From Selling Books Online to Pursuing the Moon, AmazonLeaderJeff Bezoshas come a long way with its brains, Amazon.com Inc. No wonder Amazon hits all-time peak net sales of $280.52 billion in 2020 (1). According to Wikipedia (2), Amazon.com is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in Seattle, WA with a happy staff of 840,000 employees worldwide. As the world's largest online retail store, Amazon.com is the first choice for nearly half of customers who shop online (3). This company was the show stopper from the beginning.
Index
The SWOT or Internal and External Strategic Analysis by Amazon Inc. represents the key drivers behind the company's success and the true potential to impact lives. The details of the analysis are given below:
Amazon.com Strengths: The Evolution Behind the Revolution
Brand impact:Amazon.com is the world's largest online retailer, with nearly 310 million consumers (4). Amazon.com covers almost every possible service that a given consumer needs and is the "King of Business". Big business to small business, who can sell their products on this platform has been a key factor in Amazon's success.
Overall satisfactory relationships between employees and customers:With a massive staff of 840,000 employees; With 310 million active and satisfied customers worldwide, Amazon.com is the premier example of a satisfying employee-customer relationship. The complex but brilliantly planned execution of all services are strengths of the company's development. Nearly 5 out of 10 customers choose Amazon.com over other competitors.
Revolutionary products and services:Amazon.com has been around since the word GO! grown at the speed of light. Although it started as an online bookstore, Jeff wanted to sell just about everything. Jeff's vision and his team's efforts have paid off with game-changing services like Amazon Prime, AWS, Alexa, Kindle, AmazonWireless and Amazon Studios (5).
State-of-the-art logistics and distribution facilities:243.5 million square feet of Amazon's distribution and fulfillment facility can easily cover nearly 4,228 football fields! With a huge fleet of trucks, planes and ships, Amazon.com is unique in sales. With this support and logistics, Amazon Prime's 2-Day Delivery feature has surpassed 100 million consumers! (6)
Amazon.com Weaknesses: Mistakes at Its Best
Even the moon has spots. By the way, the strongest in the clan has some weaknesses. The weaknesses of Amazon.com are described below:
Product error:Amazon took to the skies when it released the Kindle Fire tablets. This success led the company to create similar products in smaller formats; fire phones. Fire Phones wasn't a huge hit due to a lack of versatility in app options, stiff user interface, and understated form factors. (7)
Fluctuations on the margins:Amazon.com has always been in the spotlight for its unusual business practices. As the company reinvests most of the profits back into the business, the profits command tighter profit margins that are skeptical in some quarters. Such an act causes the company to eventually lose its pennies and face outages in certain cases. (8th)
One-sided focus:Speaking of the world's largest online retailer, Amazon.com is undoubtedly the ruler. But the company is only available “online”! With this one-sided focus, Amazon.com loses potential customers who would rather buy an item by going into a store rather than ordering it from their computer/mobile screen.
strict employment policy
"You can work hard, hard or smart, but at Amazon.com you can't pick two out of three," Bezos wrote in a 1997 letter to shareholders, according to the NYT. You've probably guessed how strict Amazon.com is. Higher expectations can sometimes stifle the people who serve your company. (9)
Amazon.com Opportunities: Where Jeff Should Rethink
A great leader is one who strives to do his best, to be the change he wants his followers to bring about. Jeffery P. Bezos is certainly one of the most influential executives in the world. But there are specific occasions when Amazon.com and Bezos need a good modulation. The opportunities that the company should focus on are the following:
Build convenient stores and experience centers:Let's not deny the fact that Amazon.com has an Experience Center for Alexa, Echo and Autonomous Smart Home Systems. But people will be more influenced and involved if the company decides to build more practical stores in different cities and countries. This will allow him to fully conquer the market.
Flexible labor and tax policy:A company can soar when it has an army of happy employees. And Amazon.com cannot be an opt-in. Good employee relations are essential. Amazon.com has long been a company allegedly accused of "aggressively evading" global taxes. This margin of error needs to be addressed. (10)
Reduce low-margin opportunities:Low profitability was yet another possible setback for the company, given its extremely low margins in recent years. Because they tend to spend more and more money than they can. This could prove vulnerable as the market becomes more competitive. (11)
Simple prerequisites for more market share:There's no denying that Amazon.com has been gaining more and more market share over the years through acquisitions and subsidies to small businesses. But simpler negotiations and prerequisites can allow the company to reach levels never seen before.
Threats to Amazon.com: Amazon Vs. amazon
If you are the best, you are your own worst enemy. But if you can overcome your old self, you will always be the best. The biggest threat to Amazon.com is the company itself. Threats that can be tricky for the business are as follows:
Large selection of competitions:Like it or not, Amazon.com is no longer a one-off idea. Over time, companies with greater ambitions gain momentum to conquer the king of the market. AliExpress, Walmart, Otto, JD, eBay, Flipcart, Rakuten, Newegg are some of the giants that also run in the marathon. (12)
Strict business policies:A former executive once said, "That's how we're successful—we're willing to be frugal and egoless, and we're obsessed with delighting our customers." . Federal tax denial can also pose a potential threat to the company. (13)
Tax refusal:Amazon.com is the second company to break the $1 trillion business record in September 2018. However, it paid $0 in federal taxes in 2019/20. This may be beneficial for Amazon.com from a financial standpoint, but it's not ideal for either the company or the government. (14)
Controversies about the workplace and working conditions:Amazon.com is known for being extremely rigorous and productive in terms of workspaces and facilities. However, several employees have raised complaints about working conditions against the company in recent years and during this pandemic as well. However, Amazon.com did not release details of these occupational hazards or incidents. (15)
final result
Every modern business evolves every day, learns from its mistakes, runs trails and mistakes, and Amazon.com is not an acceptance. They learn every day, innovate fabrics and implement new ideas to be more efficient and attract the attention of each consumer. Striving to be and stay the best is the strength of Amazon.com and Jeff Bezos. With a vision to achieve the unthinkable, Jeff Bezos and his army intend to make outer space the new future of mankind. Visionaries like these are the change the world needs, the world is waiting for.
Related:Google Inc SWOT Analysis&Microsoft SWOT Analysis
References used to support this analysis:
1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/266282/annual-net-revenue-of-amazoncom/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(Unternehmen)
3. https://muchneeded.com/amazon-statistik/
4. https://etaileast.wbresearch.com/blog/amazons-engaged-buyers-drive-social-media-revenue
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amazon_products_and_services
6. https://www.ttnews.com/articles/rise-amazon-logistics
7. https://www.cbinsights.com/research/corporate-innovation-product-fails/
8. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/technology/amazon-earnings.html
9. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/9-key-issues-with-amazon-s-corporate-culture.html
10. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/02/new-study-deems-amazon-worst-for-aggressive-tax-avoidance
11.https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/12/11/heres-why-amazons-profitability-is-so-low-part-1-of-2/#6aa284f1689c
12.https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/amazon-competitors/#top-ecommerce-competitors-for-amazon
13. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/21/is-amazon-unstoppable
14. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-not-paying-taxes-trump-bezos-2018-4
15. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/17/nation/amazon-workers-mass-file-federal-complaints-about-unsafe-conditions/
16.https://cookersworld.com/best-egg-holders/