Would you believe that a company that made up for around 50% of the online retail sales in 2018 started in a small garage?

There are thousands of such hidden facts behind the history and success story of Amazon. This article will take you through the journey of Amazon that started in a garage and made Jeff Bezos the wealthiest person on the planet earth.

History of Amazon

Naming

The well-known domain amazon.com came into existence in 1994. At first, Jeff Bezos wanted to name his company Cadabra Inc. but thanks to his lawyer, he made him drop that name as it didn't sound right to him on the phone.

Cadabra Inc. being out of the question, Jeff Bezos grabbed a dictionary and picked two words from which he had to choose one as his company's name. Those two words were Amazon and Relentless. There's no doubt that he chose Amazon over Relentless. He registered the website amazon.com on the 1st of November 1994.

Everybody knows that Jeff Bezos picked Amazon over the other word, but very few know that he didn't drop the name Relentless. If you type relentless.com in your browser and hit Enter, you'll automatically land on Amazon.com.

The original purpose of Amazon when it was registered online was to sell books. In July 1995, amazon.com became one of the very first online bookstores. After just one month, it was doing a business of $20,000 per week.

There were two reasons why Jeff Bezos decided to choose amazon over his other idea, Relentless. First of all, he wanted to compare his bookstore with the largest river in the world. In a way, he wanted the people to know that amazon.com has the most extensive collection of books in the world. And the second thing was that the websites were listed alphabetically sometimes at that time.

Funding

After a few months of putting amazon.com on the internet, Amazon was already making sales in every US state and 45 other countries. The company had over 250 workers by the end of 1995.

Amazon grew at a breakneck pace, but Jeff Bezos didn't have enough funds to satisfy his customers' demand. Therefore, in 1997, he came up with a brilliant idea and released his company's shares at $18 per share. Soon, his pockets were full of cash, and hence he was able to make amazon.com the most extensive online bookstore of its time.

Transition

Today, Amazon is not just an online bookstore like before but an everything store. But when did they come up with the idea of converting Amazon into an everything store from being an online book retailer?

This transition happened slowly and started in 1998 when they began selling music and computer games. Gradually, they started adding other product categories into Amazon's marketplace as well.

1-Click Patent

One year after Amazon started selling stuff other than books, Jeff Bezos patented the one-click patent in 1999. It was a crucial move considering the massive success of Amazon.

It meant that only Amazon could use the 1-click technology to sell products on its marketplace. This technology improved the online shopping experience of customers and helped Amazon in increasing its conversion rate.

Introduction of Amazon Prime

Amazon launched Amazon Prime in February 2005 at an introductory price of $79/year. It offered free 2-day shipping in the United States on all eligible purchases.

Launching of Amazon Web Services

Amazon did more than just expanding its product categories. Jeff Bezos decided to launch Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006. Amazon designed AWS to let the entrepreneurs rent servers so that small businesses can run big websites at affordable prices. But not just small companies, large-scale companies like Netflix, Facebook, Twitch, LinkedIn, etc., also use the services of AWS.

A Quick Timeline of Amazon

• 1994 - Jeff Bezos buys the domain amazon.com.

• 1995 - In July, amazon.com went online and started selling books. Just after one month, it was making sales of more than $20,000 per week.

• 1997 - In May, Jeff Bezos rolled out Amazon IPOs at $18 per share.

• 1998 - Amazon announces that it'll be selling more than just books from now on.

• 1999 - Jeff Bezos patents one-click checkout technology.

• 2005 - Amazon launches Amazon Prime.

• 2006 - Amazon launches Amazon Web Services (AWS).

• 2016 - Amazon introduces drone delivery in the United Kingdom.

• 2017 - The one-click patent expires

Conclusion

Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, started his journey of a lifetime from a garage. It's an inspirational history that teaches us that anything is possible if you work hard persistently to achieve your goals. Amazon is still growing, and entrepreneurs are making millions by selling their products online.

Source :- About Amazon: A Brief History And Timeline