1. Analyze each of these companies using the value chain and competitive forces models.
2. Compare the three companies’ e- commerce business models. Which is the strongest? Explain your answer.
3. Which company is likely to have the strongest retail e- commerce growth in the future? Why?

Who’s the leader in retail e- commerce? Of course, it’s Amazon.com. Since the early 1990s, Amazon has grown from a small online bookseller to one of the largest retailing companies in the world, and easily the largest e- commerce retailer. Its constantly growing selection of goods (including books, electronics, clothing, and toys) and competitive prices have led many to refer to Amazon as “The Walmart of the Web.” In 2010, another company emerged as a serious challenger for that title: Walmart. Although Walmart is an e-commerce late- comer, the world’s largest retailer has taken on Amazon in a battle for online e- tailing supremacy. Walmart has waged an all-out attack on Amazon in nearly every area of its business. In 2011, eBay entered the retail e- commerce battle. EBay is the most successful Internet auction business, and a gigantic electronic marketplace hosting thou-sands of online storefronts all over the world. Founded in 1995, the company sells a staggeringly diverse array of goods and is one of the world’s most easily recognizable Web sites. However, CEO John Donahoe and the rest of eBay’s management have realized that e- commerce on the Web is increasingly shifting towards fixed prices and away from auctions and other alternative approaches, and the company has changed its business model and growth strategies accordingly.