Amazon began with a young Jeff Bezos who, through his job at the time, learned that Internet usage grew strongly. He then made his analytical homework and decided that he would start a website for selling books. Here’s an interesting clip from 1997 where you can hear Jeff Bezos himself describe his process.
It would be easy to say that “the rest is history”, but instead we are going to stop and think about it. Being small, on the right market, at right time and growing is one thing, being big and continuing to develop is a completely different challenge. The two are very often confused. The question for established actors is not if, but when their conventional ways of doing business are going to become outdated. Many companies hold on to obsolete business models far too long… and eventually die. But there are ways to go forward – and like everything else it takes decision making and commitment.
Amazons competitors at the time was called Barnes & Noble and in Sweden Akademibokhandeln. Today, the list can be made considerably longer – way too long to post here, but have a look at this link. Firms like DHL, Volvo and Scania is going to be challenged in smart deliveries, transports with self-driving drones. With regard to data analysis and data storage, Amazon today competes with both Google and IBM. And with the acquisition of Whole Foods, Swedish food actors like Martin & Servera and ICA will also have to think about what their real challenges will be in the future. Läs mer