Why Is Amazon Called Amazon?

If you‘ve ever shopped on Amazon, you’ve probably wondered – why is this company named after a South American river?

It‘s a fair question! When founder Jeff Bezos started the company in 1994, he wanted a name beginning with "A" to get top placement in alphabetic lists. After perusing the dictionary, he chose "Amazon" to represent the huge scale he envisioned for the business.

But that‘s just the start of the interesting story behind one of the world‘s most influential companies…

In this guide, I’ll reveal:

• How Amazon got its name
• What it was originally called
• How Bezos grew Amazon into an e-commerce giant
• Amazing facts about the company’s history and business

Let‘s start at the beginning.

The Meaning Behind Amazon‘s Name

As an aspiring entrepreneur in 1994, Jeff Bezos left his Wall Street job and drove to Seattle to start his own company. His vision? To create the largest bookstore on earth.

Bezos initially called his online bookstore Cadabra Inc, but he wanted a new name before launch. Here‘s why he didn‘t stick with Cadabra:

• Sounded too much like "cadaver" when said aloud
• The magic reference was too obscure

He knew he needed something more distinctive. Since sites were listed alphabetically back then, Bezos focused his search on words starting with "A".

While checking the dictionary, he landed on Amazon – the name of the world‘s largest river.

Bezos saw several parallels between his fledgling bookstore and the majestic Amazon River:

• Size: The Amazon river dwarfs all other rivers, like he wanted his bookstore to dwarf other booksellers
• Vision: Reading about the incredible Amazon river got Bezos thinking big about the possibilities for his new company
• Discovery: Just like the Amazon River led to new exploration and discovery, Bezos wanted his bookstore to help people discover new books and information

As Bezos said: "This is not only the largest river in the world, it flows many times more water than the next biggest river. It blows all other rivers away."

By naming his store after the world‘s largest river, Bezos set his sights on making Amazon the biggest bookseller around.

The name "Amazon" perfectly encapsulated his ambitious vision.

What Products Did Amazon Sell Originally?

When visiting Amazon.com today, you‘ll find just about anything you can imagine for sale – from toys to furniture to groceries.

But it wasn‘t always that way.

Let‘s jump back to July 1995, when Amazon first opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web. Their website at launch focused on one thing:

Books.

Amazon‘s website in 1995 selling only books

Why start with books? Bezos had several smart reasons:

• Established demand – People always want books and literature.
• Huge selection – Over 1 million books in print for Amazon to offer.
• Universal appeal – Everyone from kids to seniors buy books.
• Cheap to ship – Books are relatively inexpensive to store in warehouses and send to customers.

By focusing first on books only, Amazon could fine-tune its processes and infrastructure before adding more products.

The original Amazon website was simple and text-heavy, clearly catering to book lovers wanting good deals.

After people started flocking to Amazon for books, the company steadily expanded its selection by adding music, movies, electronics, toys, and eventually everything under the sun.

But it took a few years for Amazon to morph into the "Earth‘s Biggest Store" Bezos first envisioned…

How Amazon Quickly Grew Into an Ecommerce Behemoth

For an internet startup in the 90s, Amazon enjoyed absolutely mind-blowing growth:

• July 1995 – Amazon opens for business
• October 1996 – Hits 1 million customer accounts
• 1997 Revenue – $15.7 million
• 1998 Revenue – $610 million (38x growth!)

Within 30 days, Amazon was selling books to people in all 50 states and 45 countries. By the end of the first month in business, sales exceeded $12,000 a week.

But Jeff Bezos wasn‘t satisfied.

He set the goal for Amazon to increase sales by 2,300% in 1997. People thought Bezos was crazy, but somehow Amazon pulled it off, ending the year with over $148 million in revenue.

This explosive growth continued over the next decades as Amazon expanded into more product categories:

• 1999 – Toys, electronics, and home improvement
• 2004 – Clothing, jewelry, and shoes
• 2007 – Grocery delivery after acquiring Webvan

Fast forward to today, and Amazon sells just about everything under the sun. From produce to furniture to gadgets – you name it, they have it available with the click of a button.

So how did Amazon grow so incredibly fast? There were a few key factors:

Jeff Bezos‘ Relentless Work Ethic

Amazon employees from the early days describe working over 60 hour weeks and Bezos having no concept of work-life balance.

He expected everyone to match his relentless pace. As one technical talent recruiter told the NYTimes:

"For years, potential hires were told that working at Amazon would be much like a tour of duty. It would be grueling but rewarding, they were told."

Bezos was determined to make Amazon an ecommerce powerhouse at all costs. His single-minded focus and determination paved the way for Amazon‘s success.

Willingness to Lose Money for Market Share

Amazon wasn‘t afraid to lose money if it meant gaining customers. For years, tech pundits criticized Bezos for this strategy as Amazon took on massive losses.

But Bezos believed focusing on market share over profits was key in the early days. He was willing to play the long-game, operating at a loss to box out competitors and cement Amazon as the #1 online store.

Prime Membership Program

In 2005, Amazon launched Prime membership which offered free 2-day shipping on all orders. This helped lock in loyal customers and discourage people from comparing prices elsewhere.

Prime worked brilliantly – once hooked on the convenience of fast free delivery, people shopped at Amazon more frequently.

Today, over 200 million users have Prime memberships and do more shopping on Amazon than anywhere else online.

Customer-Obsession

From the beginning, Bezos declared that making customers happy must be their #1 priority.

This focus on customer experience paid off enormously. Word spread that Amazon offered amazing service, rock-bottom prices, and vast selection.

Delighting customers remains core to Amazon‘s culture, helping boost incredible repeat business over the years.

How Jeff Bezos Grew Amazon with Acquisitions

Amazon has acquired many companies over the years to expand into new markets:

• Whole Foods – Grocery industry, bought for $13.7 billion in 2017
• Zappos – Online shoe/apparel retailer, bought in 2009
• Twitch – Live streaming platform, bought for $970 million in 2014
• IMDb – Internet movie database, bought in 1998
• Ring – Smart home security, bought for $1 billion in 2018

These represent a fraction of Amazon‘s acquisitions. They allow the company to expand into new markets and consolidate power.

Critics view Amazon‘s acquisition strategy as anticompetitive. But supporters see it as smart diversification, tapping into new revenue streams.

Either way, acquiring companies has helped Amazon grow into a trillion dollar retail empire.

Here are a few examples of how major acquisitions benefited Amazon:

Acquiring Zappos

Buying Zappos allowed Amazon to instantly become a major player in online clothing/shoes. The benefits were:

• Zappos strong brand recognition brought new shoppers
• Improved clothing selection on Amazon from Zappos inventory
• Amazon learned from Zappos industry-leading customer service

Acquiring Whole Foods

This was Amazon‘s biggest acquisition ever at $13.7 billion. It brought many advantages:

• Instantly gave Amazon a major presence in brick-and-mortar grocery
• Whole Foods stores serve as convenient pickup points for online orders
• Amazon Prime deals helped make Whole Foods prices more competitive

Acquiring Audible

Though lesser known than Whole Foods, buying Audible gave Amazon the top spot in online audiobooks. Perks included:

• Audible‘s library of audiobooks expanded Amazon‘s content catalog
• Synergies with Kindle to promote reading and listening
• Offering Audible titles encouraged consumers to try Amazon Prime

Acquiring companies like these has allowed Amazon to expand far beyond books into diverse industries.

Fun Facts and Stats About Amazon

Let‘s look at some amazing stats and facts that showcase Amazon‘s immense scale:

• Currently has over 1.6 million employees globally
• Pulled in over $386 billion in revenue in 2020
• Has 16 company headquarters spread around the world
• Expanded from books to over 40 product categories
• Has over 200 million Prime members worldwide
• Owns nearly 50% of the ecommerce market share in the US
• Operates with a 24/7/365 customer service team

What‘s even more incredible? All of this began as a humble online bookstore run by Jeff Bezos from his Seattle garage.

It just goes to show how powerful vision, smart strategy, and relentless effort can be.

Now that you know all about why Amazon got its name and how the company achieved its remarkable success…

Conclusion

Jeff Bezos named his online bookstore Amazon to represent its expansive scale and ambition. He envisioned Amazon growing as large and dominant as the Amazon River itself.

Through incredible focus, work ethic, and customer satisfaction, Amazon successfully grew from an upstart online bookseller into the ecommerce leader we know today.

They sell everything from produce to patio furniture, and continue finding new ways to innovate and please customers.

So next time you get a package with Amazon‘s signature smile logo on the box, remember the unique history behind the company. From its humble "Cadabra" beginnings to its first website selling books, Amazon proved that even the craziest dreams can become reality with the right mindset and effort.