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

To: Jack T. Pearson who wrote (33947)	1/9/1999 8:35:00 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

I don't have data on inventory turns on hand -- but Barnes, with its purchase of Ingram's, acquires 11 high tech, high speed distribution centers and tons of data on book orders etc, that nobody else in the industry can access. They also have print to order capability though 'Lighting Print' -- something AMZN can't easily match. AMZN is a godsend for Barnes. If not for AMZN, Barnes would face the kind of heat MSFT is getting. The consolidation of book selling represented by the growth of Barnes would be raising red flags in Washington -- except that the naive popular view is that AMZN has them on the run -- an amusing thought. By the way, if AMZN had acquired Ingrams, this would be a different industry.

To: Jack T. Pearson who wrote (33947)	1/10/1999 9:49:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Barnes vs Amazon: Do you know anything about the inventory turns? Jack, AMZN turns inventory four times as fast as does BKS but at a loss. The reason is much of AMZN's inventory is still costing them more because they are buying from wholesales a few books at a time and having them dropped shipped. The cost os goods sold is 9% higher when dropped shipped. BKS knew this because they understand retail so their very first move was to open a large distribution center for online sales and to inventory those books that turn the fastest. They even advertise that they carry more inventory. BKS did not need to lose hundreds of millions of dollars from their online sales to discover carrying the inventory works better than just turn. I believe that comes from the fact BKS knows and understands retail and AMZN still has no clue about retail. BKS trys to provide a return on invested capital to their investors. A novel idea don't you think? Glenn