Case 4: Amazon: One E-Store to Rule Them All

Amazon.com has soared ahead of other online merchants. What the firm can't carry in its 29 worldwide warehouses, affiliated retailers distribute for it. Not content to rest on past laurels, CEO Jeff Bezos has introduced a number of Amazon products, including a set-top box and several versions of the Kindle. But will the investments pay off?

The Rocket Takes Off

Like a rocket propelled by jet fuel, Internet commerce has shot off the launch pad. No matter what the product is that may set a shopper's heart aflutter, some up-and-coming marketer has likely already set up a specialty e-store selling it. But one online vendor has grander aspirations: why stop at selling one line of products—or two, or twenty—when customers can instead be offered the equivalent of an online Mall of America?