Amazon Amzon.Com: An Evaluation the Age of

Amazon Amzon.com: An Evaluation The age of the internet is in full swing. Shopping was once exclusively a retail experience in person, yet with the latest technologies, most people do a majority of their shopping online. Amazon.com is one company which has truly capitalized on this.

The company has streamlined its services to be able to provide its clients with basically anything they could want, all in one stop; additionally, it has really invested time and money into an impressive information management system that allows the organization to monitor customer activity to continue t make improvements on its services and products. Overall, this has proven to give the company a clear competitive advantage, and one which fits with the overall mission statement of the company as a whole.

Amazon approached online retail selling in a way unlike any other company. One clear point of differentiation from its competitors is through its streamlined services. Essentially, Amazon.com is a one stop shop for pretty much anything the consumer could want or need, from text books to mp3s and a myriad of retail goods. The company offers so many services in one single location, like: cloud computing, music, as well as books including paper books and ebooks.

This allows for individuals to sell their goods and consumers to purchase them without the added stress of an auction. Yet, the company still provides goods through its retail division from internally within the company. This places the company at a competitive advantage over other, more limited sites, like eBay. Rather than discourage its customers from participating in auctions, Amazon offers the security of retail purchases under the protection of its reputation, without sacrificing on low prices.

Other competitors do not have anywhere close to the amount of services and products offered by Amazon, and thus this is why it is such a crucial competitive advantage. Moreover, the company has made large investments in technology that has shaped it as strong competitors over other similar organizations in the field. Part of Amazon's ability to streamline its services to distinct customer needs comes from an effective information management system that researched and delivered what the consumers were asking for.

Here, the research suggests that "Amazon has been a pioneer in using information systems to anticipate changes in the retail industry environment, and in addition, it provides the perfect example of how a company can obtain value for money from information system investments" (Jones 2012). Due to the impressive system constructed specifically for Amazon, there is very little overhead, leaving the company to conduct business in the most cost-effective manner, which is a huge competitive advantage.

The company often has products and solutions even before that consumer knew they wanted or needed them. This is essentially "adding value to products and services through a better understanding of customer characteristics and needs, as customer activities are monitored to develop competitive advantages" (Jones 2012). This investment has definitely paid off, and Amazon now holds an impressive competitive advantage over others in the field. These points of differentiation are also very consistent with the company's DNA.

The DNA of a business "informs its employees and leadership to keep its operations efficient, effective and productive on a daily basis" (Chauhan 2011). When examining Amazon's mission statement,.