AMAZON.COM ${?}^{12}$ CASE $3\mathrm{.}3$

Like many entrepreneurs, Jeffrey Bezos, founder of

Amaron.com had an idea, did his homework, and developed a new service. Amazon opened its virtual doors in July $1995.$ Since then, the retailer has served millions of customers worldwide and, in $2015,$ generated more than $$100$ billion in annual sales through its retailing operation and nearly $$10$ billion through its Web Services $($AWS$)$ operation. $13$ Many people regard Amazon as the "golden child" of the Internet. Unlike many entrepreneurs, however, Bezos was not content with just gaining market share for his initial concept. More than $20$ years after opening its doors, Amazon still is developing new services. The young CEO started Amazon with the intention of establishing a strong brand name that he could leverage into other products. He marketed books first, because he believed they were ideal cyberspace products. Customers do not need much physical interaction with the product or with a salesperson to purchase books. Books, therefore, are well suited to marketing over the web.

A key success factor for Amazon is that it captures market share and fosters brand loyalty by focusing on customer needs. Bezos believes that paying too much attention to short$-$term gains means forgetting about long$-$term customer Page $90$ satisfactions. Loss of this long$-$term customer focus comes at a price, however. Despite impressive sales growth, Amazon did not turn a profit quickly, but that didn't stop it from becoming