Analyzing the Amazon's Digital Business Report (Coursework Sample)

DIGITAL BUSINESS REPORT
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Introduction
Amazon is a multinational company founded in 1994 and located in Seattle, United States. The company business model is pretty diversified, with specialization in digital streaming, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and cloud computing. The company has rapid growth to be one of the leading companies in information technology due to the creative and innovative ways in conducting its operations and marketing the products. There is rapid technological evolution in the digital business environment that has spearheaded the company’s Ecommerce model and exposed the company to considerable setbacks in regards to cyber-crime and ethics. This article seeks to insightfully and critically evaluate the strategies chosen by Amazon.
Key trends and advantages of digital technology and implications for managing the virtual business in the global environment by drawing on Amazon
The digital business is experiencing evolution resulting from the continued integration of digital technology to improve E-commerce business. Multinational merchants such as Amazon are creating and enhancing existing systems to boost customer satisfaction by fulfilling their needs and preferences. In subject to the evolution in e-commerce, below are the merging trends and implications on the business in a global environment.
Augmented reality
Amazon is embracing augmented reality technology with a view of improving the shopping experience of its consumer. AR brings in a new shopping experience in e-commerce by enabling the shoppers to see the items on sale and make better buying decisions. AR is most effective when shopping for tangible items such as clothing and apparel. It enhances the customer feel for the item before the purchase or delivery. Augmented reality is likely to replace the brick and mortar stores. According to surveys, about 22% of the shoppers visit the brick and mortar store to try on an item before purchase. Augmented reality brings the new experience of seeing the 3D model of the item and wear it virtually. The technology is likely to be a game-changer in the e-commerce industry through building a customer base in place of the retail shops (Balaraman and Chandrasekar, 2016).
Voice search
Voice search technology has been on loop for a while. Many homes have been utilizing voice speakers to complete their daily activities. Reports show that in the United States, about 75% of the homes own voice speakers. They improve the efficiency and effectiveness of handling tasks. Some industries, such as e-commerce, foresee the new trend in voice search to improve the shopping experience. Integration of the voice search will enable shoppers to place orders online for items such as food and groceries and improve the organization of shopping lists. The trend is an opportunity for Amazon to boost customer satisfaction. The customers would use keywords to order online.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning
AI and machine learning is another technology that is creating more opportunities for online shopping. Amazon has integrated AI to improve the shopping experience. The technology is used to automate and personalize the shopping experience of the customers. Digital technology collects data and information on shoppers. The information is then used to predict the relevant items and brands based on the customer's past needs and preferences. Artificial intelligence is a whole new level of technology that replicates human behavior and shopping experience for the shoppers and the company.
Chatbots
Chatbots is another hew trend that seeks to replicate the in-store salespersons. Chatbots will help the shoppers to find what they are looking for within minutes. Bricks and mortar stores had an advantage over online shopping through a salesperson who would direct the customer to the location of the items they were looking for. The chat boost will serve as a customer service associate for ecommerce. They will get rid of the frustrations that they experience while looking for items on the platform. The statistics show that about 20% of online businesses have integrated chatbots into their website to help customers. Amazon has personalized the shopping experience through chatbots. They will use the previous data and information of the customer to improve the effectiveness of the shopping.
Mobile shopping
Mobile shopping is one of the emerging trends of ecommerce. Many consumers are hoping to access retail stores through their mobile devices. Amazon has integrated mobile hopping through software apps and websites. The shopper embraces digital technology is hoping for more flexible and convenient mobile shopping (Enache, 2018). The trend will positively impact the shopping experience through ease of paying through digital platforms and shopping on the go. As of 2019, the reports show that there will be a massive increase of 75% in sales by 2021. During the pandemic, many consumers opted to shop online as the government imposed more restrictions on social distancing. E-commerce is gaining ground to solve the mobility issues caused by the pandemic.
Centralization of payments
E-commerce payment methods have been stressful in the past. The centralization of payment is expected to take the foot to enable the customer to pay for the goods and service online quickly. Amazon has developed a variety of ways to pay for products online. Such diverse wallet services will improve the shopping experience. The company noted that the centralization of payment or various payment methods improved the conversion rates. The user can easily save their payment methods and make quick purchases on their mobile services. The new trends will involve the customers being given a unique ID that would be used for all the shipping or delivery expenses at their convenience.
New and emerging digital business models in the context of critical business issues such as cyber security and ethics that Amazon uses
Amazon Inc. successfully implements the use of the model to create value for the company. The company has adopted a diversified business that has been extensively spearheading the company's growth in the retail industry. The company recorded huge revenues in 2019, amounting to $280 billion, and net profits recorded as $11.5 billion. The company has one business segment where it sells the product to the final consumers through the website—the e-commerce segment amount to more than 50% of the revenues. Other revenue segments include subscription services, Amazon AWS, physical store's third-party seller services, advertising revenues. The company has an Omnichannel distribution network that delivers products to the final consumers. The company majorly practices B2C, which Jeff Bezos has benefited through direct interactions with the customers.
According to Setiawan et al. (2018), the emergence of E-commerce models has been threatened by cybersecurity issues. Cybercrime negatively affects business transactions. However, many online shopping companies such as E-commerce anticipate the cyber security and ethical issues in using emerging technologies such as selling via online platforms. Fraudulent activities resulting from e-commerce have instilled fear and lack of trust in the customers. The level of cyber-crime adversely affected the company performance through loss of customers due to rising insecurity of the confidential information. Das and Nayak (2013) researched the cyber-crime issues in the corporate world and found that development and dependence on technology have increased the level of the threats by cybercriminals. The report shows that government and the company need to implement effective strategies to minimize the issues and enhance consumer protection from cybercriminals.
Amazon is one of the companies that are facing massive threats from cybercriminals. In 2018, Amazon reported that more than 100 seller accounts were hacked by cybercriminals, which resulted in the loss of finances. The cybercriminals got access to the company database and altered the details of the seller accounts to their own through the central seller platform. The fraud was carried out by deceiving the sellers to give up personal information. In 2019, another similar attack happened. The hacker altered the India portal through bugs. The attack mange to expose the sellers’ confidential information that includes sales, inventory data, and category-wise splits. The attacks violate the ethics of business through the exposure of the records of the competing sellers. The vendors found incorrect records while downloading their merchant tax reports from the portal.
Dion (2011) notes that cyber rime violates ethical considerations in both social and economic sectors. The increasing rate of cyber-crime has adversely affected the relationship between buyers and sellers using digital business models. The trust in the company’s system of protection is dwindling as cybercriminals design new ways to attack E-commerce companies. Amazon ethics s considerations have been questioned. The company stores consumer data on virtual servers to facilitate its business activities. Artificial intelligence is used to personalize the shopping experience through gathering personal information and manipulate it to produce patterns that would aid the shopper in their shopping. The information storage is making the consumers vulnerable at the age of increasing cyber-crime (Khrais, 2020).
Impact of new collaborative relationships and strategic alliances through digital technology for Amazon
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