The Economist has an article up talking about what a behemoth Amazon has and will continue to become. Here are some interesting stats for you to think about:
More than half of every dollar spent online in America now goes to Amazon
Amazon’s share price has increased 173% since the beginning of 2015 (12x faster than the S&P 500)
With a market capitalization > $400 billion, it is the 5th most valuable company in the world
92% of its value is supposedly being derived from profits expected after 2020 – they are playing the long game
Investors believe that revenue will go from $136 billion (2016) to half a trillion over the next decade
If I can buy something online, instead of in person, I will do it. And that very often leads me to Amazon. In fact, I bought my new camera lens from them last week. Many others seem to be doing the same.
When I go to a store now it’s because I need something immediately or because I’m looking for a new experience. I want novelty and I want to feel something special when I walk in. That, or I just need groceries.
Venture capitalist Fred Wilson wrote a post on his blog today called, Same Day/Same Hour Delivery.
The post is about why he believes that Walmart could get the “most disrupted by the Internet.” And it has to do with the rapid rise of same day and even same hour delivery from ecommerce companies. If you can order it online and receive it within an hour, why bother going to a brick-and-mortar store?
His post reminded me of one I wrote towards the end of last year called, The threat to big box retailing. But since Fred is in the business of making bets on technology companies and he has accumulated a significant amount of wealth doing that, I thought you might like to also hear it from him.