Deck 6: Amazoncom: an Empire Stretching From Cardboard Box to Kindle to Cloud

Question 1

Which of the following is the world's largest online retailer?

A) Otteny
B) ASOS
C) Zappos
D) ModCloth
E) Amazon

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Amazon's cloud computing business is taking baby steps in that category.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Amazon does not open its website up to third-party sellers.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Initially, Amazon adopted the domain of a non-profit organization.

Question 5

Identify the true statement about Amazon.

A) Amazon's profitability has varied widely and analysts continue to struggle to interpret the firm's future.
B) Amazon's AWS cloud computing business is one of the smallest players in that category.
C) Amazon has maintained consistent profitability over the years and analysts continue to predict profits in the firm's future.
D) Amazon was founded by Sam Walton.
E) Amazon initially adopted the domain of a non-profit organization.

Question 6

Accounts payable periods do not vary.

Question 7

Which of the following products has contributed the most to the profits of Amazon?

A) PS2
B) Wii
C) MacBook Pro
D) Kindle
E) iPod touch

Question 8

Amazon got its start selling games online.

Question 9

Amazon has limited its products to only books.

Question 10

Which of the following is true of Amazon?

A) Amazon made profits from the first year of its operation.
B) It has limited its products to only electronic devices.
C) Its cloud computing business is one of the largest players in that category.
D) Its profitability has remained constant over the years and analysts continue to predict profits for the firm's future.
E) Amazon concentrates more on its quarterly results and is inflexible on details about its vision.

Question 11

Tech-fueled operations cannot yield greater profits than off-line players.

Question 12

What are the strategies adopted by Amazon?

Question 13

Which of the following strategies was followed by Amazon's founder?

A) He focused more on Amazon's quarterly results.
B) He postponed profit harvesting.
C) He reduced warehousing capacity.
D) He consciously ignored cloud computing platforms.
E) He built e-commerce operations only for Amazon's customers in the United States.

Question 14

In order to automate profit-pushing hyper-efficiency, Amazon warehouses are powered by at least as much code as the firm's website.

Question 15

_____ is the founder of Amazon.

A) Sam Walton
B) Jeff Bezos
C) Eric Koger
D) Nick Swinmurn
E) Nick Robertson

Question 16

Amazon went seven whole years without turning a profit.

Question 17

Amazon:

A) started making profits from the second year of its operation.
B) initially adopted the domain of a non-profit organization.
C) has centered its focus on quarterly results.
D) has expanded to dozens of categories beyond books.
E) has maintained consistent profitability over the years and analysts continue to predict profits in the firm's future.

Question 18

Initially, it was suggested that Amazon.com be renamed to Amazon.org because:

A) it was predicted that the company would never make money.
B) of its focus on short-term goals rather than on long-term goals.
C) it advanced profit harvesting efforts to ensure its sustainability in the market.
D) of its focus on selling hardware for its Kindles.
E) of its weak leadership.

Question 19

Amazon's success strategy is based on the focus on its quarterly results.

Question 20

The three pillars of Amazon's business are large selection, convenience, and lower prices.

Question 21

In Amazon warehouses, _____ are notified about the optimal size of smile-logoed Amazon cardboard box to use for a given order.

A) alligners
B) warehouse pickers
C) shelvers
D) problem solvers
E) packing associates

Question 22

Most Amazon warehouses are set up for full robotic automation.

Question 23

Inventory turns is:

A) the stock of inventory returned to a manufacturer due to poor quality.
B) also known as gross-profit margin turnover.
C) the number of times an inventory item moves within a warehouse.
D) high when the rate of selling merchandise is low.
E) the number of times inventory is sold or used during a specific period.

Question 24

Which of the following is true of Amazon?

A) Amazon's early warehousing was a product of efficient, money-making processes.
B) Amazon is the last place most consumers shop online.
C) The three pillars of Amazon's business are large selection, convenience, and lower prices.
D) Amazon, only recently has started selling directly to customers.
E) Amazon concentrates on niche customers, low brand assortment, and higher prices to gain competitive advantage.

Question 25

Mark, a retailer, is unable to sell his products. He doesn't have sufficient cash to meet his on-going expenses. In this scenario, Mark is facing a(n) _____.

A) liquidity problem
B) high inventory turnover problem
C) stock-out problem
D) environmental problem
E) sugging problem

Question 26

Amazon owns an inventory of marketplace items.

Question 27

Which of the following is the most liquid asset?

A) Plant machinery
B) Retail locations
C) Goodwill
D) Cash
E) Office furniture

Question 28

Firms that can't generate cash quickly enough are referred to as having _____.

A) liquidity problems
B) sugging problems
C) high inventory turns
D) stock-outs
E) vertical integration problems

Question 29

Amazon has always sold products directly to consumers.

Question 30

In Amazon, shelvers are in charge of:

A) building one's order from a warehouse's inventory.
B) all the activities associated with the preventive maintenance of a warehouse.
C) placing items in available spaces.
D) signalling a warehouse 'problem solver' in the case of an issue in the warehouse.
E) keeping track of items that produce the most sales volume.

Question 31

Which of the following is true?

A) Amazon got its start selling games online.
B) Amazon is no longer the world's largest online retailer.
C) Amazon's strength lies in being always able to sell well directly to its customers.
D) Amazon's profitability has remained constant over the years and analysts continue to predict profits for the firm's future.
E) Amazon finds a competitive advantage in the cycle of buyer-seller growth.

Question 32

Which of the following statements is true?

A) The concept of accounts payable is applicable only when a customer buys from a retailer.
B) The Amazon Associates program is the second largest affiliate marketing program in the world.
C) Amazon does not allow third-party sellers to sell products through its website.
D) Amazon has always sold products to customers using middlemen.
E) It is not uncommon for a big retailer like Amazon to be able to hold products for a month or longer without having to pay for them.

Question 33

Amazon limits its growth to the number of consumers making purchases.

Question 34

Money owed for products and services purchased on credit is known as _____.

A) accounts payable
B) net profit
C) pre-paid expense
D) gross profit
E) earnings before depreciation and tax

Question 35

Which of the following statements is true about the packaging process at Amazon?

A) Amazon's systems stamp names and addresses on boxes while the order is being built.
B) Floor workers usually know who the customer is or what the customer has ordered.
C) Warehouse software tells 'shelvers' the optimal size of smile-logoed Amazon cardboard box to use for a given order.
D) To foster improvement, warehouse movements are not logged.
E) Warehouse software does a check on the packed boxes to see if the weight is as expected.

Question 36

Which of the following is true of Amazon's warehousing process?

A) 'Shelvers' are in charge of building an order from a warehouse's inventory.
B) Amazon's items that produce the most sales volume are stocked on proper shelves.
C) Amazon's systems stamp names and addresses on boxes while the order is being built.
D) When stacking shelves in its warehouses, Amazon ensures that no two similar products sit next to each other.
E) Amazon's items that produce the least sales volume are dropped in an area called 'mass land.'

Question 37

The firm's period between shelling out money and collecting funds associated with a given operation is referred to as the _____.

A) earnings cycle
B) cash conversion cycle
C) inventory turnover cycle
D) liquidity period cycle
E) trade cycle

Question 38

In Amazon, warehouse pickers are in charge of:

A) building one's order from a warehouse's inventory.
B) all the activities associated with the preventive maintenance of a warehouse.
C) placing items in the available spaces of a warehouse.
D) signalling a warehouse 'problem solver' in the case of an issue in the warehouse.
E) keeping track of items that produce the most sales volume.

Question 39

Which of the following is a pillar of Amazon's business?

A) Large selection
B) Niche customers
C) Infrastructure
D) Higher prices
E) Low brand assortment

Question 40

Amazon got its start selling _____ online.

A) gadgets
B) books
C) apparel
D) games
E) music

Question 41

A(n) _____ is a marketing practice where a firm rewards partners (affiliates) who bring in new business, often with a percentage of any resulting sales.

Question 42

Amazon instantly links its Kindle customers with the firm's entire inventory of physical products.

Question 43

Amazon, as a company, is immune to channel conflicts.

Question 44

Which of the following is one of Amazon's private label brands?

A) Equate
B) Pizon
C) Sam's Choice
D) Great Value
E) White Stage

Question 45

_____ is the number of times inventory is sold or used during a specific period.

Question 46

Amazon's moves are largely motivated by:

A) customer focus.
B) cost cutting.
C) the focus on making immediate supplier payments.
D) internal leadership.
E) technology advancements.

Question 47

Amazon today sells fewer electronic books overall than their print counterparts.

Question 48

_____ is a randomized group of experiments used to collect data and compare performance among two options studied.

A) Bucket testing
B) Multivariate testing
C) A / B testing
D) Choice modelling
E) Web usability testing

Question 49

How does Amazon gain bargaining power over its suppliers?

Question 50

_____ is a classification of software that monitors trends among customers and uses this data to personalize an individual customer's experience.

Question 51

A(n) _____ is a line of identifying text, assigned and retrieved by a given web server, and stored by your browser.

A) domain
B) session bean
C) header
D) cookie
E) URL

Question 52

What does the statement "Inventory turns of a store is high." mean?

A) Merchandise in the store sell quickly
B) Consumer complaints about the merchandise are handled efficiently
C) Damaged merchandise is returned to the manufacturers
D) Most of the merchandise items in the store remain unsold
E) Number of markdowns offered by the store is really high

Question 53

_____ problems are problems that arise when organizations cannot easily convert assets to cash.

Question 54

Third-party products of Amazon are referred to as being part of the _____.

Question 55

Amazon's digital publishing ambitions are limited to the printed word.

Question 56

Describe Amazon's customer obsession.

Question 57

Dynamic pricing:

A) refers to pricing that shifts over time.
B) refers to pricing that is always a notch higher than competition.
C) refers to pricing strategies that focuses on consistency even if environmental conditions fluctuate wildly.
D) is also known as the bargaining power of customers.
E) refers to pricing that is always a notch below competition.

Question 58

Over one-third of Amazon revenues come from the sale of media businesses that are rapidly shifting from atoms to bits.

Question 59

Which of the following is a goal of Amazon?

A) Pay suppliers immediately
B) Keep inventory turns high
C) Maximize the number of stockouts
D) Ensure that its items that produce the most sales volume are stocked on proper shelves in its warehouses
E) Ensure that its slow-moving items are not racked by its warehouses' 'shelvers'

Question 60

If an author uses Amazon as a publisher, his titles will only be available through Kindle.

Question 61

Which of the following is true of the Kindle?

A) An individual, who owns a Kindle, cannot connect it to his Amazon account.
B) The Kindle is only about digitally reading books and not about linking customers to other physical products offered by Amazon.
C) By the holiday season of the product's second year, the number of Kindles sold began to decline steadily.
D) Amazon doesn't look to make money directly from Kindle hardware sales.
E) Amazon today sells fewer electronic books overall than their print counterparts.

Question 62

Amazon Web Services is a fool-proof system.

Question 63

How has Amazon become a victim of channel conflict?

Question 64

Briefly describe Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Question 65

_____ offer deep discounts of a limited quantity of inventory.

Question 66

Amazon Web Services allows only firms to rent industrial-strength computing capacity on an as-needed basis.

Question 67

Briefly explain the success of the Kindle.

Question 68

_____ exists when a firm's potential partners see that firm as a threat.

Question 69

Amazon Web Services came out of Amazon's desire to make money from the firm's excess computing capacity.

Question 70

Which of the following is an example of agency pricing?

A) A department store gets a cut on the selling price of a product, which is set by the product's manufacturer.
B) A retail store purchases merchandise from a manufacturer and sells the merchandise at whatever prices it wishes to charge.
C) The government of a country sets the minimum price for certain agricultural products to cover the costs incurred by the farmers.
D) A manufacturer and a retailer work in a collaborative manner to decide the price of the final product.
E) The government of a country sets the maximum price for a certain product that retailers cannot exceed.

Question 71

Amazon has significantly changed the cost-structure of the publishing industry.

Question 72

Amazon Web Services (AWS):

A) was introduced in 2012, although some offerings were available since 2010.
B) forms a majority percentage of Amazon's overall revenue.
C) doesn't provide services such as programming environments.
D) is a fool-proof system.
E) offer several advantages, including increased scalability, reliability, and security.

Question 73

Which of the following is true of Amazon Web Services (AWS)?

A) It only allows firms and not individual customers to rent industrial-strength computing capacity.
B) It does not offer corporate-quality computing as a service.
C) It doesn't provide services such as programming environments.
D) It is a fool-proof system.
E) It is just a single-digit percentage of Amazon's overall revenue.

Question 74

_____ Law has allowed Amazon to radically drop the price of Kindle offerings.

Question 75

Identify the true statement.

A) Agency pricing is illegal.
B) Rivals colluding to set prices is illegal.
C) Wholesale pricing is illegal.
D) In agency pricing, the seller pays publishers for titles and then sells those titles at whatever price it wished.
E) Wholesale pricing is also known as agency pricing.