Amazon Global Business Strategy

Amazon was founded in 1994 as an online bookstore. Its founder, Jeff Bezos, moved to Seattle from New York City. His wife, MacKenzie Scott, also played a huge role in the company's creation. In 1997, Amazon started selling music and videos online. It later expanded its operations by acquiring the various book and accessory stores in Germany and the UK. In 2002, it launched Amazon Web Services, which provided web statistics.

In 2006, Amazon launched its Elastic Compute Cloud. This cloud-based computing platform lets users store and manage their data on the Internet. Later that year, it launched Fulfillment, a service that enables individuals and businesses to sell their goods and services online. In 2012, Amazon bought Kiva Systems to automate its inventory management business.

The success of Amazon's growth and profitability is directly attributed to the company's four core pillars:

Customer Centricity: Instead of trying to be the next big thing, Bezos focuses on being the one who can serve his customers first. Amazon makes the customer experience the most important part of their business. They do it by constantly excelling and developing new products and services that are designed to meet their customers' needs.

Innovation: This philosophy is about coming up with new ways to do things, not for the sake of being creative or impressing investors. In today's world, Amazon is exploring artificial intelligence and outer space, while its private space company is also exploring new ways to serve customers.

Corporate Agility: Agility is about being adaptable regardless of how fast or how big your business gets. When it comes to operating, being able to quickly adapt to changes and respond to them is often the key to keeping a competitive advantage.

Optimisation: Continuous improvement is about improving processes so that you can become more efficient, and it's about bringing value to your customers. While it may take a lot of time and effort to resolve an issue, the benefit can go a long way and contribute to a higher profit.

Many businesses start out strong, with good customer service and innovative ideas. As they grow, they add layers of management and new processes, making it harder to innovate. This is the reason why Amazon has created its 4 Pillars: to keep the focus on the core principles that drive growth and profits. However, it should be recognised that the e-commerce business is reaching maturity and Amazon are likely to achieve future growth through their other businesses.

Over the years, Amazon has focused on improving its online presence by developing products and services that help customers shop easier. Other companies may not have realised the customer loyalty that may be achieved by delivering superior convenience. This strategy has allowed the company to expand into new markets and gain an advantage over the existing competition. It remains to be seen whether their recent ventures into physical shopping and outer space transport will continue this advantage.