This week, Amazon hits a major milestone, more on drones and an update to Amazon’s dispute with Hatchette Publishing.
Keep reading to learn more.
Amazon Cracks the Top 10
For the first time ever, Amazon is one of the United States’ 10 largest retailers. Their US sales were up 27% to nearly $44 billion in 2013. That was just enough to bump them up to the #9 spot.
Who’s ahead of them? You might recognize a few of these names:
- Wal-Mart
- Kroger
- Costco
- Target
- Home Depot
- Walgreen
- CVS Caremark
- Lowe’s
- Amazon
- Safeway
How far does Amazon have to go to get to the #1 spot?
As you can see, with nearly $334 billion in sales, Walmart is lapping the field.
Drone Development Takes Off
Also this week, Amazon asked the FAA to allow for the testing of a new generation of delivery drones. These new drones are capable of flying at speeds of over 50 miles per hour and can carry a 5 pound package. Amazon wants permission for the FAA to test these new drones in Seattle, outside of FAA approved testing areas.
What do you think of delivery by drone? My biggest concern is that while 5 pound packages today are commonly filled with books, DVD’s and other media, by the time that these drones are ready to fly, these kinds of items will be nearly all digital. So what will the drones be delivering?
The Hatchette Feud Continues
Amazon’s ongoing game of chicken with Hatchette Publishing continues. This week, Amazon wrote a letter to authors and agents offering to take authors out of the middle, offering 100% of ebook revenue directly to authors, until a new agreement is reached.
Hatchette declined to extend the same offer to their authors, basically accusing Amazon of being disingenuous and only delaying and stalling the ongoing negotiations.
But this is exactly what Amazon does. They make decisions that few other companies can (or are willing to) make and put pressure on their opposition. It’s a great strategy if you know that you won’t have to blink first.
I think Hatchette needs to give in and soon. This is a battle they won’t win. Amazon doesn’t care about negative press and really doesn’t care about Hatchette. What’s Hatchette’s leverage here?