Daquilanea

Denise Daquilanea
Padgett
ENGL102-027
October 25, 2016
An Amazon World:
An Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: Why is Amazon successful in the United States as opposed to other countries?

Comment [PA1]: Can you be more specific in what you

mean by successful?

Proposed Thesis: Despite Amazons struggles in the eastern countries, the company still reigns
as one of the most successful companies in the world through its marketing techniques and focus
on customers.
Intro: Amazon could easily be identified as one of the most successful companies in the world.
The company has seen success in the United States which has allowed them to continue and
expand as a company. There are many factors that contribute to their success, one of the main
ones being that they focus on their customers and build around them. While they are successful
in Americas economy, there are countries where the company continue to fail despite their
attempts of recovery. The country where Amazon struggles the most to be successful is China.
When looking at how the company operates in the two countries, it is clear to see that there is a
significant difference between them and the role they play in the countrys economy.

Cendrowski, Scott. "Humbled Amazon Turns to Rival Alibaba for Help in China." Fortune.
Fortune, 05 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Scott Cendrowski, who is the author of this article, currently resides in Beijing and covers
topics on China. He works for Fortune Magazine, which is a multinational business magazine
and is owned by Time Inc. In the article, he reveals that Amazon has turned to Alibaba for help

Comment [PA2]: This is a really interesting topic, and Im

glad you are choosing it. I am wondering what your exigency
will be. In other words, what is the value in pointing all this
stuff out? And to whom?

Daquilanea

and has opened a store in their group holdings Tmall platform. The Tmall platform is an attempt
to reach consumers who have concerns about safety and fraudulent products. Currently, Amazon
is down -0.02% while their rival, Alibaba, is up 0.69%. Amazons decision to put a store on its
rivals site was not an easy decision to make. In fact, the company never publicized the news as
it would hurt their image and display how they are truly struggling to succeed in China.
Amazons losses in China are at an estimate of $600 million a year. Cendrowski, who resides in

Comment [PA3]: Im going to need some more clarity here.

Are you talking about amazons stock in terms of the
percentages? Also, Im not sure Im totally clear on what
Tmall is.
Comment [PA4]: Its

Comment [PA5]: While this is a lot, I feel like I need more

of a reference point. How big of a deal is this for Amazon?

China, states that whatever I cant find on Alibabas sites, I look for on Amazon. But I never
visit Amazon first. The reasoning behind this is because of the higher prices on Amazon. And
while Amazon may have the reliable and trustworthy products, Chinese look for cheaper prices
instead of quality of products. Unlike some of the other sources, this source comes from an
author who is currently living in Beijing so his personal perspectives made the source more
credible.

Donici, Andreea Nicoleta, et al. "E-Commerce Across United States Of America:

Amazon.Com." Economy Transdisciplinarity Cognition 15.1 (2012): 252-258. Business
Source Complete. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
In the last few decades, there has been a significant growth in E-commerce and many
retailers have made an attempt to keep up with its demands. Donici et al reports that in 2004,
Amazon was the leading contender, stating that they had 6 website servers, 32 million customers

Comment [PA6]: Write-out numbers between zero and

ten.

in 150 different countries, and 900,000 associate programs linked with Amazon or having
contents of Amazon, which quickly made them a powerful influence in the retail industry. Ecommerce has the possibility to change how the world work within the next 10 years. This study
also looks into the different factors that effect E-commerce. Some of those factors include

Comment [PA7]: Look into the affect/effect difference.

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security concerns, increase in internet users, and a push to help the environment by driving less.
All of these factors play a role in whether people decide to buy online. This source pulls specific
quantitative data on these factors and compares them between several countries. The article then
switches gears and focuses on Amazon.com. They look at their suppliers, competition,
employment, and customer service. The company has a strong focus on the customer service
and strive to make the online experience easy and hassle free. All authors of this study are PhD
students at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi in Romania. This source had a lot of focus on

Comment [PA8]: Do you think their student status limits

their credibility in any way?

the company in the United States and breaks down the company and its tactics. In addition, it
compares factors in the United States with different countries which could be useful information
for the inquiry.

Lei, Jessica Ya. "AmazonS Day One In China: The Role Of Amazons Kindle In China."
Publishing Research Quarterly 29.4 (2013): 365-370. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct.
2016.
Jessica Ya Lei discusses the release of Amazons Kindle in China and what role it played
in the country. Some of the Chinese believe that it is a catfish because it brings mature
experiences, setting up a high standard and educating consumers e-reading awareness, while
others see nothing stopping the Kindle from succeeding. Amazon released the Paperwhite and
the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD tablets in China. While the product has seen some success in the
country, its biggest challenge comes down to money. Dangdang released an e-reader at the same
time as the Kindle release, but Dangdangs product had better mounting and lower prices.
Additionally, the study reports that books on the kindle do not compare well with print books,
leading consumers to wonder if its really worth the purchase. The success of the product in

Comment [PA9]: Look into proper title case.

Daquilanea

China is still up in the air and is questionable as to whether it has helped Amazon in China. This
ties back to the inquiry because it helps to explain why Amazon is struggling in China and
factors that prevent it from excelling. Ya Leis study was published in Publishing Research
Quarterly, which is an international forum that allows for publication of original peer reviewed
papers.

Comment [PA10]: Im trying to understand how exactly

this ties into your thesis. This seem to be about amazons e-
reader product, not the amazon website, which I assume
your thesis is making reference to. But I guess Im not sure
now.
Comment [PA11]: The title of this journal seems oddly
non-discipline-specific.

Loeb, Walter. "10 Reasons Why Alibaba Blows Away Amazon and EBay." Forbes. Forbes
Magazine, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Walter Loeb, who covers major developments in the retail industry for Forbes Magazine,
discusses a company called Alibaba, which is a Chinese Internet conglomerate. It controls 80%
of the Chinese e-commerce market. Alibaba is essentially the company that is keeping Amazon
from striving to its full potential in China. They have 1.4 billion customers in China and 1.2
billion customers in India. It is expected to soar in the United States, already accounting for 327
million customers. During 2013, Alibaba made $5.6 billion worth of sales during Chinas biggest
online shopping day. In 2013 in the United States, the online sales during cyber Monday totaled
at $1.7 Billion. What sets Alibaba apart from other retailers is its service orientation that anchors
customers to their site. This source is highly relevant because it looks at Alibabi, which is
Amazons biggest rival. The article was written in 2014 which means that in two years time, the
company may be even closer to beating Amazon.

"The Man Who Sells Everything." Foreign Affairs 94.1 (2015): 2-6. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
This source is the most interesting out of all the sources because it comes straight from a

Comment [PA12]: What does anchor mean in this

context?

Daquilanea

conversation with Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. The interview was published for
Foreign Affairs, which is a magazine that focuses on international relations and foreign policy.
In the conversation, he discusses the importance of a relationship between entrepreneurship,
invention, and the willing to fail. He claims that he knew Amazon was onto something good
when they sold books in all 50 states and 45 different countries shortly after launcing the

Comment [PA13]: Proof read a bit closer.

company. Then he breaks down the buildup to the success and key features that he believed
helped with the success such as corporate culture, timing, and passion. This article is useful
because it provides information on the company straight from the source which makes the
information provided highly reliable and high in ethos. Being able to source the CEO of
Amazon would help boost ethos.

Treanor, Ted. "Amazon: Love Them? Hate Them? LetS Follow The Money." Publishing
Research Quarterly 26.2 (2010): 119-128. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Oct.
2016.
In the peer reviewed source Amazon: Love them? Hate Them? Lets Follow the
Money, Ted Treanor looks at the company in terms of its basics. In other words, he focuses on
the media and book aspect of Amazon, which is what the company started selling when they first
began. Treanor reports that in 2009, their annual revenue was $24 billion. One fourth of that
annual revenue accounted towards books and media. While that may not be a large enough
portion to be impressive, the companys book revenue is still increasing while the revenue of
other companies such as Borders and Barnes and Nobles is decreasing. Treanor discusses
Amazons acquisitions and investments in companies such as IMDB, Audible.com, Zappos, and
Wikia. Jeff Bezos, who is the CEO of Amazon says that the goal is to have Earths biggest

Comment [PA14]: Would it? I think it would help your

ethos only insofar as your audience would need to believe
in the CEOs ethos. Would the CEO have any reason to
obfuscate some of their information? CEOs of big
companies tend to not be much different than politicians in
terms of what they do and say.
Comment [PA15]: So I get you straight from the horses
mouth point here, but the source has to be relevant for
bigger reasons than that. What do these people say in the
source, specifically? And how does that specifically help
you?
Comment [PA16]: Copy error.

Daquilanea

selection. The current mission statement of the company is We seek to be Earths most
customer-centric company for three primary customer sets: consumer customers, seller
customers, and developer customers. The most relevant point that Treanor discusses is Bezoss
four-part strategy. It is to obsess over customers, invent, think long-term, and it is always day
one. While these strategies may seem simple, they clearly work, just look at how successful
Amazon is. Treanor then mentions one of Amazons biggest strategies, especially in regards to
books. The Kindle was announced in 2010 and from the start, was expected to see success.

Denise,
Like Ive said before, I think you have a really interesting and ambitious topic here. it seems like
youve found some great and informative research that will certainly guide your next paper. I
would like a bit more specificity and explication in some of your annotations (and so, thus, in
your explanations in your research paper). I do have some questions on the journal youve cited
entitled Publishing Research Quarterly. Just the title sounds suspicious. Usually academic
journals are discipline specific. So, for example, there are journals for biologists, which are
edited by biologists for the obvious reason that only experts in the field can write, edit, and
publish on that specific topic/field. This kind of non-specific sounding journal doesnt seem quite
right (although it could be fine). There are some journals that are called pay-to-publish journals
where young and desperate academic-writers will pay these people to publish their work, which
raises ethical concerns. Anyway, something to think about. I googled it and couldnt find
anything definitive, but I still raise my eyebrow (and I feel like you should raise one of your
eyebrows too).

Comment [PA17]: Im not really sure what this is saying

here. sounds like generic advice for any start-up.