Jeff Bezos Research Paper

After reading about Jeff Bezos and his success in the digital age, I wondered; why would he be interested in purchasing Whole Foods, and how does this relate to his success with digital media? I located an academic journal published in October 2017, by a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Professor Cusumano offers some statistics and facts about the grocer, and Amazon, some quotes from Bezos, and some insight into the driving force behind Jeff Bezos’ acquisition. That said, this source is relevant, credible, accurate, and unbiased, and paralleled with what was presented in class reading and viewing requirements. In June 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods, a national grocery store chain, for $13.7 billion dollars (Cusumano, 2017). For

24). Cusumano pointed out that Amazon “was never a completely virtual business” (p. 24). He went back to his roots. We know that Bezos produced his own products, such as; Kindle, and more currently, Alexa, the digital assistant; however, even with the low overhead of e-book technology, Amazon recently "opened a bookstore in Seattle to compliment the online store" (p.25). So why get into the grocery business? Seemingly, the same reasoning: to expand the digital with brick and mortar. According to Cusumano "Bezos interest in groceries goes back a decade, when he launched Amazon Fresh. Why? Volume" (p.25) Bezos knew “the grocery business in the U.S. alone was worth over 3 trillion dollars” in 2016 (p,25). If Amazon and Whole Foods teamed up, they would enjoy a “3.5% market share" (p. 25). Akin to ad-sharing on the internet, Amazon and Whole Foods could have cross- over appeal to their consumers. “Perhaps Amazon can convert Whole Foods customers to Amazon Prime members, and Amazon could