Simon Fox, 13 January 2008
Amazon.com, a US Fortune 500 company is the recognised global brand leader in internet retailing, with annual revenues over $15bn in 2007. It has grown customers, products and revenues consistently over the last decade, but did not record a profit until 2004. Over the last 3 years, profit performance has been far from impressive, with an average margin just under 3% of total revenues. In spite of creating the formats and standards now widely used in online retailing, Amazon now faces competitive threats from the major 'bricks and mortar' retailers such as Walmart who are now rapidly becoming large players in e-tailing.