1. What are the contested boundaries across Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google for Advertising revenue. Consider which two have the greatest overlap for displayadvertising? For search (including mobile search)? For retail advertising? In class we will have a discussion about what advertising function each platform performs best.
2. Amazon is obviously the giant in eCommerce revenue. But are they a retailer, or are they something else? How would you define them? Why does Amazon offer over 8,000 digital cameras instead of just the top performing 20%? Amazon is beginning to develop more offline store locations; how does this align with their business strategy?
3. Besides Amazon, who else among the big four is building a retailing platform? Spend time researching this outside of the case study, to pull in recent updates and news.
4. Is fighting for dominance the right strategic course, or should each of these companies stick to building out their core competency? Identify your position and a few key points to rationalize.
5. Identify a firm that you know something about (a media company, retailer, or manufacturer), with some involvement in the online economy. How many, if any, of the big four firms does it currently rely on? Might that reliance change? How might that firm hedge the risks it will face if there is a transition to one of the others or to a new player?