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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Randy Ellingson who wrote (111792)	11/11/2000 9:39:36 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

You still don't have the opportunity to grow sales (and customers?) as quickly as Amazon. That changes things, no? My growth this year far exceeds that of Amazon. See the below link and that is just on-line v2.superstats.com Retailers do not give away margin if it is not necessary. The shipping cost is cuttinto gross margin regardless of the order size. I read and and believe I am accurate there is a real problem.

To: Randy Ellingson who wrote (111792)	11/11/2000 10:28:03 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

I don't see this as a big deal. What will be the average order size for these Free Shipping orders (ones over $100 in general) placed between then and Nov. 22? Many of those orders will likely be digital equipment, such as cameras, printers, etc. Avg. sale could very well be >$200, and avg shipping cost could very well be <$15. You guys are making way too big a deal out of this. Sure, free shipping encourages people to shop at Amazon.com, but competitive prices, selection, and customer service do a whole lot more than free shipping. Geez, the holiday shopping season is just getting underway anyway. Randy, Do you ever find something wrong with Amazon? I continually point out the fundamentals as they develop and how I anticipate them to develop. Excluding the price of the stock, my record on Amazon's fundamentals is perfect. It not just close It is perfect. Electronics are not a high margin product. To throw in a $15 cost to ship when one could get revenue for the shipping that exceeds the cost of shipping, is a sign of panic. This company has never executed well. I am not sure what the big deal is about being able to sell a $1 for 90 cents. That is all that has happened with Amazon. Amazon would be history like many other B2C dot coms. The only reason they are not is due to the amazing amount of extra cash they raised from the equity markets. Let's look at their investments. We are talkign millions of dollars most of which are now worthless. Would you want them to manage your portfolio? I know there are believers in the firm. I can't find any positive fundamentals. I can only find negative fundamentals. The only positive that seems to be thrown around in their customer base and that is difficult to quantify. This company has been in business for 6 years and they are so far from turning a profit it is comical Glenn

To: Randy Ellingson who wrote (111792)	11/13/2000 11:49:52 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Randy, Let's see how close I am coming: "E-Holiday Season Off to Slow Start By Keith Regan E-Commerce Times November 13, 2000 Last year's holiday shopping season started right after Halloween. The anticipated online holiday shopping surge has yet to begin, according to a study released Monday by Nielsen//NetRatings (Nasdaq: NTRT), with top sites showing little or no growth in traffic during the first week in November. The report, "Holiday E-Commerce Index," shows that key e-tail sites saw modest growth in traffic from the last week in October to the first full week in November. By comparison, the number of shoppers going online during the same period last year was up sharply. "Last year's holiday shopping season began with a big bang right after people put away their Halloween costumes," said Sean Kaldor, vice president of eCommerce at NetRatings. "This year we are not seeing the same trends, suggesting that other factors took the focus off the impending holidays." Sluggish Start The initial burst of Web shopping in 1999 helped propel e-tailers into a record-breaking season. For instance, traffic to consumer electronics sites was up 56 percent during the first week of November in 1999, but rose just 16 percent this year. The toys and games category, up 47 percent a year ago, remained basically flat in 2000. Apparel sites recorded 13 percent growth in 1999 and a 9 percent rise this year, while books, music and video stores rang up 13 percent last year and 5 percent in 2000. One category did buck the trend, according to the study. Specialty gifts sites saw 12 percent week-over-week growth this year, compared to just 1 percent in 1999. Early Bird Incentives News of the lackluster start to the holiday season comes amid pushes by major e-tailers to get shoppers to buy early. Amazon.com and other e-tailers have unveiled free shipping offers on purchases made before Thanksgiving. Those offers are designed to prevent a last-minute shopping crunch that could lead to a repeat of the holiday shipping delays experienced last year. "The next two weeks will be crucial for e-tailers to drive up traffic if they are banking on a big holiday season to hit their revenue marks," said Kaldor. With reports showing flat growth in August and September, many e-tailers are banking on a busy holiday season to cap the year. The most optimistic predictions peg U.S. online shopping at about US$12.5 billion this holiday season, a near-doubling of last year's spending. Limiting Factors The NetRatings study suggests several factors may be keeping shoppers at bay, at least so far. First, the timing of several high profile dot-com failures -- including MotherNature.com, Pets.com and Furniture.com -- may have rattled the confidence of potential shoppers in name-brand e-tailers. Second, the ongoing drama of recounting of votes in the U.S. presidential election may be distracting shoppers from focusing on the holidays. The report also cites a decline in dot-com advertising on television and radio over last year as a possible cause for the slow start. More Mature Web Internal factors, including the overall maturity of the Internet -- which makes large gains in traffic more difficult -- also play a role, said Kaldor. "Last year was the first consumer holiday shopping season on the Web where e-commerce sites skyrocketed in traffic as they established themselves," he said. "This year proves to be a tougher environment with an Internet matured." A pool of five firms in each category were used to come up with the growth rates. Individual E-tailers Slow, Too There were equally stark differences among individual companies from last year. BestBuy.com traffic was up 128 percent in 1999 and climbed 21 percent this year. eToys, up 55 percent last year, saw an increase of just 7 percent this year. Traffic to Gap.com, which grew 34 percent in 1999, actually fell 10 percent this year. Nielsen//NetRatings bases its figures on data collected from 70,000 Internet users in the U.S., including 8,000 at-work users. " ecommercetimes.com