Blog Post #4

 The Uprise of Amazon

Amazon is a national technology company that provides digital shopping for consumers all around the world.  What many people may not know is that amazon was originally founded under the name “Cadabra” by Jeff Bezos in 1994, but shortly a few months later he changed it to amazon. At the time Jeff was a Princeton graduate who was working out of the garage of his rental home in Washington. 11 years later in 2005 amazon prime was launched which played an extremely crucial role in amazons success and also the expansion of the company.

When doing my research I wondered why did Jeff Bezos create amazon? There was many advantages to startig amazon however he said "you can literally build a store online that couldn’t exist any other way.” He wanted an online store that was unique and could not be replicated in person.  This played a big role in his success because he created amazon just at the start of the e-commerce era, so many people were still not shopping online. Not only was he one of the original online companies but he also later expand his company to be the quickest.  Amazon prime changed the e-commerce game completely with prime 2 day delivery. That was back in 2005 now you can order from amazon and it could be at your doorstep that night. 

Above you can see just how successful amazon has become over years.  Not only has amazon become one of the most successful online shopping websites they have also expanded.  Amazon also offers media streaming services, and they make their own technology like kindle or the fire stick.  Amazon also offers a food delivery system known as amazon fresh, that delivers your groceries to your doorstep. Many factors went into the success of amazon however covid played a big role in their more recent success.  You can see the increase in amazons revenue since covid in 2020.  Since there was a pandemic people were scared to go out to the stores, and some people couldn't because they had compromised immune systems.  Amazon was an easily accessible and fast way to get the materials you needed to survive.

(Breakdown of the revenue from amazons different branches)

While I feel overall amazons success has made a positive impact in our society, there are some negatives that come with it.  One of these negative outcomes is the overspending of consumers.  I know personally that I am a victim of this because its so easy to get anything I could want or need online.  Due to the convenience of amazon consumers tend to spend money on things they normally wouldn't if they were shopping in person.  This is also leading to things like ghost malls, and small business loosing customers.  Not only are in person companies loosing business but it is also making people more lazy because they can get anything they need from the comfort of their own home.  In a way it is also leading to more social anxiety in the younger generations because they are growing up with this advanced kind of technology.