Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) started out as a book publisher and was founded in 1994. Since then, it has become so much more…

It’s expanded into not just one industry but also continues to be a huge disrupter for other industries that would have otherwise felt secure. Just take the retail industry as an example…

It seemed like nothing would affect the retail industry. For decades, nothing had changed when it came to the way that consumers were going out and buying the items that they’d needed.

That was until Amazon came along and decided to put a whole new level of convenience into the retail equation.

First, Amazon started offering a better way to browse for cheaper prices. Amazon’s platform gives consumers the option to look for the better price on a certain item they need. You simply search for an item to receive a list that shows the results of that search.

Amazon Prime

Then Amazon introduced its Prime membership. Its $99-a-year Amazon Prime service offers free two-day shipping and one-hour delivery on certain orders. Cutting down the wait time for getting an order is the huge selling point here. And even having the possibility of receiving an order within an hour is an amazing feature that makes the $99-a-year price worth it.

According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, by the end of March 2017, Amazon had 80 million Prime members, a 36% increase from the previous year.

Amazon’s business ecosystem and the perks that come along with having a prime subscription make the subscription seem almost free to consumers.

As of February 2017, Amazon had 300 million user accounts. Having an Amazon account has become second nature to most people. If I’m looking for something that I want within a day or two, I look for it on Amazon.

The company continues to make waves when it comes to efficiency and logistics. The faster and cheaper that Amazon can fulfill orders means more customers, more orders, and more money.

The company continues to develop and acquire other companies in order to increase its efforts with the products and services that it offers. As of December 2016, Amazon sold an astounding 368.8 million products.

Defining and Dominating an Industry

Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to dominate an industry that it created. It currently has 46% of the infrastructure-as-a-service commercial cloud computing market. Research firm IDC is estimating that the total public cloud computing market will grow more than $200 billion by 2020.

The best-case scenario for Amazon is that it’ll continue growing its market share in the cloud computing market. The worst-case scenario is that it will remain having half of the market share. Either way, it has a pretty steady grasp on a market that’s projected to grow more than $200 billion over the next three years.

Not only is Amazon a leader in cloud computing, but it’s also become a leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Morgan Stanley says that Amazon has sold more than 11 million Echo devices. And its digital assistant Alexa has become a recognizable name even for people who aren’t Amazon customers.

The company has created an ecosystem where all of its products and services are cohesive. Having an Echo makes it easier for the customer to order anything through Amazon. This effectively makes ordering more consistent and Amazon the customer’s go-to source since the customer simply has to talk to the Echo device to add something to their cart.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Amazon will continue growing and growing fast. In 2022, the brand will be an even bigger presence in households across the globe than it is now.

Until next time,

Jennifer Clark
Pro Trader Today