In this week’s video A Brief History of the Internet you get a glimpse of old-school Amazon. The film is a 1998 PBS documentary that talks about the rapid rise and new uses of the world wide web. At the time, Amazon was one of the first viral stores to build a business. It’s only product at the time? Books. That’s right. Amazon started as a bookstore.
Founder Jeff Bezos thought books were the ideal products to start selling on the web because people didn’t need to touch them before buying them. Plus, the ability to order items on the web and have them delivered to your door was still a new idea which is what gave Amazon an edge on competing bookstores.
The documentary shows Amazon in their 4thyear of business where it had yet to make a profit, but was valued at over $1 Billion. In September of 2018, Amazon capped it’s value at $1 Trillion.
In the documentary’s interview, Jeff Bezos said, “It works and it’s extremely efficient and people recognize the value of that.” I would say $1 Trillion sure shows it’s value was recognized.
When I look at Amazon’s story, I think of how much being “the first” in the rising internet age gave you an advantage. Though Amazon started just as a bookstore, it was able to later incorporateevery product imaginable into their sales platform because it had such a strong foothold in the world wide web.
Jeff Bezos in 2017: “I sell whatever the — I want.”
Since everything is online now, it seems like it is impossible to start and have success in any online business because competition is everywhere. In the 1950s, your jewelry store just competed with the one in the next town over, but now your necklaces on Etsy are competing with millions and millions of necklaces just like it from all different parts of the world–all of which are available at the click of a mouse.
The expansion of the internet has definitely allowed more opportunities for entrepreneurship, but it seems as though Amazon won the battle in terms of monumental profit. Since it is so well established and reliable, I find it reasonable to believe many consumers go back to it because they know they can count on it. Though a knock-off site may have the same product for $2 cheaper, many will resort to Amazon knowing it will be tracked, well packaged, and at their doorstep within two days.
Will there ever be a “new” trillion dollar online commercial breakthrough like Amazon? If so, what could it be?
Annalee's Ideas About Science and Global Politics 