3 Ways Jeff Bezos Changed Your Spending Habits With Amazon
Written by
Alan Joseph
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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A little over three decades ago, a young entrepreneur from Bellevue, Washington worked in a tiny garage on a startup called Cadabra (which later became Amazon). The 30-year-old entrepreneur, Jeff Bezos, heard rumors floating around about the potential impact of the internet.
According to a CNBC interview with the world’s second richest man in 2001, word was spreading that usage could explode at a rate of 2,300% annually, piquing his interest. Suffice it to say, Bezos smelled an opportunity — one that forever changed the business landscape — and, as we will discover, our spending habits.
Amazon’s Early Beginnings
In its nascent days, Amazon was a one-trick pony, selling only books. However, within a few years, music was added to its repertoire, and by 2000, third-party sellers were added to the mix to expand business operations even further.
Yet, like many businesses during their early years, the company still wasn’t making money. Based on SEC filings, it took nearly a decade for the e-commerce firm to finally undergo its first profitable year in 2003. From there, Bezos aggressively reinvested profits, transforming his startup into the behemoth it has blossomed into today.
Shopping at the Click of a Button
We’ve become familiar with the convenience of online shopping, and seeing the items shipped to our doors the next day. However, before Bezos revolutionized consumer habits, people had to shop in traditional brick-and-mortar stores, with occasional mail orders.
Now, in mere minutes, consumers are able to purchase virtually anything they want with a simple press of a button — and if that wasn’t convenient enough, thanks to Amazon Prime, some orders in select areas can be delivered the same day. The convenience of this cannot be overstated, as the practice of quick deliveries has become a standard and expectation.
Dominance in Market Share
Amazon’s pioneering of online shopping has brought the company vast fortunes and a dominant market share. One factor for its success is the acclaimed Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime was the first-ever service to offer unlimited two-day shipping for an upfront fee, as reported by Vox. Since debuting in 2005, the service has grown to become the biggest subscription program in the world, with over 200 million global subscribers, per Reuters.
To put that in perspective, if Amazon Prime were a country, it’d be the eighth biggest on the planet, according to the CIA World Factbook numbers. Capital One Shopping estimated overall revenue from members totaled $44.37 billion in 2024 — an increase of more than 10% from 2023 — with Amazon holding a commanding 40% market share in the U.S.
How has this shaped our money habits? According to Juozas Kaziukenas of Marketplace Pulse (per The New York Times), Amazon has effectively conditioned people to believe they are more reliable than competitors given their success, thus making shoppers instinctively buy from Amazon — even if the latter may not have the best product in stock — influencing consumers’ spending habits without them even consciously realizing it.
Turned Reviews Into a Dealbreaker
More than half of shoppers (56%) depend on what other buyers think of products before making a final decision. This phenomenon was studied by Bazaarvoice in 2020 (per Forbes), which concluded that online reviews were the most pivotal factor for making a purchase. Furthermore, in another study conducted by Power Reviews (per USA Today), it was found that products with feedback had a 65% higher chance of being bought than those without feedback.
Simply put, the creation of Amazon and its enormous community of reviewers significantly affects how we perceive what vendors sell. This underscores the importance of companies needing to build organic trust with clients, as reviews can be the deciding factor between making a sale or potentially going out of business in the long run.
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Sources
- CNBC, “At age 30, Jeff Bezos thought this would be his one big regret in life“
- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Search Filiongs — AMAZON.COM, INC.
- Vox, “The making of Amazon Prime, the internet’s most successful and devastating membership program“
- Reuters, “FTC no longer seeks DOGE-related delay in Amazon trial”
- CIA World Factbook, “Country Comparisons — Population“
- Capital One Shopping, “Amazon Prime Statistics“
- The New York Times, “How Amazon Won Shopping“
- Forbes, “A Short History Of Amazon’s Product Review Ecosystem, And Where We Are Today“
- USA Today, “That review you wrote on Amazon? Priceless“
