A very brief history of Amazon: the everything store

• Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, began as an online bookstore and has since evolved into a global technology giant, transforming how we shop, read, and consume media.
• Its meteoric rise to become the world’s largest online retailer and a major player in industries ranging from cloud computing to entertainment has been nothing short of astounding.
• Join us as we track the fascinating history of Amazon, tracing its humble beginnings, strategic growth and acquisition moves, and impact on the world of e-commerce and beyond.

Regarding revenue, Amazon is the biggest internet-based company in the world. When it started selling books online in 1994, Jeff Bezos thought that growing big and fast was the best way to succeed online.

Today, the company sells everything from books to groceries to shipping container houses. It has become a one-stop shop and has many ambitions for its future. 

Here we explore Amazon’s earliest days and highlight some of the company’s most important milestones. We will also attempt to investigate why the company became so popular. 

When did Amazon start, and when was Amazon founded?

Amazon, or more correctly, Amazon.com, was first incorporated by Jeff Bezos in July 2005. At the time, he was a Wall Street hedge fund executive.

Amazon was originally to be called Cadabra (from Abracadabra). But Bezos’ lawyer advised him that the reference to magic might be a bit too obscure.  

Also, when people heard the name on the phone, they often heard “Cadaver” instead — not ideal. 

So, Bezos and his then-wife MacKenzie Tuttle started registering domain names for their potential new venture. Bezos soon registered the domain names Awake.com, Browse.com, and Bookmall.com. He also registered the domain name Relentless.com and kept it. If you type that into your browser today, you’ll be redirected to Amazon.com.

After scrolling through a dictionary for inspiration, he hit the word Amazon. Bezos thought this was particularly fitting as he envisaged his online store becoming the biggest in the world — much like the Amazon is one of the biggest rivers on the planet. 

This is the philosophy behind why Amazon is commonly called the everything store today. Amazon.com was registered on the 1st of November 1994. Name sorted, but what to sell?

At the time, he knew he wanted to build some form of an online retailer but wasn’t sure what to sell. After some research, he settled on books. They were relatively easy to source, package, and distribute. 

Amazon is an enormous company today.

jetcityimage/iStock

Amazon was not the first company to hit on this business strategy. Another company, Computer Literacy (a Silicon Valley bookstore), sold its wares online as early as 1991.

The difference that Amazon.com had to offer was its greater convenience. It, from the off, was based on a model of delivering online orders directly to the customer’s address anywhere in the world. As we all know, Amazon.com is about much more than just books today. This was always the plan, according to Bezos.