Amazon

To give some perspective, the following chart summarizes Amazon's revenue growth over the past 12 years:

Amazon's ability to generate innovative ideas has revolutionized the retail industry and expanded revenue dramatically. But if you've seen the original Spider-Man movie (2002), you've heard the quote by Uncle Ben: "with great power, comes great responsibility."

Granted, Amazon has the ability to generate tons of revenue, but what does that mean for their costs? We will explore that very question in this module on cost and industry structure.

Please read the followingarticle on Amazon's growthLinks to an external site.before proceeding to the discussion questions below.

Discussion questions:

1. What makes Amazon such a special company? Who has used their services and if so, what have they thought?

2. Amazon generates a lot ofrevenuebut what does this mean in terms of theircosts? Think about the major costs that Amazon incurs in order to run the company and list them here.

3. In terms of the retail industry structure, what has happened to Amazon's size and power in the retail industry? What is happening to competitors?

4. Will Amazon be amonopolysome day? If yes, what will need to happen for them to get monopoly status? If no, what will need to happen for them not to achieve monopoly status.Hint: Monopoly = the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.