Amazon Unbound
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just as Amazon became one of the leading apparel retailers: Pamela N. Danziger, “Amazon, Already the Nation’s Top Fashion Retailer, Is Positioned to Grab Even More Market Share,” Forbes, January 28, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2020/01/28/amazon-is-readying-major-disruption-for-the-fashion-industry/?sh=7acace9267f3 (January 25, 2021).
Amazon introduced an initiative called Brand Registry: Jeffrey Dastin, “Amazon to Expand Counterfeit Removal Program in Overture to Sellers,” Reuters, March 21, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-counterfeit-idUSKBN16S2EU (January 25, 2021).
three hundred and fifty thousand brands would sign up: John Herrman, “All Your Favorite Brands, from BSTOEM to ZGGCD,” New York Times, February 11, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/style/amazon-trademark-copyright.html (January 25, 2021).
“Third-party sellers are kicking our first-party butt”: Jeff Bezos, “2018 Letter to Shareowners,” AboutAmazon.com, April 11, 2019, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2018-letter-to-shareholders.
In 2019, Amazon spent $500 million… 2.5 million accounts: Charlie Wood, “The Trump Administration Blacklisted 5 Overseas Amazon Websites as ‘Notorious Markets’ and Amazon Says It’s Political Bullying,” Business Insider, April 30, 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/us-blacklists-five-amazon-websites-as-notorious-markets-2020-4 (January 25, 2020).
started testing a system aimed at verifying sellers one by one, via video-calls: Sarah Perez, “To Fight Fraud, Amazon Now Screens Third-Party Sellers Through Video Calls,” TechCrunch, April 27, 2020, https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/27/to-fight-fraud-amazon-now-screens-third-party-sellers-through-video-calls/ (January 25, 2020).
top ten thousand largest sellers on Amazon were based in China: “Chinese Sellers Outnumber US Sellers on Amazon.com,” Marketplace Pulse, January 23, 2020, https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/chinese-sellers-outnumber-us-sellers-on-amazoncom (January 25, 2021).
the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative… administration of Donald Trump: Jenny Leonard, “Amazon’s Foreign Domains Cited by U.S. as Helping Counterfeiters,” Bloomberg, April 29, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-29/ustr-lists-amazon-s-foreign-domains-in-counterfeiting-report (January 25, 2021).
CHAPTER 8: AMAZON’S FUTURE IS CRaP
the result of osteoarthritis: Brad Stone, “Whole Foods, Half Off,” Bloomberg, January 29, 2015, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-29/in-shift-whole-foods-to-compete-with-price-cuts-loyalty-app (January 24, 2021).
adopting an alias: David Kesmodel and John R. Wilke, “Whole Foods Is Hot, Wild Oats a Dud—So Said ‘Rahodeb,’ ” Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2007, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12foods.html (January 24, 2021).
“grounded in an ethical system”: John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013), 22.
replace longtime board members: Heather Haddon and David Benoit, “Whole Foods Faces Specter of Long Investor Fight,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/whole-foods-faces-specter-of-long-investor-fight-1494581401 (January 24, 2021).
Amazon executives had recently discussed: Spencer Soper and Craig Giammona, “Amazon Said to Mull Whole Foods Bid Before Jana Stepped In,” Bloomberg, April 11, 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-11/amazon-said-to-mull-bid-for-whole-foods-before-jana-stepped-in (January 24, 2021).
green Fresh vans for the last-mile delivery: Greg Bensinger and Laura Stevens, “Amazon, in Threat to UPS, Tries Its Own Deliveries,” Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2014, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-tests-its-own-delivery-network-1398360018 (January 24, 2021).
Google Shopping Express: Mark Rogowsky, “Full-Court Express: Google Expands Its Delivery Service, Puts Heat on Amazon,” Forbes, October 14, 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2014/10/14/faster-google-expands-its-same-day-delivery-service-into-new-markets-presses-amazon/?sh=1b199d1a5e34 (January 24, 2021).
“Many people think… on Amazon”: “Google: Amazon Is Biggest Search Rival,” BBC, October 14, 2014, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29609472 (January 24, 2021).
above 40 percent in European countries: “Private Label Today: Private Label Popular Across Europe,” PLMA International, 2020, https://www.plmainternational.com/industry-news/private-label-today (January 24, 2021).
With an assortment… bizarre names: Greg Bensinger, “Amazon to Expand Private-Label Offerings—from Food to Diapers,” Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2016, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-to-expand-private-label-offeringsfrom-food-to-diapers-1463346316 (January 24, 2021).
Amazon’s Vine program: Julie Creswell, “How Amazon Steers Shoppers to Its Own Products,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/23/business/amazon-the-brand-buster.html (January 24, 2021).
“going over the fence”: Dana Mattioli, “Amazon Scooped Up Data from Its Own Sellers to Launch Competing Products,” Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-scooped-up-data-from-its-own-sellers-to-launch-competing-products-11587650015 (January 24, 2021).
“quickly reaching the status… Amazon history”: Todd Bishop, “Amazon’s Treasure Truck Launch Message Was a Screw-Up—Another Misstep in Bungled Rollout,” GeekWire, https://www.geekwire.com/2015/amazon-announces-treasure-trucks-launch-two-months-after-mysterious-delay/ (January 24, 2021).
Treasure Truck burst into flames: “Amazon Treasure Truck Bursts into Flames in West Philadelphia Parking Lot,” CBS Philly, May 3, 2018, https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/05/03/west-philadelphia-parking-lot-fire-amazon-treasure-truck/amp/ (January 24, 2021).
“would be hard and expensive”: Roberto A. Ferdman, “I Tried to Figure Out How Many Cows Are in a Single Hamburger. It Was Really Hard,” Washington Post, August 5, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/05/there-are-a-lot-more-cows-in-a-single-hamburger-than-you-realize/ (January 24, 2021).
sampling an iguana: Kurt Schlosser, “Hungry for Further Exploration, Jeff Bezos Eats Iguana and Discusses How to Pay for Space Travel,” GeekWire, March 12, 2018, https://www.geekwire.com/2018/hungry-exploration-jeff-bezos-eats-iguana-discusses-pay-space-travel/ (January 24, 2021).
thirty-three U.S. cities: Stefany Zaroban and Allison Enright, “A Look Inside Amazon’s Massive and Growing Fulfillment Network,” Digital Commerce 360, August 2, 2017, https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2017/08/02/amazon-jobs-day-a-look-inside-amazons-massive-and-growing-fulfillment-network/ (January 24, 2021).
“like falling in love… meeting was over”: Ronald Orol, “Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: Meeting Amazon Was Like ‘Falling in Love,’ ” The Street, March 5, 2018, https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/whole-food-ceo-john-mackey-says-meeting-amazon-was-like-falling-in-love-14509074 (January 24, 2021).
“there’s the argument that Amazon acquired Whole Foods for free”: Sinead Carew and David Randall, “Whole Foods Shares Keep Rising in Bidding War Speculation,” Reuters, June 19, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-wholefoods-idUSKBN19A22J (January 24, 2021).
stricter financial terms: Abha Bhattarchai, “Whole Foods Places New Limits on Suppliers, Upsetting Some Small Vendors,” Washington Post, January 5, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/whole-foods-places-new-limits-on-suppliers-upsetting-some-small-vendors/2018/01/05/7f58b466-f0a1-11e7-b390-a36dc3fa2842_story.html (January 24, 2021).
eccentric CEOs: Dana Mattioli, “Amazon’s Deal Making Threatened by D.C. Scrutiny,” Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-deal-making-threatened-by-d-c-scrutiny-11562146205 (January 24, 2021).
gave Steve Kessel authority: Laura Stevens, “Amazon Puts Whole Foods, Delivery Units Under Bezos Lieutenant,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-puts-whole-foods-rapid-delivery-businesses-under-veteran-executive-1510236001 (January 24, 2021).
CHAPTER 9: THE LAST MILE
Amazon ran around f
orty fulfillment centers: “How Amazon’s Largest Distribution Center Works,” YouTube video, posted by Bloomberg Quicktake, November 26, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfFsqbIn_3E (January 23, 2021).
“Senator, you have been misinformed”: Dave Clark, Tweet, posted on September 6, 2019, https://twitter.com/davehclark/status/1169986311635079168 (January 23, 2021).
The paper reported that the company’s warehouse: Spencer Soper, “Inside Amazon’s Warehouse,” Morning Call, September 18, 2011, https://www.mcall.com/news/watchdog/mc-allentown-amazon-complaints-20110917-story.html (January 23, 2021).
“I only know one way to play poker”: Spencer Soper, “The Man Who Built Amazon’s Delivery Machine,” Bloomberg, December 17, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-17/amazon-holiday-shopping-the-man-who-makes-it-happen (January 23, 2021).
find a robot that could do a better job: Chris Welch, “Amazon’s Robot Competition Shows Why Human Warehouse Jobs Are Safe for Now,” The Verge, June 1, 2015, https://www.theverge.com/2015/6/1/8698607/amazon-robot-picking-challenge-results (January 23, 2021).
50 percent more products per square foot: “Meet Amazon’s New Robot Army Shipping Out Your Products,” Bloomberg Technology video, 2:10, December 1, 2014, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2014-12-01/meet-amazons-new-robot-army-shipping-out-your-products (January 23, 2021).
employees standing in place and monotonously: Will Evans, “How Amazon Hid Its Safety Crisis,” Reveal, September 29, 2020, https://revealnews.org/article/how-amazon-hid-its-safety-crisis/, and United States Department of Labor, “Amazon Fulfillment Center Receives $7k Fine,” January 12, 2016, https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region3/01122016 (January 23, 2021).
casually recalling his old nickname: Spencer Soper, “The Man Who Built Amazon’s Delivery Machine,” Bloomberg, December 17, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-17/amazon-holiday-shopping-the-man-who-makes-it-happen (January 23, 2021).
choked on the onslaught: Devin Leonard, “Will Amazon Kill FedEx?” Bloomberg, August 31, 2016, https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-amazon-delivery/ (January 23, 2021).
Amazon compensate disappointed customers: Amrita Jayakumar, “Amazon, UPS Offer Refunds for Christmas Delivery Problems,” Washington Post, December 26, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/amazon-ups-offer-refunds-for-christmas-delivery-problems/2013/12/26/c9570254-6e44-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html (January 23, 2021).
had found an ingenious solution: Cecelia Kang, “Amazon to Deliver on Sundays Using Postal Service Fleet,” Washington Post, November 13, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/amazon-to-deliver-on-sundays-using-postal-service-fleet/2013/11/10/e3f5b770-48c1-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html (January 23, 2021).
Economists called this kind of arrangement: David Weil, The Fissured Workplace (Harvard University Press, 2014). Weil further elucidates these ideas in “Income Inequality, Wage Determination and the Fissured Workplace,” in After Picketty (Harvard University Press, 2017), 209.
purchased thousands of truck trailers: Jason Del Rey, “Amazon Buys Thousands of Its Own Truck Trailers as Its Transportation Ambitions Grow,” Vox, December 4, 2015, https://www.vox.com/2015/12/4/11621148/amazon-buys-thousands-of-its-own-trucks-as-its-transportation (January 24, 2021).
Amazon sued Arthur Valdez: Ángel González, “Amazon Sues Target-Bound Former Logistics Executive Over ‘Confidential’ Info,” Seattle Times, March 22, 2016, https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-sues-target-bound-former-logistics-executive/ (January 24, 2021).
They used an old internal Microsoft term: Raymond Chen, “Microspeak: Cookie Licking,” Microsoft blog post, December 1, 2009, https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20091201-00/?p=15843 (January 24, 2021).
On an earnings call with investors: Mary Schlangenstein, “FedEx CEO Calls Amazon Challenge Reports ‘Fantastical,’ ” Bloomberg News, March 17, 2016, https://www.ttnews.com/articles/fedex-ceo-calls-amazon-challenge-reports-fantastical (January 24, 2021).
Publicly, Clark answered questions: Alan Boyle, “First Amazon Prime Airplane Debuts in Seattle After Secret Night Flight,” GeekWire, August 4, 2016, https://www.geekwire.com/2016/amazon-prime-airplane-seafair/ (January 24, 2021).
The Prime Air fleet allowed Amazon: Jeffrey Dastin, “Amazon Starts Flexing Muscle in New Space: Air Cargo,” Reuters, December 23, 2016, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-shipping-insight/amazon-starts-flexing-muscle-in-new-space-air-cargo-idUSKBN14C1K4 (January 24, 2021).
In February 2017, Amazon announced: Randy Woods, “Amazon to Move Prime Air Cargo Hub to Cincinnati,” Air Cargo World, February 1, 2017, https://aircargoworld.com/news/airports/amazon-to-move-prime-air-cargo-hub-to-cincinnati/ (January 24, 2021).
Amazon’s new air hub: Jason Del Re, “Amazon Is Building a $1.5 Billion Hub for Its Own Cargo Airline,” Vox, January 31, 2017, https://www.vox.com/2017/1/31/14462256/amazon-air-cargo-hub-kentucky-airport-prime-air (January 24, 2021).
belabored public process: Spencer Soper, “Behind Amazon’s HQ2 Fiasco: Jeff Bezos Was Jealous of Elon Musk,” Bloomberg, February 3, 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-03/amazon-s-hq2-fiasco-was-driven-by-bezos-envy-of-elon-musk (January 24, 2021).
Gray was charged with reckless: Christian Farr, “Former Amazon Driver Acquitted in Death of 84-Year-Old Woman,” NBC5, August 1, 2019, https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/former-amazon-driver-acquitted-in-death-of-84-year-old-pedestrian/127151/ (January 24, 2021).
A week before, Amazon had emailed: Caroline O’Donovan and Ken Bensinger, “Amazon’s Next-Day Delivery Has Brought Chaos and Carnage to America’s Streets—But the World’s Biggest Retailer Has a System to Escape the Blame,” BuzzFeed, August 31, 2019, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-next-day-delivery-deaths (January 24, 2021).
The publications revealed: Patricia Callahan, Caroline O’Donovan, and Ken Bensinger, “Amazon Cuts Contracts with Delivery Companies Linked to Deaths,” ProPublica/BuzzFeed News, October 11, 2019, https://www.propublica.org/article/amazon-cuts-contracts-with-delivery-companies-linked-to-deaths (January 24, 2021).
In 2018, a sixty-one-year-old legal secretary: Patricia Callahan, “His Mother Was Killed by a Van Making Amazon Deliveries. Here’s the Letter He Wrote to Jeff Bezos,” ProPublica, October 11, 2019, https://www.propublica.org/article/his-mother-was-killed-by-a-van-making-amazon-deliveries-heres-the-letter-he-wrote-to-jeff-bezos (January 24. 2021).
Uber-like delivery service called Amazon Flex: Jacob Demmitt, “Confirmed: Amazon Flex Officially Launches, and It’s Like Uber for Package Delivery,” GeekWire, September 29, 2015, https://www.geekwire.com/2015/confirmed-amazon-flex-officially-launches-and-its-like-uber-for-package-delivery/ (January 24, 2021).
talked to thirteen pilots who worked for Amazon’s airlines: Rachel Premack, “The Family of a Pilot Who Died in This Year’s Amazon Air Fatal Crash Is Suing Amazon and Cargo Contractors Claiming Poor Safety Standards,” Business Insider, September 19, 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-atlas-air-fatal-crash-pilots-sue-2019-9 (January 24, 2021).
Sprinter vans from Mercedes-Benz: Gabrielle Coppola, “Amazon Orders 20,000 Mercedes Vans to Bolster Delivery Program,” Bloomberg, September 5, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-05/amazon-orders-20-000-mercedes-vans-to-bolster-delivery-program (January 24, 2021).
And in early 2019, Amazon eclipsed: Erica Pandey, “Amazon, the New King of Shipping,” Axios, June 27, 2019, https://www.axios.com/amazon-shipping-chart-fedex-ups-usps-0dc6bab1-2169-42a8-9e56-0e85c590eb89.html (January 24, 2021).
When Donald Trump accused Amazon: Jim Tankersley, “Trump Said Amazon Was Scamming the Post Office. His Administration Disagrees,” New York Times, December 4, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/04/us/politics/trump-amazon-post-office.html (January 24, 2021).
UPS had to renegotiate its contract: Paul Ziobro, “UPS to Start 7-Day Delivery to Juggle Demands of Online Shopping,” Wall
Street Journal, July 23, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ups-to-start-7-day-delivery-to-juggle-demands-of-online-shopping-11563918759 (January 24, 2021), and Paul Ziobro, “UPS and Teamsters Discuss Two-Tier Wages, Sunday Deliveries,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ups-and-teamsters-discuss-two-tier-wages-sunday-deliveries-1525860000?mod=article_inline (January 24, 2021).
The cold war between Dave Clark and Fred Smith: Thomas Black, “FedEx Ends Ground-Delivery Deal with Amazon,” Bloomberg, August 7, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-07/fedex-deepens-pullback-from-amazon-as-ground-delivery-deal-ends?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 24, 2021).
Smith doubled down: Paul Ziobro, “Fred Smith Created FedEx. Now He Has to Reinvent It,” Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/fred-smith-created-fedex-now-he-has-to-reinvent-it-11571324050 (January 24, 2021).
Clark temporarily banned third-party merchants: Spencer Soper and Thomas Black, “Amazon Cuts Off FedEx Ground for Prime Holiday Shipments,” Bloomberg, December 16, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-16/amazon-cuts-off-fedex-ground-for-prime-shipments-this-holiday?sref=dJuchiL5 (January 24, 2021).
In April 2019, Amazon shifted: Spencer Soper, “Amazon Will Spend $800 Million to Move to One-Day Delivery,” Bloomberg, April 25, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-25/amazon-will-spend-800-million-to-move-to-one-day-delivery (January 24, 2021).
Amazon was also able to retire: Amazon staff, “Ultrafast Grocery Delivery Is Now FREE with Prime,” Amazon blog, October 29, 2019, https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/ultrafast-grocery-delivery-is-now-free-with-prime (January 24, 2021).
CHAPTER 10: THE GOLD MINE IN THE BACKYARD