The Success of Amazon - Essay Example

         Amazon.com has become one of the biggest online retailers in the world. Amazon was a small company that used to sell books on the Internet. Slowly with precision planning and goal-oriented strategies they were able to become one of the biggest online retailers. One of the important strategies to study is the feasibility study.  A feasibility study is an important phase in the development process. It enables the developer to have an assessment of the product being developed. It refers to the feasibility study of the product in terms of outcomes of the product, operational use, and technical support required for implementing it.

         The feasibility study should be performed on the basis of various criteria and parameters. The various feasibility studies are (1) Economic Feasibility,  (2) Operational Feasibility, and (3) Technical Feasibility.

         Their strategies include low prices and free shipment. This factor played an important role in the long-term development of the company. The cheaper prices of goods with high quality and further free shipment attracted many. Another factor is customer service. The customer plays an important role in the development of the company because it is the customer who uses the product that was developed by the companies and Amazon’s services were good at it.

         To stay and hold the position in the present competitive market Amazon has planned to expand its business outside the US like Eastern Europe and Far East Asia.  Amazon is encouraging other companies to advertise their product on their website. A study has shown that Amazon would make more profit in diversifying than expanding.

         TOWA matrix (Threats-Opportunities-Weaknesses-Strengths) has been used to develop feasible alternative strategies. The matrix consists of four quadrants. They are (1) using strengths to overcome weaknesses,

(2) Using strengths to overcome threats, (3) overcoming weaknesses to take advantage of opportunities, and (4) overcoming weaknesses to address threats.

         The first quadrant concentrates on possible strength-opportunity strategies. Important factors are to hire highly skilled workers, wide brand recognition, customer satisfaction, effectively and efficiently raising capital resources, etc.

         The second quadrant concentrates on possible strength-threat strategies. Important threats that have to be overcome are changing government regulations, seasonal shopping, and competition from eBay and Wal-Mart, protecting business and customer information, currency exchange, etc.

         The third and Fourth quadrants concentrate on the Possible Weakness-Opportunity Strategies and Possible Weakness-Threat Strategy. The third quadrant looks at reviewing products, developing standards up to customer satisfaction, etc. The fourth quadrant looks at implementing backup systems, implementing policies to protect and avoid security risks.