Amazon.com$$s path to becoming the world$$s largest online

retailer began in $1994$ when Jeff Bezos, a Manhattan hedge

fund analyst at the time, noticed that the number of Internet

users was increasing by $2,300$ percent annually. Bezos saw the

tremendous growth as an opportunity to sell products online

that would be demanded by a large number of Internet users and

could be easily shipped. Bezos launched the online bookseller

Amazon.com in $1995.$ The startup$$s revenues soared to $$148$ million

in $1997,$ $$610$ million in $1998,$ and $$1\mathrm{.}6$ billion in $1999.$ Bezos$$s

business plan$$hatched while on a cross$-$country trip with his wife

in $1994$made him Time magazine$$s Person of the Year in $1999.$ The volume$-$based and reputational benefits of

Amazon.com$$s early entry into online retailing had delivered

a first$-$mover advantage, but between $2000$ and $2013.$

Bezos undertook a series of additional strategic

initiatives to solidify the company$$s number$-$one ranking in

the industry. Bezos undertook a massive building program

in the late$-1990$s that added five new warehouses and

fulfillment centers at a total cost of $$300$ million. The

additional warehouse capacity was added years before it

was needed, but Bezos wanted to move preemptively

against potential rivals and ensure that, as demand

continued to grow, the company could continue to offer its

customers the best selection, the lowest prices, and the

cheapest and most convenient delivery. The company also

expanded its product line to include sporting goods, tools,

toys, grocery items, electronics, and digital music

downloads, giving it another means of maintaining its

experience and scale$-$based advantages. Minimization of operational costs through the use of

advanced computing and networking technologies for

maximum operational efficiency to minimized cost led to

Amazon.com$$s $2013$ revenues of $$74\mathrm{.}5$ billion not only made

it the world$$s leading Internet retailer but made it larger than

its $12$ biggest competitors combined. As a result, Jeff Bezos$$s

shares in Amazon.com made him the $12$th wealthiest person

in the United States, with an estimated net worth of $$27\mathrm{.}2$

billion.

Moving down the learning curve in Internet retailing was

not an entirely straightforward process for Amazon. com.

Bezos commented in a Fortune article profiling the

company, $$We were investors in every bankrupt, $1999-$

vintage e$-$commerce startup. Pets.com, living.com,

kozmo.com. We invested in a lot of high$-$profile flame$-$

outs.$$ He went on to specify that although the ventures

were a $$waste of money,$$ they $$didn$$t take us off our own

mission.$$ Bezos also suggested that gaining advantage as a

first mover through the use of technology and skilled human

resources as well as serving customers through website and

apps that does not require the use of $$brick and mortar$$ and

a mindset of $$taking a million tiny steps$$and learning quickly

from your missteps.$$

Jeff Bezoz $2020$ stated $$to do well in business, a company

needs to be both robust and nimble. To be nimble as a big

company, you need to make decisions quickly, take risks, and

be ready to fail $$ know the difference between experimental

failure, which is good and operational failure, which is not. To

create $$ and maintain $$ an edge you need innovative people

and you need to empower them. Part $2$a$.$ Name the case and Identify strategic issues of relevance to the model

Part $2$b$.$ Name and Illustrate and Explain the model

Part $2$c$.$ Application of model to case in reference to Product Life Cycle and Adoption Curve