Interesting things about Amazon

Amazon is not his original name.

The company was originally called “Cadabra” like in the magic word “Abracadabra.” Jeff Bezos´ lawyer told him that the word sounded like “cadaver” when said out loud. Relentless was another option and they still own the domain with that name. When you try to access that website it directs you to Amazon. Eventually, it was called Amazon in reference to the river in South America to represent their vast selection of books.

The company started selling books.

In 1995 Jeff Bezos started the company as a bookstore in the garage of his house. Then, in 2015, he opened their physical bookstore staying true to the roots of the company.

Amazon hasn't paid federal taxes in two years.

 The US government allows companies certain tax breaks and deductions. One policy, called the R&D tax credit, encourages companies to spend its profits on research and development. Amazon's profits nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018, but the company hasn't paid federal taxes in two years. In 2018, the company reported that AWS made $7.3 billion in revenue. That's up from $4.3 billion in 2017.

What you can't buy on Amazon

There are some things that you cannot buy directly on the website like full-size homes, cars, cigarettes, and live animals.

Amazon owns 41 subsidiaries and brands.

Some of the brands that Amazon own are Goodreads, Whole Foods, Audible, Souq.com, and Zappos.com. Also, when you search for your favorite actor on IMDb, you are consuming Amazon products.

Spheres full of nature

In 2018, the company opened The Spheres at its campus in Seattle. The Spheres are filled with over 400 species of plants from around the world. Amazon wanted a space for employees to get away from their desks to collaborate and innovate. 

 Amazon is a pet-friendly environment.

 There are about 6,000 dogs that work at Amazon's campus in Seattle. There is even a doggy deck in one of the buildings with a fake fire hydrant. It has always been a pet-friendly environment.

Still doubting if you will be successful at selling on Amazon. Check out our case study here.


Previous
Previous

How big is Amazon really?

Next
Next

Amazon’s Guidelines for UPC and GTIN