Amazon went from a garage$-$based bookseller$$backed by loans to Jeff Bezos from his family in the $90$s $($about $250$k in $1995,$ to be exact$)$to being the next Walmart$-$level retailing behemoth in the span of about $20$ years. To put it in perspective, Jeff Bezos is now by many metrics the wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated worth around $$182,000,000,000($ie$,$ $$182$ billion$).$

The broad thematic question is this: How did Amazon achieve such massive success$$for its founder and shareholders, popularity for its consumers, and $($asymmetrical$)$ attractiveness for $($some$)$ employees$$and how does its success continue going forward, if it does?

More specifically, for your post here, please respond to the following prompts:

$(1$a$)$ A value chain analysis of Amazon in $2019,$ highlighting what you estimate is their biggest strength versus their biggest weakness. In this context, why did other eComm retailers fail where Amazon succeeded?

$(1$b$)$ Connect your "biggest weakness" to Porter's five forces$$which force was the most threatening to Amazon, and why? Briefly lay out your reasoning.

$(2)$ Amazon put a lot of traditional and eComm retailers $"$on notice" in the past decade. We discussed Sears and Best Buy as targets, but there are countless others$$for example, Barnes and Noble, Circuit City, Target, Walmart, among many other smaller retailers.

How do you consult these other retailers to compete with Amazon? Two considerations seem paramount: First, should the retailer list their products and brand store on Amazon, or not? Second, what value propositions, or other unique differentiators, might eComm retailers use to retain their customers and attract others away from Amazon?

$(3)$ What happens in the next decade for Amazon as an eComm retailer? Will they continue to grow in dominance, will they cede ground to new emergent eComm businesses, or something else? What are your predictions, and what leads you to think this way?