Daquilanea

Denise Daquilanea
Padgett
ENGL102-027
October 25, 2016
An Amazon World:
An Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: Why is Amazon successful in the United States as opposed to other countries?
Proposed Thesis: Despite Amazons struggles in the Eastern world, the company still reigns as
one of the most successful companies in the world through marketing techniques and focus on
customers.
Intro: Amazon could easily be identified as one of the most successful companies in the world.
The company has seen success in the United States and are able to continue and expand as a
company. There are many factors that contribute to their success, one of the main ones being that
they focus on the customers and build around them. While they are successful in Americas
economy, there are countries where the company continue to fail despite their attempts of
recovery. Amazon struggles to build a strong base the most in China. When looking at how the
company operates in the two countries, it is clear to see that there is a significant difference
between the two.

DONICI, Andreea Nicoleta, et al. "E-Commerce Across United States Of America:

Amazon.Com." Economy Transdisciplinarity Cognition 15.1 (2012): 252-258. Business
Source Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
In the last few decades, there has been a significant growth in E-commerce and many
retailers have attempted to keep up with it. Donici et al reports that in 2004, Amazon was on top

Comment [TC1]: But why is it successful in the US opposed

to other countries?

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when it came to online services and 900,000 associate programs were linked to the company
which quickly made them a powerful influence in the retail industry. All authors of this study are
PhD students at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi in Romania. E-commerce has the
possibility to change how things work within the next 10 years. This study then looked into
different factors that effect E-commerce. Some of those factors include security concerns, an
increase in internet users, and a push to help the environment by driving less. All of these factors
play a role in whether people decide to buy online. This source pulls specific quantitative data on
these factors and compares them between several countries. The article then switches gears and
focuses on Amazon.com. They look at the suppliers, competition, employment, and customer
service. The company has a strong focus on the customer service and strive to make the online
experience easy and hassle free. This source had a lot of focus on the company in the United
States and breaks down the company and its tactics. In addition, it compares factors in the
United States with different countries which could be useful information for the inquiry.

Loeb, Walter. "10 Reasons Why Alibaba Blows Away Amazon and Ebay." Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Walter Loeb, who covers major developments in the retail industry, discusses a company
called Alibaba, which is a Chinese Internet conglomerate. Though this company comes out of the
United States, it controls 80% of the Chinese e-commerce market. Alibaba is essentially the
company that is keeping Amazon from striving to its full potential in China. They have 1.4
billion customers in China and 1.2 billion customers in India. It is expected to soar in the United
States, already accounting for 327 million customers. During 2013, Alibaba made $5.6 billion
worth of sales during Chinas biggest online shopping day. In 2013 in the United States, the

Comment [TC2]: Comment on the credibility of the source

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online sales during cyber Monday totaled at $1.7 Billion. What sets Alibaba apart from other
retailers is its service orientation that anchors customers to their site. This source is highly
relavent because it looks at Alibabi, which is Amazons biggest rival. The article was written in
2014 which means that in two years town, the company may be even closer to beating Amazon.

Treanor, Ted. "Amazon: Love Them? Hate Them? LetS Follow The Money." Publishing
Research Quarterly 26.2 (2010): 119-128. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct.
2016.
In the peer reviewed source Amazon: Love them? Hate Them? Lets Follow the
Money, Ted Treanor looks at the company in terms of its basics. In other words, he focuses on
the media and book aspect of Amazon, which is what the company started selling when they first
began. Treanor reports that in 2009, their annual revenue was $24 billion. One fourth of that
annual revenue accounted towards books and media. While that may not be a large enough
portion to be impressive, the companys book revenue is still increasing while the revenue of
other companies such as Borders and Barnes and Nobles is decreasing. Treanor discusses
Amazons acquisitions and investments in companies such as IMDB, Audible.com, Zappos, and
Wikia. Jeff Bezos, who is the CEO of Amazon says that the goal is to have Earths biggest
selection. The current mission statement of the company is We seek to be Earths most
customer-centric company for three primary customer sets: consumer customers, seller
customers, and developer customers. The most relevant point that Treanor discusses is Benzoss
four part strategy. It is to obsess over customers, invent, think long-term, and it is always day
one. While these strategies may seem simple, they clearly work best. Treanor then mentions one
of Amazons biggest strategies, especially in regards to books. The Kindle was announced in

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2010 and from the start, was expected to see success.

Cendrowski, Scott. "Humbled Amazon Turns to Rival Alibaba for Help in China." Fortune.
Fortune, 05 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Scott Cendrowski, who works for Fortune and currently resides in Beijing and covers
China, reveals that Amazon has turned to Alibaba for help and has opened a store in their Group
Holdings Tmall platform. The Tmall platform is an attempt to reach consumers who have
concerns about safety and fraudulent products. Currently, Amazon is down -0.02% while their
rival, Alibaba, is up 0.69%. Amazons decision to put a store on its rivals site was not an easy
decision to make. In fact, the company never publicized the news as it would hurt their image
and display how they are truly struggling to succeed in China. Amazons losses in China are at
an estimate of $600 million a year. Cendrowski, who resides in China, states that when looking
to buy online he often turns to Alibaba first then turns to Amazon when he doesnt find what he
needs. He states that he never searches on Amazon first. And while Amazon may have the
reliable and trustworthy products, Chinese look for cheaper prices instead of quality of products.
Unlike some of the other sources, this source comes from an author who is currently living in
Beijing so his personal perspectives made the source more credible.

Lei, Ya. "AmazonS Day One In China: The Role Of Amazons Kindle In China." Publishing
Research Quarterly 29.4 (2013): 365-370. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Ya Lei discusses the release of Amazons Kindle in China and what role it played in the
country. Some of the Chinese believe that it is a catfish while others see nothing stoping the
Kindle from succeeding. Amazon released the Paperwhite and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD tablets.

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While the product has seen some success in the country, its biggest challenge comes down to
money. Dangdang released an e-reader at the same time as the Kindle release, but Dangdangs
product had better mounting and lower prices. In addition, the study reports that books on the
kindle do not compare well with print books, leading people to wonder if its really worth the
purchase. The success of the product in China is still up in the air. This ties back to the inquiry
because it helps to explain why Amazon is struggling in China and factors that prevent it from
excelling.

"The Man Who Sells Everything." Foreign Affairs 94.1 (2015): 2-6. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
This source is the most interesting out of all the sources because it comes straight from a
conversation with Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. He discusses the importance
of a relationship between entrepreneurship, invention, and the willing to fail. He claims
that he knew Amazon was onto something good when they sold books in all 50 states and
45 different countries shortly after launcing the company. Then he breaks down the
buildup to the success and key features that he believed helped with the success such as
corporate culture, timing, and passion. This article is useful because it provides
information on the company straight from the source. Being able to source the CEO of
Amazon would help boost ethos.

Comment [TC3]: I like it as a whole, I would only change the

ABC order of your sources and add comments on the
credibility of each source. I think this is an interesting topic.