n post his own reviews of books and read others. He can read
interviews with authors and blurbs and excerpts from books. He can search for
books by author, subject, title, ISBN or publication date. Prices are
discounted, with savings of 20-40% on 400,000 titles (40% on selected feature
books, 30% on hardcovers, and 20% on paperbacks). The client usually receives
the books within a week. If he requests it, he will receive an e-mail announcing
a new book by an author he likes or on a subject he is particularly interested
in. He can also choose from 44 subjects, and he will be sent a monthly e-mail
reviewing books Amazon.com's editors consider particularly interesting.

Success magazine of July 1998 wrote "that Amazon.com is the universal model for
successful Internet retailing (a.k.a. 'e-tailing')." Computer Weekly of July 24,
1997, defined it as "undoubtedly the most quoted example of go-ahead electronic
commerce and still the showcase for Internet trading" and PC World of July 1997
stated: "In the summer of 1995, Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, decided to
risk it all on the Internet. They opened a cyberstore named Amazon.com [...].
Two years later [...] it's one of the World Wide Web's most successful small
businesses. Few who have braved the wilds of the Web have achieved
Amazon.com-style success."

Such success is explained by Jeff Bezos in Amazon.com's press kit:

"Our leadership position comes from our obsessive focus on customers. [...]
Customers want selection, ease of use, and the lowest prices. These are the
elements we work hard to provide. We continued to improve our customer
experience during the quarter [the second quarter 1998] with the opening of our
music store, our easier-to-navigate store layout, and our expansion into the
local U.K. and German book markets. These initiatives will continue to require
aggressive investment and entail significant execution challenges."

Amazon.com's press release of June 8, 1998, gives some information about its
Associates Program:

"The Amazon.com Associates Program allows web-site owners to easily participate
in hassle-free electronic commerce by recommending books on their site and
referring visitors to Amazon.com. In return, participants earn referral fees of
up to 15 percent of the sales they generate. Amazon.com handles the secure
on-line ordering, customer service, and shipping and sends weekly e-mail sales
reports. Enrollment in the program is free, and parti