Category Big Business1

Which company dominates the global streaming scenario?

          Netflix, the American entertainment company has evolved with the changing times. It began as a DVD rental company and is now the world’s largest media-streaming platform.

          Back in 1997, American entrepreneurs Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph saw an opportunity for business in renting DVDs. By 1999, they started an online subscription programme, wherein subscribers could choose the movie and show titles online and the DVDs would be mailed to them. Netflix had thousands of movie titles in its catalogue and more than 100 distribution centres.

          With the advancement of technology, Netflix started streaming movies and shows directly through the Internet. This happened in 2007 and for most subscription plans, the streaming service was unlimited. By 2010, they cut down DVDs and went for unlimited streaming plans. The same year, Netflix went international. 2013 marked another achievement; Netflix started producing original content, starting with the series ‘The House of Cards’. By the end of 2018 Netflix offered approximately 1,000 original titles.

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How did Amazon revolutionize the book market?

          Amazon began with the promise of delivering any book to any reader anywhere. This was the beginning of a changing book world. Though there were established bookseller chains, Amazon survived by helping publishers clear their backlists of slow-selling books.

          In 2007, Amazon introduced Kindle, an e-book platform. Kindle enabled readers to browse, download and buy books and other online content. Also, it was cheaper than other e-books. This revolutionized the book business; Kindle began to outsell printed books. 2009 was another landmark for Amazon’s book hub.

          The company introduced its first publishing line, Amazon Encore, concerned with popular self-published and out-of-print books. This platform gained popularity as it also let individuals publish their own e-books. In 2011, Amazon began publishing its own titles. Amazon is now a major competitor in the book industry.

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Why is Amazon an icon of e-commerce?

          Amazon is one of the world’s largest e-service providers. Started by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon now provides everything under the sky in their online store.

          When Jeff Bezos began his business, he wanted his enterprise to be known as a technology company that made online transactions simpler. He started his venture in Seattle. The people of Seattle were technology savy as Microsoft was located there. He started with online retailing of books. Though many business experts predicted that Amazon would become a grand failure, the venture exceeded their expectations; they focused on growing big, fast.

          The company went public in 1997 and they diversified into selling music and videos. In 1998, Amazon began international operations by acquiring online booksellers in the UK and Germany. By 1999, the company was also selling consumer electronics, video games, software, home-improvement items, toys and games, and much more.

          Today, Amazon is an ‘everything store’. It also provides other services like Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Robotics and Amazon Prime Now.

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Who changed the way retailing worked, by reducing the costs?

         Walmart is not just an international retail store, but the product of the vision and relentless efforts of Sam Walton. Known for its discounts and efficient services, Walmart was established in 1962.

          Sam Walton was a simple businessman who thought from the customers’ perspective. He started off with a small departmental store in 1945 where he sold higher volumes at lower prices taking less profit. This benefited the buyer and was reasonable for the seller as well.

          Other retailers of his time warned this to be a bad idea, but the discounts attracted the common man. There was a huge inflow of customers and a good rise of 45 per cent in sales in the very first year. His customers liked the shopping experience and kept coming back.

          Sam’s business expanded and soon became international, opening branches in Mexico, Canada and the UK. He was committed to saving people money so that they could live better. The company went public in 1970 and today, Walmart is the second largest corporation in the world.

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Why is Unilever important?

          Foods, cleaning products, personal care items, Unilever has it all. Many of our favourite brands like Pears, Dove, Brooke Bond, Close-Up and Vaseline belong to the Unilever family. Unilever was founded by the Lever brothers in 1885 and it has flooded our markets with a lot of fast moving consumer goods. The company maintained the policy of ‘acquire and grow’ that added more goods to their product line and widened their reach.

          The company has two headquarters- Unilever PLC, based in the United Kingdom, and Unilever N.V., based in the Netherlands. It is one of the oldest multinational companies; Unilever maintains production facilities in 88 countries with products sold in over 190 countries.

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What did Johnson and Johnson start off with?

          When it comes to baby products, the first name that comes to most of our minds is Johnson and Johnson. But, the brand name was associated with surgical dressing when it began in 1886.

          Johnson and Johnson was established by Robert Johnson, James Johnson and Edward Johnson in New Jersey, after they split from their former company Seabury & Johnson. It was during the same time that Joseph Lister advocated the use of antiseptics and their importance. Johnson brothers were inspired by his speech and decided to start a business in order to create a line of ready-to-use surgical dressings.

          In 1894, they ventured into baby business. Their maternity kits and baby powder became extremely popular. Today, Johnson and Johnson focuses on three main areas: consumer items, medical devices and diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.

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