BUS620 Managerial Marketing

            Since the company’s humble beginning on July 16, 1995, selling books out of Jeff Bezos’s garage, Amazon has become one of the largest online retailers in the world with net revenue of $74,452,000,000 as of the close of fiscal year 2013 – a 22 percent growth from fiscal year 2012 (Amazon, 2014a; Devi, 2008).  Rigorous marketing strategies have played an integral part in Amazon’s success as an online retailer with the intent to add value to the products and services provided to its customers primarily through pricing and logistics strategies.  Three elements differentiate Amazon from both brick-and-mortar and online retailers: its fulfillment centers, Amazon Prime, and AmazonFresh.  Amazon’s approach to competitive pricing and prompt delivery has caught the attention of marketing professionals, posing the question of whether the company will be able to successfully achieve same-day delivery for those consumers who demand instant gratification .