Essay --

SUMMARY Amazon.com, Inc. (hereafter referred to as â€Å"Amazon†, â€Å"it†, â€Å"the business†, or â€Å"the company†), is an online retailer that has branched into content creation and web services. Its main competitors include retail giants Wal-mart and Target, as well as entertainment providers Netflix and Barnes and Nobel. Recently, it has found itself competing with technology giant Apple as ventures into cloud services. Amazon was incorporate in 1994 and was offered publically in 1999. It has grown rapidly into the world’s number one online retailer, with millions of products. To achieve this, Amazon has acquired a global network of distribution centers and used technology to provide consumers with access to the best products at the lowest rates. Amazon’s services have become integrated into the modern consumer’s demands for immediate (or near immediate) gratification and investors are highly optimistic about the company’s prospects. Amazon has recently been demonstrating growing revenues in a time where overall sales in the retail industry are growing much more slowly. However, this is not all that is important to an investor. While the company’s revenues are high, it reports losses as it continues to spend to expand rapidly. Investors should carefully analyze past financial statements to determine whether the growth rate in sales is sufficient to match the current expectations and market prices for the retail giant. Such an analysis will reveal that Amazon’s current method of operation plans for the company’s long term profitability, so the company may not be an ideal choice for the more short-term investor. Additionally, Amazon has increased its areas of operation by branching into content and web services and the investor should be aware... ...e Amazon its positive image in the eyes of consumers. Recently, much has come to light that shows less than stellar working conditions for Amazon’s employees. In December 2013, Amazon workers in Germany walked off of their jobs and went on strike claiming â€Å" We are people, not robots†. Claims across the world state that Amazon pays its workers in its distribution warehouses only a little more than the appropriate minimum wage for work that is more demanding than typical retail work. The BBC even found that working conditions at Amazon warehouses could be linked to higher rates of mental and physical defects. If Amazon does not provide better worker’s rights and benefits, it may lose its competitive advantage as employees turn to other employers. However, it is possible that this will just push Amazon to pursue technological improvements to replace human workers.