1. PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Watching
Jeff Bezos
, Jeffff ©esos probably
wasn't sure that his company would rival the river of the same name as the
upper definition of scale. (Actually, after watching the magic of Amazori
unfold, I'm thinking that his original choice of company name—Cadabra.
com—might have been more appropriate.)
And we're all still talking about Bezos. In the Executive Roundtable
conversation that we had recently at the NEMOA conference {see page 16),
most merchants expressed their ambiguity about Amazon (as do most mer-
chants everywhere). Most value the sales that Amazon can create for them,
but are uncomfortable about Amazon's potential conflict of interest and/or
competitive threat—and all worry about the ramifications of a monopoly
of Ainazonian proportions.
Speaking for myself, I watch Amazon and Jeff Bezos the way others
watched Apple and Steve Jobs. Bezos' original visions continue to fuel
Amazon's growth today; continue to spur innovation based on what's best for
the consumer. It uses data and technology as key differentiators, and resists
the allure of short-term profits over long-term goals. I've been in the industry
long enough to remember a time when many people thought that Amazon
would never make money—or that it would run out of cash. But Bezos
believed that customer-experience innovation would pay off. And it did.
And it will again. Amazon's commitment to building a direct-to-
customer operation and fulfillment engine will generate profits—over the
long haul. We all know that this is an expensive and complex proposition.
Amazon's mission of building distribution centers, growing its workforce,
and buying and building innovative technologies (as went to press, Amazon
had just announced its purchase of Kiva Systems) is an operational under-
taking unlike any that this industry has seen. But Amazon is betting that
consumers will like its fast service and delivery, and that services like
Amazon Prime and Amazon Payments will weld customers and merchants
to the company in one form or another.
Love them or hate them, admire them or consider them preda-
tory, you've got to hand it to them. So here's my question: What Amazon-
inspired changes or innovations have you made in your company? We want
to know: go to http://bit.ly/april-may-amazon to share your thoughts
about Amazon..
Ellen Shannon
Publisher
P.S. Make certain that someone from your company attends Multichannel
Merchant's Operations Summit (www.operationssummit.com) in Memphis
on May 2-3. Direct-to-customer operations and fulfillment excellence are
crucial competitive differentiators, and this is the only conference that
focuses exclusively on them. See you there!
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2. © 2012 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved.