Amazon

What is Amazon?

Amazon is a firm of online commerce American based in Seattle. It is one of the giants of the Web, grouped under the acronym GAFAM, alongside Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.

The initial activity of the Amazon company was the distance selling of books , before the company diversified into the sale of cultural products, then merchants. Today, some food products can also be ordered through Amazon.

Created by Jeff Bezos inJuly 1994, the company was listed on the NASDAQ inMay 1997.

The French subsidiary of Amazon was opened in 2000. In 2016, Amazon became the leading non-food distributor in France in terms of turnover.

In 2020, the company employs a million people worldwide and has established, in addition to the original American site, opened in 1995, specific sites in many countries.

Goods and services:

Amazon Dash, AmazonFresh  (en), Amazon prime, Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Amazon Appstore  (en), Amazon Drive  (en), Echo, Kindle, Fire tablets, Amazon, Fire TV, Prime Video, Kindle Store  (en), Amazon Music, Amazon Music Unlimited  (en), Amazon Digital Game Store  (en), Amazon Studios, Amazon Luna.

Amazon MarketPlace Platform

Since November 7, 2003 , Amazon also offers individuals, as well as specialized sellers, to put their own objects on sale, provided that they are referenced in the Amazon catalog, via the“  MarketPlace  ” platform . For France, Amazon levies a commission on the sale price, management fees, as well as a fixed commission per item, and also levies, in accordance with the law, a value added tax . InFebruary 2013, Amazon announces the unilateral 50% increase in commissions levied on the sale of cultural items. From the first january 2015, it

is the VAT rate of the country of establishment that applies to finalized transactions, further increasing the cost of the service.

Amazon Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mechanical Turk is a micro-work service launched by Amazon at the end of 2005. It is a web crowdsourcing platform that aims to have humans perform, for remuneration , more or less complex tasks. The tasks in question must be dematerialized  ; it is often a question of analyzing or producing information in fields where artificial intelligence is still too inefficient, for example the analysis of the content of images .

Amazon Video

Founded in 2006, Amazon Video is Amazon’s video-on-demand platform , available online in the US , UK , Japan , Austria , France, and Germany .

Amazon Studios has for its part produced several original programs broadcast since 2013 on Amazon Video now Prime Video

Amazon Lockers

Automatic lockers to make it possible to collect products ordered over the Internet have been deployed in shopping centers in France.

At the end of 2015, Amazon set up automatic lockers in Levallois-Perret and Villeneuve d’Ascq after having done so, initially, in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Freight

In march 2016, Amazon signs an agreement with the American aircraft rental company ATSG for the lease of twenty Boeing 767 cargo planes over a period of five to seven years. The goal is to reduce its dependence on logistics companies FedEx and UPS.

Amazon announced, the July 25, 2016, an agreement with the British government to set up a project to deliver small packages by drones. The three main authorizations obtained are to fly drones that are no longer within sight of their operator in rural and suburban areas, to have several automated drones operate by one person and to test the performance of sensors supposed to enable the devices. identify and avoid obstacles. If the project works, the packages can be delivered in thirty minutes anywhere in the world.

In december 2016, Amazon files a patent for the establishment of flying warehouses suspended by zeppelins to support delivery by drones

Amazon Go

In december 2016, Amazon opened its first supermarket food without cash , Amazon GB. Located in Seattle, near the headquarters of the company, it remains in the test phase for about a year, only to Amazon employees. Injanuary 2018, the store is open to the general public.

In july 2019, there are 13 Amazon Go stores in the United States: four in Seattle and Chicago, three in San Francisco and two in New York.

In July 2020, Amazon unveils its new cart concept, ” Dash Cart “, intended for Amazon Go stores and which automatically scans the items with which it is filled and avoids going through the checkout

Amazon Textiles

Amazon is present in the textile departments with its brands Goodthreads and Paris SundayAmazon Key

Amazon has launched a service that allows you to unlock your door remotely and watch whoever enters your home live. The device was marketed under the name Amazon Key , today Available in 37 US cities. The company also has other ambitions in the field of the new connected home market , directly competing with Google and its connected systems Nest Hello. Inmarch 2018, Amazon acquires Ring , a start-up specializing in connected doorbells equipped with cameras to accelerate the development of these new objects.

The Amazon Key system has been the subject of concern since cybersecurity research has shown its non-infallibility

Amazon Music

Amazon offers its Prime Music streaming music service as a way to generate subscriptions to the Prime service