1999年Amazon致股東信：目標是成為什麼都賣的電商平台｜見識之旅

導讀

這封信是1999年Amazon的第3封致股東信。

在這封信裡，Jeff Bezos再次重申「顧客至上」，強調Amazon的目標是成為全世界以客戶為中心的公司，希望讓每個用戶都可以在Amazon上找到任何想要的東西。

想要讓Amazon成為什麼都賣的電商平台，需要強大的物流能力支持。

延續上一封致股東信提到的「加大投資基礎建設」，這封致股東信明確闡述了Amazon提升了多少配送能力。

展望未來，Jeff Bezos訂了六大目標，並對各個項目進行明確的說明。

這些目標有些面向公司外部，像是提升顧客體驗和合作夥伴關係；有些面向公司內部，像是提升運營效率和推動業務。

好了，導讀結束，以下致股東信正文開始。

正文

To our shareholders:

致我們的股東：

The first 4½ years of our journey have yielded some amazing results: we’ve now served over 17 million customers in over 150 countries and built the leading global e-commerce brand and platform.

我們過去四年半取得一些驚人的成果：如今我們在超過150個國家，服務超過1700萬用戶，建立了一個全球領先的電子商務平台。

In the coming years we expect to benefit from the continued adoption of online commerce around the world as millions of new consumers connect to the Internet for the first time. As the online shopping experience continues to improve, consumer trust and confidence will increase, driving further adoption. And, if we at Amazon.com do our job right, we can be uniquely positioned to serve these new customers best and benefit as a result.

在未來的幾年中，隨著數百萬的新用戶首次連接互聯網，當他們使用電子商務時，我們預計將能從中受益。當我們持續改進電子商務的購物體驗，用戶對我們的信任將會持續提高，進一步驅動更多人使用Amazon。如果我們把這些事情做好，我們可以在獨一無二的領先位置為這些新用戶提供最好的服務，我們因此從中受益。

A Recap of 1999

關於1999年

During 1999, our relentless focus on customers worked:

1999年，我們對客戶持續不斷的專注得到回報：

• Sales grew from $610 million in 1998 to $1.64 billion — a 169 percent increase.
• 銷售額從1998年的6.1億，提升到16.4億，增長169%。
• We added 10.7 million new customers, increasing cumulative customer accounts from 6.2 million to 16.9 million.
• 我們新增了1070萬用戶，總用戶帳號數從620萬提升到1690萬。
• The percentage of orders placed by repeat customers grew from over 64 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998 to greater than 73 percent in the same period in 1999.
• 1999年第四季度，舊用戶購買的訂單，佔全部訂單的73%。1998年同一時間僅為64%。
• Customers around the world are now choosing Amazon.com for a wide array of products. Only two years ago, Amazon.com’s U.S. Books business represented 100 percent of our sales. Today, despite strong growth in U.S. Books, other areas account for more than half our sales. Major 1999 initiatives included Auctions, zShops, Toys, Consumer Electronics, Home Improvement, Software, Video Games, Payments and our wireless initiative, Amazon Anywhere.
• 現在，全世界的消費者都選擇使用Amazon購買各種類型的商品。僅僅是在兩年前，Amazon在美國的線上書店業務，即是我們所有的業務。今天，雖然書店業務仍強勁成長，其他領域的業務佔我們的銷售額一半以上。1999年，我們開始了新業務，包括拍賣、zShop、玩具、消費性電子產品、居家裝飾、軟體、電動玩具、支付和我們的無線業務Amazon Anywhere。
• We’ve continued to be recognized as best-of-breed not only in our more established areas such as books, but in our newer stores as well. Just to focus on one area, Amazon Toys has received multiple awards, including being rated the best online toy store in an MSNBC survey, a ranking as the №1 on-line toy store by Forrester Research, and the top e-Rating from Consumer Reports in the toys category, in each case beating out a number of longer-established players.
• 不只在書籍領域，我們也在新領域被消費者認為是最佳品牌。只看玩具領域，Amazon玩具斬獲多項獎項，即使玩具市場中有許多比我們更老的公司，MSNBC調查中被評為最佳線上玩具商店，在Forrester Research的市場研究中排行第一，在Consumer Reports的玩具分類中排行最高。
• Sales outside of the US accounted for 22 percent of our business, totaling $358 million. In the U.K. and Germany, we added Music, Auctions and zShops. In fact, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and Amazon.com are now the #1, #2, and #3 most popular online retail domains in Europe.
• 在美國境外的銷售額，佔我們業績的22%，總計3.58億。在英國和德國市場，我們增加了新業務：音樂、拍賣、zShop。事實上，英國站、德國站和美國站分別排行歐洲線上零售領域的第一名、第二名和第三名。
• We grew worldwide distribution capacity from roughly 300,000 square feet to over 5 million square feet in less than 12 months.
• 在過去12個月中，我們全球的物流配送能力從30萬平方英尺，提升至超過5百萬平方英尺。
• In part because of this infrastructure, we were able to grow revenues 90 percent in just three months, while shipping well over 99 percent of our holiday orders in time for the holidays. As far as we can determine, no other company has ever grown 90 percent in three months on a sales base of over $1 billion.
• 從某種程度上，由於有了這些基礎建設，我們能在短短三個月內提升營收90%，在假期及時運送99%突增的訂單。據我們所知，沒有其他公司在三個月內，以超過10億美元的銷售額增長90％。

I’m incredibly proud of everyone at Amazon.com for their tireless efforts to deliver what has become the standard-setting, Amazon.com-class customer experience while simultaneously handling such extraordinary growth rates. If any of you shareholders would like to thank this incredible worldwide team of Amazonians, please feel free to send an email to [email protected]. With help from my astounding office staff, I’ll compile them and send them to the company. I know it would be appreciated. (As a side benefit I’ll get to see if anyone reads these letters!)

我以Amazon的每一位成員為傲，在高增長表現下，他們付出不懈的努力以維持高標準的用戶體驗。如果我們的股東想要感謝不可思議的亞馬遜全球團隊，歡迎寫信至[email protected]，我會非常感謝股東的來信。在傑出同仁的幫助下，我將在編輯整理後發送給全公司。（作為額外的好處，我將可以看看是否有人讀過這些信件！）

In 1999, we continued to benefit from a business model that is inherently capital efficient. We don’t need to build physical stores or stock those stores with inventory, and our centralized distribution model has allowed us to build a business with over $2 billion in annualized sales but requiring just $220 million in inventory and $318 million in fixed assets. Over the last five years, we’ve cumulatively used just $62 million in operating cash.

1999年，我們持續從商業模式中獲益。我們無須開設實體商店和管理庫存。中心化配送模式，讓我們可以用2.2億元的庫存和3.18億元的固定資產，建立年收入超過20億的生意。過去五年，我們總共僅運用了6200萬現金。

What Do You Own?

身為股東你擁有什麼？

At a recent event at the Stanford University campus, a young woman came to the microphone and asked me a great question: “I have 100 shares of Amazon.com. What do I own?”

在史丹佛大學的一場活動，一個年輕女子問我一個很棒的問題：「我有100股Amazon股票，意味著我擁有什麼？」

I was surprised I hadn’t heard it before, at least not so simply put. What do you own? You own a piece of the leading e-commerce platform.

我很訝異我先前從未聽過這樣的問題，至少沒有這麼簡單。你擁有什麼？你擁有最領先的電子商務平台的一部分。

The Amazon.com platform is comprised of brand, customers, technology, distribution capability, deep e-commerce expertise, and a great team with a passion for innovation and a passion for serving customers well. We begin the year 2000 with 17 million customers, a world-wide reputation for customer focus, the best e-commerce software systems, and purpose-built distribution and customer service infrastructure. We believe we have reached a “tipping point,” where this platform allows us to launch new ecommerce businesses faster, with a higher quality of customer experience, a lower incremental cost, a higher chance of success, and a faster path to scale and profitability than any other company.

Amazon平台由品牌、消費者、科技、配送能力、深入的電子商務專業知識，和一個對創新和服務客戶充滿熱情的團隊組成。我們將以1700萬用戶、全球知名的聲譽、最好的電子商務系統、配送和消費者服務設施展開新的一年。我們相信我們已經達到「引爆點」，新的電子商務進展將會更迅猛。以更好的消費者體驗、更低的增量成本、更高的成功機會，以及更快的規模化速度和獲利能力。

Our vision is to use this platform to build Earth’s most customer-centric company, a place where customers can come to find and discover anything and everything they might want to buy online. We won’t do so alone, but together with what will be thousands of partners of all sizes. We’ll listen to customers, invent on their behalf, and personalize the store for each of them, all while working hard to continue to earn their trust. As is probably clear, this platform affords an unusually large scale opportunity, one that should prove very valuable for both customers and shareholders if we can make the most of it. Despite the many risks and complexities, we are deeply committed to doing so.

我們的願景是使Amazon成為世界上最用戶導向的公司，一個用戶可以找到任何想要的東西的線上平台。我們不是自己一間公司獨自努力，有成千上萬名大大小小的合作夥伴。我們聆聽消費者的聲音，發明他們需要的東西，為他們將商店個人化，努力工作以持續贏得他們的信任。很明顯地，無論對客戶或股東來說，只要我們能充分運用，這個平台將提供巨大的機會。儘管存在許多風險和複雜性，我們仍將堅定地這樣做。

Goals for 2000

2000年的目標

In the year 2000, Amazon.com has six major goals: growth in both the number of our customers and the strength of the relationship we have with each of them; continued rapid expansion of the products and services we offer; driving operational excellence in all areas of the company; international expansion; expanding our partnership programs; and last, importantly, driving toward profitability in each and every business we are in. I’ll spend a moment on each goal.

2000年，Amazon主要有六大目標：

• 消費者數量增長，並提升我們與消費者的深度關係
• 產品和服務的快速擴張
• 推動公司業務的卓越運營
• 國際化擴張
• 拓展我們的夥伴項目
• 推動每一項業務實現盈利

Growing and strengthening customer relationships — We will continue to invest heavily in introductions to new customers. Though it’s sometimes hard to imagine with all that has happened in the last five years, this remains Day 1 for e-commerce, and these are the early days of category formation where many customers are forming relationships for the first time. We must work hard to grow the number of customers who shop with us, the number of products they purchase, the frequency with which they shop, and the level of satisfaction they have when they do so.

增長和強化我們和客戶的關係－我們將繼續大力投資於吸引新客戶。儘管過去五年的進展巨大，有時讓人難以想像，但對於電子商務來說，今日依然是第一日（Day 1），許多電商的類別正在形成，許多客戶才第一次使用電子商務。我們必須努力提升在Amazon上購物的用戶數、購買的商品數量、購買的頻率以及滿足程度。

Product and service expansion — We are working to build a place where customers can find and discover anything they want to buy, anytime, anywhere. Each new product and service we offer makes us more relevant to a wider group of customers and can increase the frequency with which they visit our store. So, as we expand our offering, we create a virtuous cycle for the whole business. The more frequently customers visit our store, the less time, energy, and marketing investment is required to get them to come back again. In sight, in mind.

產品和服務擴張－我們致力於建立讓用戶可以在任何時候、任何地點找到任何想買的東西的平台。每一樣新的產品和服務，都讓我們離消費者更近，提升他們到訪Amazon的頻率。我們拓展我們提供的品項，創造生意上的良性循環。消費越常逛Amazon商店，我們要讓他們再次回訪所需要的時間、精力和行銷投資就越少。舉目所見，心之所想。

Further, as we expand, each new store has a dedicated team working to make it best-of-breed in its category; thus each new store is also a new opportunity to demonstrate to customers our focus on them. Finally, each new product or service further leverages our investments in distribution, customer service, technology, and brand, and can yield increased leverage on our bottom line.

此外，隨著我們拓展新市場，每個市場都有一支專門的團隊，致力使其成為該市場的首選。因此，每一個新市場都是一次展示機會，展示我們對消費者的關注。每一種新產品和服務，都可以進一步運用我們對配送、客戶服務、科技和品牌的投入，並提升我們的基礎。

Operational excellence — To us, operational excellence implies two things: delivering continuous improvement in customer experience and driving productivity, margin, efficiency, and asset velocity across all our businesses.

卓越的運營－對我們來說，卓越的運營意味著兩件事：提供不斷改進的客戶體驗，並提升業務的生產率、利潤率、效率和資產周轉率。

Often, the best way to drive one of these is to deliver the other. For instance, more efficient distribution yields faster delivery times, which in turn lowers contacts per order and customer service costs. These, in turn, improve customer experience and build brand, which in turn decreases customer acquisition and retention costs.

通常，驅動其中一項的最佳方法是提升另一項。 例如，更有效的分配效率，帶來更快的交貨時間，從而降低了每個訂單的聯繫成本和客服成本。 這些可以反過來改善客戶體驗，並建立品牌，從而減少客戶獲取和留存成本。

Our whole company is highly focused on driving operational excellence in each area of our business in 2000. Being world class in both customer experience and operations will allow us to grow faster and deliver even higher service levels.

2000年，我們整個公司將高度專注於在推動各領域業務的運營。在客戶體驗和運營方面處於世界一流水平，將使我們發展得更快，並提供更好的服務。

International expansion — We think that consumers outside the U.S. are even more under-served by retail than those within it, and, with our platform in place, Amazon.com is well positioned to be a leading global retailer. We already have significant brand, sales and customer presence around the world, as we’ve been shipping into over 150 countries for almost five years. I’m pleased to report that our stores in the UK and Germany are off to a strong start − they are already in the top 10 Web properties and the # 1 e-commerce site in each of their respective countries. Our customers and shareholders around the world can look forward to further geographic expansion from this base during the coming year.

國際化擴張－我們認為在零售領域，美國境外的消費者比美國境內的消費者接受更少的服務。Amazon目標是成為全球領先的零售商。過去五年，我們為全球超過150個國家的客戶寄送商品，因此我們已擁有巨大的品牌、銷售和全球客戶。我很高興地宣布，我們在英國和德國的商店即將開張－他們已經是各自國家中排名前10位的網站和排名第一的電子商務平台。 世界各地的Amazon客戶和的股東，都將在未來一年中，從這個基礎進一步拓展。

Expanding our partnership program — Through our platform, we are able to bring tremendous value to our partners, such as drugstore.com. In fact, our experience so far suggests that Amazon.com may easily be the most efficient, effective means for our partners to build their businesses. In many areas, partnering is the best way for us to rapidly expand our store in a customer-focused, cost-effective manner. One point worth emphasizing: the quality of customer experience a partner delivers is the single most important criteria in our selection process − we simply won’t build a partnership with any company that does not share our passion for serving customers.

拓展我們的夥伴項目－透過我們的平台，我們能夠為合作夥伴（例如drugstore.com）帶來巨大的價值。實際上，我們迄今為止的經驗表明，Amazon是合作夥伴開展業務最有效的方法。在許多領域，合作是我們以客戶為中心，具有成本效益的商店拓展方式。值得強調的一點是：合作夥伴提供給消費者的的體驗質量是我們選擇夥伴的最重要標準－我們不會為了要拓展業務，就和一家不對客戶充滿服務熱情的公司建立合作夥伴關係。

We love these kinds of partnerships because they please customers, please our partners, and are financially attractive, pleasing our shareholders − you and us.

我們喜歡這樣的合作夥伴關係，因為它可以使消費者滿意，使我們的合作夥伴滿意，並且在財務上具有吸引力，進而使我們的股東－你和我們感到滿意。

Drive toward profitability in each business we are in — Each of the previous goals I’ve outlined contribute to our long-standing objective of building the best, most profitable, highest return on capital, long-term franchise. So in a way, driving profitability is the foundation underlying all of these goals. In the coming year, we expect to deliver substantial margin improvement and cost leverage as we drive continuous improvement in our partnerships with suppliers, in our own productivity and efficiency, in our management of fixed and working capital, and our expertise in managing product mix and price.

推動每一項業務實現盈利－先前描繪過的每一個小目標，對於我們實現長期目標都有助益。我們的長期目標就是，建立最好的、最賺錢的、資本回報最高的市場領導地位。因此，從某種意義上來說，提高盈利能力是實現所有目標的基礎。接下來，隨著我們持續改善供應商關係、生產效率，以及提升管理固定資產、營運資金、產品價格的能力，我們期待能實質性地提升利潤並改善成本槓桿。

Each successive product and service we launch this year should build on our platform, so our investment curve can be less steep and the time to profitability for each business should, in general, continue to shorten.

我們今年推出的成功產品及服務，都應該構建於我們的平台上。因此，我們的投資曲線將可以平緩一些，每個業務的獲利時間應該會繼續縮短。

It’s All About the Long Term

這一切關乎長期

In our 1997 letter to shareholders (our first), we detailed our long-term investment approach. Because we continue to add many new shareholders, we’ve appended that letter immediately after this year’s. I invite you to please read the section entitled It’s All About the Long Term, as it is the best way I know to help make sure we’re the kind of company you want to be invested in. As we wrote there, we don’t claim it’s the right philosophy, we just claim it’s ours!

在1997年的致股東信，也就是我們的第一封致股東信中，我們詳細闡述了長期投資的方法。由於新股東持續增加，我們在今年的致股東信中，照例附上當年的第一封致股東信。我邀請你閱讀「這一切關乎長期」章節，這一章節能幫助你確定Amazon是你要投資的公司。如同我們在信中說的一樣，我們不敢說長期主義一定是正確的，只是說表明長期主義是我們的價值觀。

In closing, consider this most important point: the current online shopping experience is the worst it will ever be. It’s good enough today to attract 17 million customers, but it will get so much better. Increased bandwidth will result in faster page views and richer content. Further improvements will lead to “always-on access” (which I expect will be a strong boost to online shopping at home, as opposed to the office) and we’ll see significant growth in non-PC devices and wireless access. Moreover, it’s great to be participating in what is a multi-trillion dollar global market, in which we are so very, very tiny. We are doubly-blessed. We have a market-size unconstrained opportunity in an area where the underlying foundational technology we employ improves every day. That is not normal.

最後，請考慮以下最重要的一點：現在的線上購物體驗，放在今後的電商歷史中依然是最糟糕的。然而，今天這樣的狀態就足以吸引1700萬客戶，而且它將變得越來越好。頻寬提升將帶來更快的頁面瀏覽速度，以及更加豐富的內容。進一步的改進將使「永遠在線」成真，我預計這將大大提升居家場景的電商購物體驗。非PC設備和無線裝置將會顯著增長。此外，參與到這個萬億美元的全球市場是一件好事，Amazon在這個市場中還非常非常小，我們非常幸運。 在這個技術每天都在進步的時代，能遇到不受市場大小限制的機會，這是非比尋常的。

As always, we at Amazon.com remain grateful to our customers for their business and trust, to each other for our hard work, and to our shareholders for their support and encouragement. Many, many thanks.

一如既往，Amazon對客戶的業務、信任、勤奮工作以及股東的支持和鼓勵表示感謝。非常非常感謝。

Jeffrey P. Bezos

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Amazon.com, Inc.

傑夫·貝佐斯

Amazon創始人暨CEO

以上就是1999年Amazon致股東信。

想看隔年的Amazon致股東信，請至《2000年Amazon致股東信：股價雖大跌，體質依舊好》。

想看全系列導讀目錄，請至《Amazon 1997–2019年致股東信導讀目錄》。