Analysis of Amazon.Com Inc. and Etsy, Inc.

This document provides an analysis of Amazon.Com Inc. and Etsy, Inc., two online commerce companies. It discusses their business models, growth strategies, and impact on global commerce. The document also compares the product categories, size, and fees of Amazon and Etsy.

MGT Term Project

Table of contents
ANALYSIS OF Amazon.Com Inc...................................................................................................3
Analysis of case Etsy, Inc................................................................................................................3
Influence and Contribution to the Nation and the World.................................................................4
Comparison: Amazon.Com vs. Etsy, Inc.........................................................................................4

ANALYSIS OF Amazon.Com Inc.
Amazon is arguably one of the most well-known multinational firms in recent years. From
its origins as an online bookseller in the mid-90s, the e-tailing giant now ranks in the Forbes’ Top
10 companies.
Led by founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon diversified its portfolio within few years of starting
operations and by early 2000s; the company was offering technology services, including computing
platform called Amazon Web Services. These products relied on Amazon’s strong technological
infrastructure, a strong foundation for Amazon’s future expansions.
In 2003, Amazon began to expand its international business by launching country-specific websites
inAsia Pacific and Europe.In 2007, Amazon launched Kindle, the e-book reader(Goes 10). In 2012,
its portfolio expanded to include fashion and luxury beauty products and two years later, the
company entered the video streaming and gaming market by launching Amazon Fire TV and Fire
Phone.
Analysis of case Etsy, Inc.
Etsy, Inc is a Brooklyn, U.S.A. based e-commerce Company that specializes in artistic,
handmade, vintage and customized products. The online retailer was launched by three
entrepreneurs in 2005. The website was created for people who wanted to sell the handmade or
handicraft materials.
Jewelry sellers comprise nearly a quarter of all Etsy’s products. One unique feature of Etsy’s
platform is that several of the sellers are also buyers, which encourages the market to grow
organically.Etsy differentiates itself from other e-tailers by focusing on goods that are handmade or
artistic in nature. The platform’s goal is to help several individual artists who are mostly work-
from-home women(Hou 6437). Since its launch, Etsy’s has shown a tremendous growth, it is
spread through more than 150 countries.
Influence and Contribution to the Nation and the World
In my opinion Amazon is better than Etsy as it provides high quality and technologically
adduced services and products to the customers. I found that the firm is continously working for
offereing something innovative and different to the customers for meeting their expectations
effectively. Amazon’s impact on global commerce is so significant that some scholars use the
phrase “Amazon Effect”. The significance of the phrase can fluctuate most of the time depends

upon the firms being cited, but also used for the complexity various stores face while competing
with Amazon. The Amazon Effect is the continuous progression and distraction with respect to the
retail sector. It is the repeated modification in the manner people purchase products in both online
and offline manner. The wide economic impact includes from worldwide inflation to profit margin
of small-scale ventures. The vast selection of online retailers, quick shipping, free return policy, low
costs and "Prime" subscription service all result to develop high level of desire among the customer
for any retailer who is working to compete with Amazon (Ritala 235).
1. Logistics
The delivery network of Amazon is a logistics phenomenon which permits for the virtual
delivery of any customer product to his or her doorstep in some days or even hours. E-commerce
offers have been under ever-enhancing pressure for matching the speed and efficiency of the firm
along with this, there is no proof that the expectations of the consumer are easing. To meet this
demand, ecommerce and retail companies are likely to tie-up with courier platforms or launch their
own delivery models to equal or exceed the delivery performance of Amazon (Gheitasy 3).
2. Mobile services
Ecommerce providers need to consider that mobile applications are fast becoming a priority
over desktop-user interfaces. We could see mobile apps becoming main concern for retailers
because the sharing of e-commerce visits commanded by desktop sites prolongs to shrink.
Comparison: Amazon.Com vs. Etsy, Inc.
Both Amazon and Etsy are online commerce companies but there are several differences
between their business models and growth strategies.
1. Product Categories: Amazon runs its e-commerce business like a gigantic global warehouse
where a spectrum of mass-manufactured goods in new and used condition is available.
Amazon ties up with manufacturers as well as third-party distributors, giving them access to
potentially millions of customers(Close 14). Compared to Etsy, Amazon has very few
restrictions regarding the products that can be sold.
Etsy, on the other hand, markets its platform as a kind of online boutique for niche products
and its clients are mostly individuals that are interested in those goods.For instance, vintage
products can only be categorized as such on Etsy if they are 20 years old or more.
2. Size: Etsy is not as large as Amazon. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Amazon.com controlled
56% of the U.S. online marketplace while Etsy had a 3.5% share (Mann 72).
3. Fees: Amazon charges higher fees than Etsy for the products listed online.

Amazon launched its handicraft shop called Amazon Handmade in 2017 to compete with Etsy.
While several analysts have raised the possibility that Etsy’s business could be impacted by the
much larger Amazon’s aggressive foray into this niche segment, so far Etsy seems to be resilient.
References

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