Amazon is the titan of twenty-first century commerce. In addition to being a retailer, it is now a marketing platform, a delivery and logistics network, a payment service, a credit lender, an auction house, a major book publisher, a producer of television and films, a fashion designer, a hardware manufacturer, and a leading host of cloud server space. Although Amazon has clocked staggering growth, it generates meager profits, choosing to price below-cost and expand widely instead. Through this strategy, the company has positioned itself at the center of e-commerce and now serves as essential infrastructure for a host of other businesses that depend upon it. Elements of the firm’s structure and conduct pose anticompetitive concerns — yet it has escaped antitrust scrutiny.
A law journal article about Amazon and possible antitrust considerations.
By some estimates, Amazon now captures 46% of online shopping, with its share growing faster than the sector as a whole.
That’s impressive. Think of how many small businesses were killed in the US because they were allowed to sell without charging sales tax, effectively getting a discount over local businesses.
And Amazon as expanding, laying he groundwork for a potential delivery network.
I’m a big Amazon user, because living in a semi-rural area, it’s costly and time-consuming to buy things I need. But its frightening to see how big the company has gotten.