Forum Moderators: buckworks
Call me naive, but what in the name of God are they spending all this money on? I really want to figure this out, so if anyone has any information or links I could check out that would help me figure out these financials please let me know.
Edited by: mousemoves
Those AMAZON posts seem to bring out the lurkers here.
Any other lurkers wish to tell an AMAZON story?
oh boy. i have two weeks...
mousemoves, what specifically are you supposed to figure out for that assignment? If you're not getting closer to getting it done, would it work to narrow the focus further?
What's the specific question that your assignment is supposed to find the answer to?
you are correct. the scope of the question is absurd. basically i am suppose to figure out amazon.com and give recommendations for the next few years in a academic format of 20 pages with 30 secondary sources. i will look at company culture, strategies, competition, technology, laws, trends, the economy, buying processes, market segments, customers, etc.
if your looking for something fun to read Marcia, i highly suggest the book called Amazon.com by Robert Spector. it's really cool.
They should have hired themselves a few women who know how to give hugs and recruit and manage volunteers to run chats and message boards, and they could have had a booming readers and writers community with global growth potential.
I can personally vouch for the fact that author chats and book discussion chats are thorougly packed out - sometimes needing 4 hosts moderating. They had all the publisher/author connections, and a built-in opportunity for instant community, flowing naturally, with nothing contrived. People love book discussions, and they lend very well to message boards.
And it's amazing how many aspiring writers there are among avid readers - online writing classes are also consistently packed, and boards with publishing and writing market info, as well as writing exercises and critiques are extremely active.
They lacked the feminine mind and the feminine touch. ;)
Note: This is a slightly prejudiced opinion - there's nothing I love better than packing out a chat room - and I know how much cross-promotion can be done with boards.
Actually, I was on the site this week for a minute, checking out a link from a web site, and did glance around to see if there was anything, and saw nothing.
If I can't see it, they haven't "got me." I've been a volunteer at a women's community, with over 2800 message boards and an active readers and writers community, for over two years, and you can't move your eyes without seeing something about the boards or chat. It's a site and a business built on community and they know how to do it.
Another thing Amazon didn't do. I haven't done anything with it, or put links up, but I joined the affiliate program about a year and a half ago. Where's the mail?
There should be a newletter sent out regularly - tips on how to set up the program and make it succeed - instead of having people flounder and come to my board, unrelated, asking what to do with it. Anything, any kind of communication would do. If they have anything going, why haven't I been informed? They got my permission when I signed up.
Shopping there is like banking at the automated teller - no people. Again, proving that corporations can't build community - people do it, and it's built on communication, and they don't do it.
If people don't know it's there, it doesn't exist. They've missed it.
i'm thinking the "friends and favorites" section must be new. how new? i don't know. if you go to amazon.com you will see it as a link along a blue bar within the top part of the page.
this assignment is so hard. i didn't mention very well...my recommendations...they are suppose to extend to the entire industry. where will on-line be in a few years? that's a big question.
i appreciate your input a great deal. you don't buy books at amazon.com? that's interesting too. why? is their a certain demographic that won't buy from them, i wonder. (my poor little head)
[powellsbooks.com...]
Last time I was in Portland there were Amazon boxes everywhere. They were shipping used books for Amazon I think. This is a real store with real people who may answer your questions.
21 285 794 .COM registered
35 244 448 domains registered worldwide
About 2500 venture captialist
funded internet only .COM companies.
another site which claims to get stats from many surveys etc. states the world-wide on-line pop. at 407.1 million
amazon.com states it has more than 29 million customers. that's about 29/304 * 100 = ~9.5% or 29/407.1 * 100 = ~7.1%
averaged = ~8.3%
