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Bee Business Bee (@beebusinessbee) | Twitter

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The latest Tweets from Bee Business Bee (@beebusinessbee). Hi I'm the Business Bee. I specialise in helping Business Studies students & teachers with resources, whilst also helping anyone who is stuck. Business Bee Boardroom

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Amazon has started offering loans to customers buying products off its website in a move that could shake up the UK furniture and electricals market.

The world's biggest online retailer is offering a new pay monthly option on orders of more than £400, which can include multiple items.

Amazon Pay Monthly poses a new threat to established high street retailers such as John Lewis and could attract a wave of new customers to the website.

The loan can be spread over two, three or four years depending on the size of the purchase, with Amazon charging interest at an advertised rate of 16.9%. Customers do not have to pay a deposit, meaning the first payment is their opening monthly instalment.

Only products sold and dispatched by the company are eligible, meaning that products sold on Amazon by third parties are not included.

One source close to Amazon said it was a gamechanger for the company.

The retailer has signed up Hitachi Capital to run the service. Hitachi also works with John Lewis, which offers interest-free credit on furniture.

The UK is thought to be the first country in the world where Amazon has offered instalment loans, though shoppers in the US can buy on credit using an Amazon store card.

The pay monthly option is offered to customers under a list of payment methods when they proceed to the checkout page on Amazon's website. Customers are then invited to apply for a loan, and an online credit check takes place.

In a statement, Amazon said: "The new Amazon Pay Monthly programme provides our customers with further payment options to suit their needs when shopping on our website, and it is easy, convenient and offers competitive rates and flexible terms."

Gerald Grimes, the managing director of Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, said: "Our new trial with Amazon is all about giving people the fastest and most seamless experience when it comes to point-of-sale credit.

"It means you can go straight from choosing a new dishwasher or fridge to accessing finance options through Hitachi Capital to pay monthly, all while staying on the Amazon website. This means no visible break in the customer journey.

"Amazon is famous for its '1-Click' service, allowing you to place an order literally at the click of a button with pre-stored payment details and delivery addresses. This is part of boosting that customer experience and could signal huge changes for the online retail industry."

Amazon Pay Monthly is the latest in a series of customer initiatives the company has launched over the past year. Earlier in 2015 it introduced one-hour delivery in major cities on thousands of items.

The Guardian also revealed earlier this week that Amazon is expanding the range of grocery products it sells in 2016, putting more pressure on struggling supermarkets.

Christopher North, the company's UK boss, said it planned rapid development of its groceries service.

Amazon Pantry, which launched in November, allows customers to buy from a range of 4,000 grocery and household products. The service means households can quickly stock up on items, with a £2.99 delivery charge for a large box.

"We are really happy with the early numbers," North said. "In the new year we are going to be adding a lot more products."

Amazon achieved a record day on Black Friday 2015, generating 7.4m orders, compared with 5.5m last year. It also added millions of users to its Prime membership scheme, and signed up Jeremy Clarkson to a new series that will launch on its video streaming service.
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Amazon starts offering loans to customers with pay monthly option

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Amazon has started offering loans to customers buying products off its website in a move that could shake up the UK furniture and electricals market. The world's biggest online retailer is offering a new pay monthly option on orders of more than £400, which can include multiple items. Amazon Pay Monthly poses a new threat to established high street retailers such as John Lewis and could attract a wave of new customers to the website.

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Amazon says it will take on 2,500 new permanent staff in the UK this year, bringing its total number of UK employees to 14,000.

The online retailer will also create thousands more jobs elsewhere in Europe.

It is investing to expand its European operations, including its warehouses, known as fulfilment centres.

The company currently employs 40,000 people in Europe and last year created 10,000 jobs.

It says it has invested more than €15bn (£11.5bn) on European infrastructure and operations since 2010, with £4.6bn in the UK.

Amazon said the jobs would be added across its business operations in the UK.

These include posts at its new London head office, which is under construction, and at three research and development centres, in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London, as well as at a customer service centre in Edinburgh.

'Quality' workforce

It will also be hiring people for its 10 warehouses and its new fashion photography studio in London. The new Amazon Web Services data centres, due to launch next year, will also need new staff as will local delivery centres.

"Britain has a world-class tech sector with a reputation for innovation and excellence," said Amazon UK's managing director, Christopher North.

"These new jobs we are creating up and down the country are testament to the quality of the workforce in the UK and our confidence in its economy, which we are proud to support through our continued investments," he said.
Analysis: BBC technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones
Amazon first arrived in the UK in 1998, buying a local online book retailer to get into the market.

Since then it has marched remorselessly into all kinds of retailing and other services, and this latest announcement signals that its desire for growth has not been sated.

Many of the jobs will be in the vast warehouses which sort and dispatch goods, but the firm is keen to stress that there are also highly skilled research and development posts.

In the Cambridge R&D centre, work will expand on projects like the voice recognition behind the Echo speaker - perhaps soon to arrive in the UK.

London will be the focus for Amazon's Prime Video service and its battle with Netflix.

But today's statement does not reveal anything about the subject which strikes fear into the boardrooms of the big supermarkets - any ambition to enter the fresh food retailing business.

Amazon Fresh, launched in Seattle eight years ago, has made only slow progress in the US.

But the company which has proved so single-minded, not to say ruthless, in pursuit of the efficient distribution of just about everything may see disrupting Britain's grocery trade as a challenge it just cannot resist.

Since Amazon launched Amazon Fresh, its full online grocery delivery business in the US in 2007, there has been a lot of speculation about when a similar service might be introduced in the UK.

The company refused to comment on its future plans for bringing Fresh to the UK.

Last year it launched the more limited Amazon Pantry for dry goods and the Amazon Prime Now mobile app, which offers one-hour delivery on a range of about 200 grocery items.

Those businesses will be taking on new staff as they expand.

In its statement announcing the new jobs Amazon said it was looking for people with all types of experience, education and skill levels.

It also highlighted its adult education programme, Career Choice which it said helps employees gain skills which they can use both working for Amazon and elsewhere.

Union concern

However, Elly Baker from the GMB Union said she can't give the new Amazon jobs "unqualified support".

The union has concerns about the working conditions for workers at Amazon's warehouse.

She told BBC Radio 5live, "What we hear from our members working in Amazon warehouses is these aren't good jobs.

"The risk of losing your job and being replaced is ever present and for that reason we're nervous of giving it unqualified support when we know that in fact a lot of these jobs will be ones people won't be happy in. Effectively you're just a cog in a machine".

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Amazon says it will take on 2,500 new permanent staff in the UK this year, bringing its total number of UK employees to 14,000. The online retailer will also create thousands more jobs elsewhere in Europe. It is investing to expand its European operations, including its warehouses, known as fulfilment centres.

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Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been on quite a run in recent years. By focusing on developing businesses as diverse as selling pet supplies and providing cloud computing services, Amazon.com has rapidly grown revenue at an astounding rate and is well on its way to surpassing Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) as the world's largest retailer within the next decade. As noted in the table above, Amazon.com is closing the gap on Wal-Mart through tremendous revenue growth rates:

AMZN Revenue (Quarterly) data by YCharts

While Wal-Mart has grown revenue a respectable 77% over the past decade, Amazon.com has increased revenue in excess of 1,000% over the same period. There are remarkably simple forces behind this growth.

Market disruption
While brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) occasionally change the brands or product categories available in stores, the big-box retail concept has been largely stagnant over the past decade. In contrast, Amazon.com is constantly innovating and finding new ways to deliver product while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction. Examples are numerous, including Amazon's flagship line of Kindles, Amazon Prime two-day shipping and video streaming (on a free, rental, and sale basis). Looking ahead, Amazon.com continues to find ways to make the consumer experience easier with experimentation in grocery delivery, anticipatory shipping, and even delivery by drone. CEO Jeff Bezos has a vision of a time when his company prepares to dispatch a drone to deliver products before you even realize that need to order them.

Continuous improvement in a competitive environment that is largely standing still provides a huge competitive advantage for Amazon.com.

Variety
Through heavy investment in expansion, efficient use of inventory thanks to a lack of brick-and-mortar storefronts, and thousands of third-party affiliates, Amazon.com has an unmatched array of brands and products. A customer looking for a diverse basket of goods including golf clubs, a big-screen television, gourmet jelly beans, and a designer handbag are going to be hard-pressed to find these items elsewhere with free shipping, let alone a single store that has each item and the ability to deliver it the next day. This variety and convenience makes Amazon.com the default place to start any online shopping.

Price
Amazon.com benefits from a cost structure that does not require the ongoing operation of thousands of expensive storefronts. No need to staff, operate, and renovate stores that often come at a steep price for the best locations. Combined with the company's longer-term focus that isn't weighed down by short term margins, Amazon.com can offer the same products at equal or lower prices than the competition while still providing the convenience of fast delivery.

Very simply, this is the reason behind the plunge in Best Buy shares earlier this month. Best Buy went "all-in" on the holidays by offering price matching and inviting Amazon.com "showrooming" as a way to generate traffic. All signs point to this gamble backfiring on Best Buy in terms of lower margins outpacing any sales benefit.

Long-term focus
The brick-and-mortar origin of many retailers is accompanied by baggage in terms of cost, culture, and mentality. Rather than being tethered to quarterly margins and same store sales results, Bezos and Amazon.com's management team are focused on the long-term. This is evident not only in the billions of dollars spent investing in future expansion, but also in the company's philosophy. The annual letter to shareholders is a fantastic read, and in management's eyes the company is still in "Day 1" of its growth.

Customer focus
Disruptive products, selection, price, and long-term perspective are all strengths for Amazon.com. What the makes the company truly exceptional is the way in which Bezos and team bring these basic concepts together with a singular focus on the customer. Bezos' most recent letter to shareholders captures how these strengths translate into a customer focus that keeps Amazon.com ahead of other retailers:
"One advantage - perhaps a somewhat subtle one - of a customer-driven focus is that it aids a certain type of proactivity. When we're at our best, we don't wait for external pressures. We are internally driven to improve our services, adding benefits and features, before we have to. We lower prices and increase value for customers before we have to. We invent before we have to. These investments are motivated by customer focus rather than by reaction to competition. We think this approach earns more trust with customers and drives rapid improvements in customer experience - importantly - even in those areas where we are already the leader."
While some investors look at Amazon.com's sacrifice of short-term results with skepticism, the company's share price over the past decade shows just how much value the market places on this unique perspective:

AMZN Total Return Price data by YCharts

Foolish takeaway
If today is truly "Day 1" for Amazon.com, there is little reason to doubt that further market outperformance is in the company's future. With innovation, investment, selection, price, and service continuously improving the customer experience, Amazon.com is truly a one-of-a-kind retailer. Over the long-term, this value proposition to customers will continue to result in market share gains; while it may be secondary in the minds of management, this ongoing growth will translate directly to further share appreciation for investors.

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4 Basic Reasons for Amazon.com's Ongoing Success

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Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has been on quite a run in recent years. By focusing on developing businesses as diverse as selling pet supplies and providing cloud computing services, Amazon.com has rapidly grown revenue at an astounding rate and is well on its way to surpassing Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) as the world's largest retailer within the next decade.

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Since its founding in 1994, Amazon has gone from an online bookstore to an online everything store--and along the way, it has completely changed the way we do business on the internet. Amazon's success comes down not only to its innovative sales and commerce strategies, but also to the mindset of Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, president, and CEO. Bezos's approach to work and success have made Amazon's meteoric rise possible.

1. Regret Nothing

Bezos founded Amazon after leaving a vice president position at investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co. It's tough to leave behind a financially secure, high-powered post like that one. But Bezos claims that he tried to imagine himself decades in the future, looking back on his life: He wanted to be in a position where he would regret nothing. Jumping ship to start a new Web-based company at a moment when the internet's future was still uncertain was a huge risk--but one Bezos knew he had to take it. "I knew that if I didn't try this,", "I would regret it. And that would be inescapable." Bezos calls this attitude his "regret minimization framework." Now that Amazon is one of the top companies in the world, it's clear that Bezos's risk-taking and regret-avoidance paid off!

2. Play the Long Game

In the early days of Amazon, Bezos warned investors that the company was years away from turning a profit. And this was on purpose: In 1997,: "We're going to be unprofitable for a long time. And that's our strategy." Bezos was playing the long game. The company was growing quickly in the late 1990s, developing new customer-service strategies and, as some argued, burning through cash. But Bezos's willingness to put it all on the line paid off in 2003, when Amazon earned its first full-year profit. Bezos's vision included recognizing that things wouldn't always be easy, and that to become profitable, you have to work your way there--which involves envisioning and playing the long game.

3. Start Narrow, Then Diversify

Today, Amazon sells just about everything, from books and movies to clothing and groceries. And with Amazon Prime and Amazon Studios, it's getting into the media production game. But Amazon started out selling one thing and one thing only: books. Book sales were Amazon's proving ground. Bezos envisioned them as the first step towards creating the "everything store" that he envisioned. This strategy--starting with one specific product and building a strong e-commerce system around it before diversifying--let Bezos slowly turn Amazon into an e-commerce giant.

4. If You Want to Be Innovative, Prepare to Fail

Amazon is one of the world's biggest retailers, and it has made online shopping a normal part of our everyday lives. But Bezos founded the company in 1994, when online commerce was new and its future uncertain. Bezos himself didn't expect the company to succeed. In fact, he told Time that he had a warning for his first investors: "I think there's a 70 percent chance you're going to lose all your money, so don't invest unless you can afford to lose it." It was only by taking a huge financial and career risk that Bezos was able to get Amazon off the ground. It goes to show that, if you want to be innovative, it means taking risks. As Bezos puts it "That's actually a very liberating expectation, expecting to fail."

Luckily for Amazon, and for anyone who shops online, while Bezos expected to fail, his mindset led to unprecedented success.

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4 Success Lessons From Amazon's Jeff Bezos

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Since its founding in 1994, Amazon has gone from an online bookstore to an online everything store--and along the way, it has completely changed the way we do business on the internet. Amazon's success comes down not only to its innovative sales and commerce strategies, but also to the mindset of Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, president, and CEO.

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In a recent Economist article, "Taking the Long View," arguments are made that perhaps the non-stop pursuit of short term shareholder value, rather than long term results might, in essence, be self defeating.

As a prime example it points out that in nearly eighteen years of existence, Amazon has never found it hard to attract investors; despite the way it continues to plough its profits into long-term plans for world domination.

For myself, I have never been sparing in my admiration for the way Amazon and its CEO; has disregarded the conventional in building the largest on-line retailer in the known universe. Well, to be honest, that's not quite true.

For the first few years that Amazon was in business, I was scathing of the fact that in common with all the other much hyped Internet companies claiming they were going to radically change retailing, it never made a penny in profit.

Then the dot com bubble burst and Amazon was one of the few survivors. Within a year of the general collapse, Amazon declared its first profitable quarter.

But much to the puzzlement of Wall Street, Bezos said this was a mistake, as he hadn't intended to make a profit for another couple of years. This was the first indication that unlike many so-called dot com entrepreneurs he wasn't looking for a speedy cash-out, but was in fact, working against a much longer time-line.

Amazon was also a pioneer in delivering unmatched customer service, which back in the early days of Internet commerce was "iffy" to say the least. Bezos changed all that. For example, five years ago I bought one of the first Kindles, after enjoying it for a week; I dropped it on the floor and stood on it. Don't ask why.

I called Amazon and explained what had happened. They said they would ship me a new Kindle that day and I should return the old one in their pre-paid package. I asked how much this would cost. Nothing, they said. Voila, I became a customer for life, not to mention an enthusiastic promoter of all things Amazon.

But perhaps the thing that impresses me most about Amazon's unconventionality is its ability to structure its business model in unexpected ways. Because of the massive volume of product it sells 24/7/365, Amazon maintains 80 enormous warehousing and fulfillment centers scattered around the known universe.

These multi-football arena sized premises take care of sourcing, organizing, packing and shipping millions of orders a day... And surprisingly, they do it with a vast number of workers who use simple barcode scanners to find, and expedite on its way, any item in the warehouse....

There isn't a single robot in the place. Compare this with something I recently wrote about a San Francisco startup, Momentum Machines which aims to revolutionize the fast food industry with an automated burger making machine. They say they don't have to hire cooks because they plan to start the world's first "smart restaurant" chain where all the cooking will be done entirely by robots.

Besides the fact that this will eliminate most of the minimum wage jobs in America, I would still prefer my burger to be produced by a human being, who unlike a robot, will be capable of recognizing that the cockroach crawling across the meat patty is something other than an additional protein source.

The seemingly counter-productive thing about Amazon's warehousing system is that it relies on something described as "Chaotic Storage" where products are shelved at random, and because items are stored randomly rather than categorically there's a more efficient use of shelf space.

If there are changes in product ranges, Amazon needn't plan for extra room for incoming merchandise if it's being stored at random. This ensures a consistent flow of merchandise. By relying on humans, rather than robots, Amazon can be more efficient, responsive, and yes, profitable, just one more example of Bezos's unconventional approach to business.

Perhaps the poor unfortunate cooks about to be displaced by the robots of Momentum Machines should begin investigating a career in online retailing. I am sure that Jeff Bezos will continue to enjoy a very successful career in that particular endeavor.

George Parker has spent 40 years on Madison Avenue. He's won Lions, CLIOs, EFFIES, and the David Ogilvy Award. His blog is adscam.typepad.com, which is required reading for those looking for a gnarly view of the world's second oldest profession." His latest book, "Confessions of a Mad Man," makes the TV show "Mad Men" look like "Sesame Street."

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How Amazon's Unconventional Business Model Changed Me From Hater To Customer For Life

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In a recent Economist article, "Taking the Long View," arguments are made that perhaps the non-stop pursuit of short term shareholder value, rather than long term results might, in essence, be self defeating.

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Internet Retailer | E-Commerce | Online Retailing | Top 500 | Online Sales

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The leading source for e-commerce news, strategies and research. Including webinars, blogs and e-retailer rankings, Top 500.

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Search the world's information, including webpages, images, videos and more. Google has many special features to help you find exactly what you're looking for.

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Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - Page updated at 04:36 PM

Amazon.com, founded by Jeff Bezos, is about to turn 18. It has grown from a garage operation in Bellevue that sold books into the world's largest online retailer, selling just about everything. Along the way, Bezos has become one of the world's wealthiest men. Return to story →

Seattle Times staff

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Timeline: How the fortunes of Amazon and Bezos have grown

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Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - Page updated at 04:36 PM Amazon.com, founded by Jeff Bezos, is about to turn 18. It has grown from a garage operation in Bellevue that sold books into the world's largest online retailer, selling just about everything. Along the way, Bezos has become one of the world's wealthiest men.

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AmazonFresh: is it headed to the UK sooner than expected?

For some industry analysts, a deal between Ocado and Amazon would be of huge benefit to the latter.

A tie-up would allow Amazon to tap into the online supermarket's distribution, grocery sourcing and logistics network, moving it out of the realms of dabbling and into the arena of serious grocery retailers.

While reports have yet to be substantiated, Amazon's grocery aspirations are no secret.

Amazon's next-day grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh, arrived in the US nearly a decade ago.

In November last year, the retailer announced that its Pantry service, which lets consumers stock up on essentials, would be available in the UK.

Marketing charts the rise of Amazon's grocery aspirations.

August 2007

AmazonFresh makes its worldwide debut in a suburb of its US hometown of Seattle. The invitation-only beta test began extending beyond the boundaries of Mercer Island and into other suburban areas, including Kirkland.

June 2013

AmazonFresh makes its way down North America's West Coast to Los Angeles, offering consumers free same-day delivery on orders over $35.

A few months later, in December, the service goes live in San Francisco, while the following year sees AmazonFresh target shoppers in San Diego, areas of New York City and in Center City in Philadelphia.

October 2015

Amazon makes it a requirement to pay an annual $299 membership fee to use Fresh in Seattle and other areas.

September 2015

Amazon UK begins testing demand for a full grocery service, adding a range of about 60 chilled and frozen food items to its Prime Now one-hour delivery service, which operates in Birmingham and London.

November 2015

Amazon makes Amazon Pantry available to UK Prime members, allowing them to fill a box with 20kg of groceries from a list of 4000 items including food, drink and household supplies.

January 2016

Rumours re-emerge that Amazon is to hook up with Ocado, fuelling speculation surrounding the 2016 launch of its AmazonFresh service in the UK. The fact that Amazon's UK operation is looking to hire another 2500 staff has further fanned the flames.

However, to date, Amazon's impact on online grocery has been modest. In Seattle, where it commands 40% of online groceries, its share of total (online and offline) grocery sales is just 1.2% according to Conlumino analysts.

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Amazon's rumoured Ocado talks show growing ambition for AmazonFresh

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For some industry analysts, a deal between Ocado and Amazon would be of huge benefit to the latter. A tie-up would allow Amazon to tap into the online supermarket's distribution, grocery sourcing and logistics network, moving it out of the realms of dabbling and into the arena of serious grocery retailers.

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timeline of amazon's success - Google Search

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In this report, we investigate Amazon's offering, global expansion and the routes it has chosen to the markets it operates in. We provide timelines of key corporate announcements and events for each country in which Amazon operates. ... Over its initial 10 years of operations, the company saw tremendous success.

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We've just flicked the switch on moving all our digital resources to instant digital download - via our new subject stores.

For every subject you can now access each digital resource as soon as it is ordered. This will always be the latest edition of each resource too (and we'll update you automatically if there is an upgraded version to use).

Simply add the required resources to your cart, checkout using the usual options and your resources will be available to access immediately via your mytutor2u account.

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BUSS4 2016 research: 10 pure gold e-commerce blog posts you may have missed in November | tutor2u Business

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We've just flicked the switch on moving all our digital resources to instant digital download - via our new subject stores. For every subject you can now access each digital resource as soon as it is ordered. This will always be the latest edition of each resource too (and we'll update you automatically if there is an upgraded version to use).