Daquilanea

Denise Daquilanea
Padgett
ENGL 102
September 13, 2016
The World of Amazon
Context
Thanks to the internet, people no longer need to leave their homes to go shopping. Now,
all shopping can be done online. Amazon has everything you need from textbooks to groceries.

Deleted: the
Deleted: The website

Personally, I prefer to buy certain items on Amazon for many reasons. First, many items on

Deleted: off

Amazon are cheaper and have more choices. Also, people dont need to leave the comfort of
their home to get what they need. Recently, the website has been promoting purchasing groceries
on their site. I have not tried this but I picture in the next few years, people will be buying their

Deleted: Amazon

laundry detergent and school supplies from Amazon. At this point, virtually anything can be

Comment [AP1]: Well, they have those little buttons

now you can stick on your washing machine, for example,
and you just push the button and it automatically orders
new detergent.

bought on the website. The problem with Amazon is that it is putting other companies in harms
way. Barnes and Noble is one of the biggest companies who has suffered from The Amazon

Comment [AP2]: Can you be more specific than harms

way? what kind of harm?

Effect. Their debt has tripled and they have struggled for years to compete with Amazon. I am

Comment [AP3]: Can you be clearer about where this

comes from?

interested in researching Amazon.com because I find it fascinating that one website is taking
over the world. I would not be lying if I did not say I got this idea from my dad, who recently
mentioned that Walmart is having to cut jobs because of Amazon. Since he mentioned this, Ive
been curious to see what Amazon is really doing to other businesses and what factors have led to
Amazons rise.
Hayley Peterson, who is a senior correspondent for Business Insider, wrote about how ecommerce is hurting retailers. Online orders take up about 25% of sales due to shipping and

Deleted: an article

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packaging costs. To be able to compete with other retail stores, retailers have begun to offer free
shipping and returns. While e-commerce only accounts for one-tenth of total US retail sales, that
value has increased significantly throughout the years.
In The Amazon Mystery, Derek Thompson, who is a senior editor at The Atlantic and

Comment [AP4]: Try including a Topic Sentence, or a

segue sentence. This seems otherwise abrupt.

focuses on economics, labor markets, and entertainment, attempts to identify what exactly
Amazon is and how it has evolved to what it is now. The article mentions how Amazons annual
revenue and stock price has tripled in a four-year span. It seems as if Thompson was trying to
hint at Amazon attempting to become a monopoly and shut out all other businesses. I find his

Comment [AP5]: Arent all businesses attempting to

beat out competitors?

claim of Amazons attempt to be very interesting and it would be something that I would be
interested in finding out more information about. He also discusses the companys relationship
with investors and how there is a sense of trust between the two. Thompson mentions how
eventually, people will turn to Amazon as opposed to Google to search for products. In several
instances, he compares Sears to Amazon and how Sears dominated the revenues in the 1900s

Comment [AP6]: How old is Sears? Also, dominated

what revenues? All revenues? I need a bit more here.

and how they took advantage of the US postal service. Though Sears was at its peak in the late
1900s, it eventually suffered a downfall in the new millennium. Thompson mentions this to

Comment [AP7]: So do you mean like the 1990s?

allude to the fact that even though Amazon might be at the top right now, in a few years they
could end up like Sears and other retailers. It becomes evident that the author believes that there
is a lot of possibilities in Amazons future. Overall, Thompson believes that Amazons long-term
goal is the trade of the present for the future.
On Forbess website, author Brian K. Walker, who is Vice President and Principal
Analyst at Forrester Research, discusses Amazon.com and whether it is good or bad for retailers.
He identifies Amazon as a sales channel, potential service provider, and a competitive threat.
The article discusses countries where Amazon struggles, including China, Brazil, India, and

Comment [AP8]: Does it explain why Amazon is

struggling in those countries?

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Russia. This point sparked an interest in finding out what makes the company successful in some
countries and unsuccessful in others. Amazon functions through third-party marketplace so
essentially, if enough retailers leave the marketplace, Amazon will fall. While most would
glorify Amazon and its abilities, Walker looks at how easily Amazon could fall apart, causing a
domino effect with both Amazon and other retailers. The author specializes in Business and
states that he and his colleague Mulpuru have accumulated a report on Amazon and how it
correlates with other retailers. The article is clearly biased and believes that Amazon is highly
vulnerable.
Inquiry
1. What makes Amazon successful in some countries and unsuccessful in others?
2. How is Amazon affecting other retailers?
3. Why is Amazon becoming bookstores biggest competition?

Comment [AP9]: Good question.

Deleted: e
Comment [AP10]: Because books are way cheaper on
amazon/

Next Steps
All three of the research questions that Ive chosen are researchable. Each of the
questions take a different route in research but nevertheless serve as a good research topic. There
are many conflicting views on Amazon. Some people believe that Amazon is the next big thing
and has a lot of potential. On the opposing end, there are people who believe that Amazon is
taking things too far and need to dial back to the basics. Additionally, while some sources
indicate that they prefer to use Amazon, there are several articles that mention that since Amazon
is changing the retail industry and the world is becoming the Amazon Economy. For the
question on the websites success in other countries, it would be vital to focus on more factual
and data based research rather than opinionative reasons on why they are unsuccessful. The
perspectives from the different sources have affected my views because they have given me

Comment [AP11]: I dont know about next. its been

around for a long time now.

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more information on both sides of the argument. From the sources that Ive read so far, I would
have to say that I believe that Amazon is good for us, it just simply signifies a change in how we
do things. Though I do believe that if I were to conduct more research I may change my mind or
still agree on the same point, but for different reasons. To write on this topic I would need to
know several different pieces of information such as the economical and consumer aspect of
Amazon, how the company came to be, its effect on others, and possibly other aspects of
Amazon.

Denise,
I found your topic to be quite engaging and interesting to read. You have a distinct voice here,
which I think serves you well as a writer. (I dont mind your use of the word I, but be mindful
of it; some audiences in academia wont care for the word, so try to rein it in). The inquiry you
pose is great. I get a sense that you really havent made up your mind on this topic and are
interested in learning more. Although, I getting the sense that you might be leaning toward a
take-down of Amazon. Try to keep in mind that youll need a sense of exigency here. Why
should we care? Who should care? Who are the stakeholders here? In the coming papers, do
think about your exigency. Otherwise, good work here.

Daquilanea
Work Cited
Peterson, Hayley. "Why Online Shopping Is A Nightmare For Retailers." Business Insider. Business
Insider, Inc, 02 Dec. 2014. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.

Thompson, Derek. "The Amazon Mystery: What America's Strangest Tech Company Is Really Up
To." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.

Walker, Brian K. "Amazon.com: Friend or Foe for Retailers." Forbes. Forbes, 26 July 2012. Web. 12
Sept. 2016.

Gandel, Stephen. "It's an Amazon.com Economy, Now." N.p., 12 June 2014. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Branstetter, Gillian. "Amazon Might Destroy the Economy by Giving You What You Want." The
Daily Dot. N.p., 29 May 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.