“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
“To leverage technology and the expertise of invaluable
employees and to provide customer with the best shopping
experience on the internet.”
5. Ethical issues of Amazon.com coming to India
Stakeholders: Justified returns to them has to be ensured
Suppliers: Suppliers forms an integral part for any business
operations. Amazon being an online retail chain has to have good
relationship with its partners.
Customers: These are the most important category for any
organisation. Amazon has to make sure that it provides genuine
products to its customers. Since they could not have touch feel or
test facility in their type of business
6. Ethical issues of Amazon.com coming to India
Employees: Employees should not exploited. They should be
trained properly. Moreover since they are expanding in India,
they should focus on giving Indians more employment
Competitors: They should start a healthy competition with their
competitors. Price wars will be there but they have to focus more
on customer satisfaction. An environment should be created
where there is a win-win situation for all.
Society: They should not involve in any unfair means which
harms the society or the legal structure.
7. Strategic Issues
Amazon is basing its strategy on three pillars:
– Vast selection
– Low price
– Fast delivery
Gaining market share
In India, tastes and desires change drastically in every 200kms,
which was unlikely in other countries
Flipkart which is the market leader in India, is the biggest
hurdle in their way to success as it has gained customers’
confidence over the years
8. Analysis of Strategic shift
Amazon adopted changes with time
Added new market developments
From just being an online book seller, it became an
online shopping place
Expansion of business created entry barrier for
competitors
9. Understanding Indian Market
• Middle class in India is booming
• India is the third largest publisher of English language
books in the world
• E-commerce has a huge potential in India, a country of
more than 1.2 billion people
• 52 million active Internet users, of which 40 percent
have shopped online
• Indian online market is expected to grow 55% to 100
billion rupees this year
10. What Amazon looks to achieve in India?
• Customer satisfaction in India
• Looking for a long term business
• Considers new markets where the company could enter
or additional products that could be developed
11. SWOT Analysis of Amazon
Strengths:
Brand well known along with a strong customer base in
many parts of the world.
Diverse product offerings
Free home delivery above a minimum purchase
Working with minimum profit and gaining from
economies of scale
Strong business relationships with publishing houses,
major electronic companies etc.
Experience of almost a decade in online shopping
industry
12. Weakness:
Operates at very low margin
Criticism for its working conditions
‘KINDLE’ is not up to the mark of its competitors
Opportunity:
Acquiring more small business enterprises, enabling them to
expand
Opening physical stores so as to give the customers a feel of
touch and experience
Indian retail industry is estimated to be $450 Billion
Expand into more product segments
Tie ups with major players of untapped market
13. Threats:
Online security threats
Regional low-cost retailers
Strong online presence of Indian competitors like Flipkart and
Myntra
Flexible rules against FDI enabling other major players like Wal-
Mart etc. to enter
14. Innovation
Only pricing cannot be taken as a differentiating factor, innovation
is also needed. The company should create a total buying
experience that has been missing in the Indian context. Promotion
should be done through Push and Pull strategies which will
include offers and advertising.