When we talk about the e-commerce industry, there is no chance of Amazon being left out of the conversation. Smart technology and the Internet becoming accessible to a mass number of people has led to an all-time rise in online shopping, with e-commerce purchases increasing year by year.
We have a variety of online stores now, belonging to many industries. Fashion, technology, food, the categories appear to be endless. Some of them offer products, others offer services, while some offer both- Amazon is a blend of the two, featuring products developed by various brands, spanning over a variety of categories.
The origins and rise of Amazon
It may come across as an astonishing fact to people that back in 1997 on July 16, Amazon was started as a website by Jeff Bezos, with an aim to become the biggest bookstore in the world. And even more stunning is the fact that it all started in a garage. Now 25 years later, not only is it the biggest bookstore but it features products from a variety of categories ranging from art supplies and books/ebooks to hardware peripherals and electronic accessories and much more. Bezos had started adding products from more categories when he realised the potential of the world wide web and its projected growth.
The journey to becoming an e-commerce giant
The CEO and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is famous for the way he has built and taken the company forward in the last few years. Not only is he famous, but he is also the richest person on earth. So how did he make it all happen? Let's first grasp the two important characteristics that will help us better understand Amazon's growth.
- Revenue: Also known as turnover, the revenue of a particular organisation is generated as per its business model. For instance, Amazon does both sales and services, it sells products as well as digital content such as that on Amazon Prime. So for Amazon, the e-commerce giant earns quite a lot from selling its various products and services.
- Net Income: The net income of a company is the amount it has earned after all the deductions such as costs of goods, taxes and other expenses are cut out. The net income provides the company with its actual business profit.
With the increase in revenue, Amazon's net income has also increased over the last 25 years. Of course, technology has a major role to play in the e-commerce game. The infographic below provides an insight into how Amazon's growth has turned out all the way from 1997 until 2019.
Infographic by: Statista
