The Only Thing Amazon Has to Fear Is Amazon Itself
Amazon dominates in a way other companies don’t. It’s a technology company with a physical presence. Over the past year, Amazon has added about 25,000 employees. It’s planning to build a new 3.3-million–square-foot headquarters near downtown Seattle, complete with biospheres. It’s expanding its square footage by additional millions as it builds new warehouses across the U.S. and around the world.
Amazon has reached a point in its evolution where the company is now surfing a feedback loop of dominance. Rising sales generate revenue that Amazon pours into expansion that leads to even greater sales. The concept of online shopping itself has become more or less synonymous with Amazon, as in “I could buy that at the store, or I could by it on Amazon”—a fact reflected in Amazon’s domination of a new survey in which the company topped a list of 1,500 brands rated on how consumers perceive their value.