2013年Amazon致股東信：原則，讓我們在這21個領域走得更遠｜見識之旅

導讀

這封信是2013年Amazon的第17封致股東信。

在這封信中，Jeff Bezos用了整整21個案例來介紹Amazon取得的成果。

雖然篇幅很長，但這些案例的可讀性很強，包含許多顧客身上發生的故事，讀起來一點都不會枯燥。

講那麼多故事，為的是要從一個一個具體案例中，闡述Amazon的做事原則。

你可以看到，Amazon確實把客戶至上的信念貫徹於一件又一件具體事項中。

其中，最有意思的是一項名為給錢走人（Pay to Quit）的計畫。員工到職後一年，Amazon會給1000美元問員工要不要離職。以此類推，直到達到5000美元。

這項計畫的目的，是讓覺得自己不適合Amazon的員工早點離開，因為對公司或員工來說，留在自己不想去的地方都不是一件健康的事。

同時，Amazon也不希望幾千塊美元就能打動員工離職，因此將這項計畫發送的信件標題取為「請不要接受此提案」。

長期來看，將適合的人留住，不適合的人自願離職對雙方都是好事。給錢走人計畫正是長期主義在員工留任上的體現。

好了，導讀結束，以下致股東信正文開始。

正文

To our shareowners:

致我們的股東：

I’m so proud of what all the teams here at Amazon have accomplished on behalf of customers this past year. Amazonians around the world are polishing products and services to a degree that is beyond what’s expected or required, taking the long view, reinventing normal, and getting customers to say “Wow.”

我為Amazon這一年代表客戶所取得的成就感到自豪。世界各地的Amazon員工，正以超出預期和程度，放眼長期，打造更好的產品與服務。重塑標準，讓客戶驚嘆：「哇！」

I’d like to take you on a tour that samples a small subset of our various initiatives, ranging from Prime to Amazon Smile to Mayday. The goal is to give you a sense for how much is going on across Amazon and how exciting it is to work on these programs. This broad array of initiatives is only possible because a large team of talented people at every level are exercising their good judgment every day and always asking, how do we make this better?

從Prime服務、Amazon Smile到Mayday，我想帶你一個一個認識Amazon的做事方法。希望能讓你明白，Amazon正在做什麼，以及這些作為反映在服務上會有什麼效果。之所以在多項業務上同時開展，是因為在各層級中都有大批優秀人才，每天在工作中運用良好的判斷力，並且總是追求：我們如何做得更好？

Ok, let’s get started on the tour.

好，讓我們開始吧！

Prime

Prime付費訂閱服務

Customers love Prime. More than one million customers joined Prime in the third week of December alone, and there are now tens of millions of Prime members worldwide. On a per customer basis, Prime members are ordering more items, across more categories, than ever before. Even internally, it’s easy for us to forget that Prime was a new, unproven (some even said foolhardy) concept when we launched it nine years ago: all-you-can-eat, two-day shipping for a flat annual fee. At that time, we had one million eligible Prime products. This year, we passed 20 million eligible products, and we continue to add more. We’ve made Prime better in other ways too, adding new digital benefits — including the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and Prime Instant Video. And we’re not done. We have many ideas for how to make Prime even better.

顧客們喜愛Prime服務。僅在12月的第三周，就有超過100萬名顧客加入了Prime會員的行列。如今，全球有超過數千萬名Prime會員。每名Prime會員都因此購買了更多商品，商品種類橫跨了各式各樣。我們經常會忘記，Prime服務只是個9年前提出的新概念，這個概念未經證實，甚至被認為是莽撞的點子：只要固定費用，就能享有運費吃到飽且2天內可收件的服務。當時，Amazon上有100萬件可用於Prime服務的商品。今年，我們增加了2000萬可用於Prime服務的新商品，而且我們會持續增加新品。我們還透過其他方式讓Prime服務變得更好，讓服務涵蓋很多數位內容－包含Kindle Owners’ Lending Library和Prime Instant Video。還沒完呢！我們還有很多點子！

Readers & Authors

讀者與作者

We’re investing heavily on behalf of readers. The all-new, high-resolution, high-contrast Kindle Paperwhite launched to rave reviews. We integrated the very impressive Goodreads into Kindle, introduced FreeTime for Kindle, and launched Kindle in India, Mexico, and Australia. Bringing joy to air travelers, the FAA approved the use of electronic devices during takeoff and landing. Our public policy team, with the help of many allies, worked patiently for four years on this, at one point loading a test plane with 150 active Kindles. Yes, it all worked fine!

我們已大力投資於讀者服務。全新推出的高解析度、高對比度的Kindle Paperwhite獲得好評。我們將圖書分享網站Goodreads整合至Kindle，為Kindle加上FreeTime服務，並在印度、墨西哥、澳洲推出Kindle。美國聯邦航空總署批准在起飛和降落期間使用電子設備。我們的公共政策團隊，在很多盟友的幫助下，為此努力工作四年才獲得此批准。在一次試驗中，我們在飛機上安裝了150台Kindle，完全不影響飛航安全！

Joining CreateSpace, Kindle Singles, and Kindle Direct Publishing, is the new service Kindle Worlds, the literary journal Day One, eight new Amazon Publishing imprints, and the launch of Amazon Publishing in the UK and Germany. Thousands of authors are already using these services to build fulfilling writing careers. Many write and tell us how we have helped them send their children to college, pay off medical bills, or purchase a home. We are missionaries for reading and these stories inspire and encourage us to keep inventing on behalf of writers and readers.

新服務Kindle Worlds結合了CreateSpace、Kindle Singles和Kindle自助出版，開始了我們在出版產業的Day One。我們在英國和德國開始了Amazon Publishing的業務，已經有了八間出版公司加入我們。成千上萬名作者使用這些服務，建立充實的寫作生涯。許多人寫信告訴我們，Amazon如何幫助他們賺錢送孩子上大學、還清醫療費或購買房產。我們是閱讀的傳教士，書籍啟發並鼓勵我們不斷往前。

Prime Instant Video

Amazon Prime影音

Prime Instant Video is experiencing tremendous growth across all metrics — including new customers, repeat usage, and total number of streams. These are output metrics and they suggest we are on a good path, focusing on the right inputs. Two of the key inputs are the growth of selection and the desirability of that selection. Since we launched PIV in 2011 with 5,000 titles, we’ve grown selection to more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes — all included in your Prime membership. PIV has exclusives on hundreds of sought after TV seasons including Downton Abbey, the ratings blockbuster Under the Dome, The Americans, Justified, Grimm, Orphan Black, Suits, and kids programs such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, and Blue’s Clues. In addition, our Amazon Studios team continues to invest heavily in original content. Garry Trudeau’s Alpha House, starring John Goodman, debuted last year and quickly became the most-watched show on Amazon. We recently greenlit six more originals, including Bosch, by Michael Connelly, The After, from Chris Carter of The X-Files, Mozart in the Jungle, from Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, and Jill Soloway’s beautiful Transparent, which some have called the best pilot in years. We like our approach and are replicating it with our recent rollout of PIV in both the UK and Germany. The early customer response in those countries has been terrific, surpassing our expectations.

在所有指標上，Prime Instant Video都經歷了巨幅增長，包括新客戶數、重複使用率和總流量。這些指標告訴我們，我們正走在一條正確的路。這些指標中，最關鍵的是品項的增長。2011年推出Amazon Prime影音時，當時品項只有5000種，而我們現已增加至40000種電影和影集－全都包含在你的Prime會員資格裡。Amazon Prime影音涵蓋數百個獨家節目，包括《Downton Abbey》、收視率最高的《Under the Dome》、《The Americans》、《Justified》、《Grimm》、《Orphan Black》、《Suits》、兒童節目《SpongeBob SquarePants》、《Dora the Explorer》和《Blue’s Clues》。此外，Amazon Studio團隊持續投資於原創內容。Garry Trudeau創作的《Alpha House》，由John Goodman主演，去年在Amazon平台亮相之後，迅速成為Amazon最受歡迎的節目。我們最近新增了六部原創內容，包括Michael Connelly的《Bosch》、Chris Carter的《The After》、Roman Coppola和Jason Schwartzman的《Mozart in the Jungle》、Jill Soloway的《Transparent》，其中多部被譽為近年來最佳試播節目。我們喜歡這樣的做法，近期也在英國和德國試圖複製這樣的做法。早期客戶的反應很好，超出了我們的預期。

Fire TV

Fire TV

Just this past week, after two years of hard work, our hardware team launched Fire TV. Not only is Fire TV the best way to watch Amazon’s video offerings, it also embraces non-Amazon content services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, VEVO, WatchESPN, and many more. Fire TV has big hardware specs in a category that’s previously been hardware-light. It shows. Fire TV is fast and fluid. And our ASAP technology predicts what you might want to watch and pre-buffers it, so shows start instantly. Our team also put a small microphone in the remote control. Hold down the mic button on the remote, and you can speak your search term rather than type it into an alphabet grid. The team has done a terrific job — the voice search actually works.

就在過去一周裡，經過兩年的努力，我們的硬體團隊推出Fire TV。Fire TV不僅是觀看Amazon影片服務的最佳工具，也能兼容Netflix、Hulu Plus、VEVO和WatchESPN。Fire TV的硬體規格較具份量，有別於該類型常見的輕量設備。它的播放能力很強，播放速度快又流暢。我們的「越快越好」技術能夠預測你想看的內容，並提前做好播放緩衝，讓你可以一切到節目就能立即播放。我們團隊把一個小型麥克風放在遙控器裡，按著遙控器底下的麥克風按鈕，你就可以用語音搜尋節目。這個團隊做得很好－語音搜尋確實可行。

In addition to Prime Instant Video, Fire TV gives you instant access to over 200,000 movies and TV episodes available a la carte, including new releases like Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, Frozen, and more. As a bonus, Fire TV also lets you play high-quality, inexpensive games on your living room TV. We hope you try it out. If you do, let us know what you think. The team would love to hear your feedback.

除了Prime Instant Video，Fire TV還讓你可以隨時取得超過20萬部電影和影集，包括最新電影《Gravity》、《12 Years a Slave》、《Dallas Buyers Club》、《Frozen》等。另外，Fire TV還有一項加分項－可播放高品質的平價遊戲。我們希望你試試看，使用後請告訴我們你的想法。我們團隊樂於聽見你們的聲音。

Amazon Game Studios

Amazon遊戲工作室

It’s early in the twenty-second century and Earth is threatened by an alien species, the Ne’ahtu. The aliens infected Earth’s energy grid with a computer virus to disable the planet’s defenses. Before they could strike, computer science prodigy Amy Ramanujan neutralized the alien virus and saved the planet. Now, the Ne’ahtu are back and Dr. Ramanujan must prevent them from launching an all-out invasion on Earth. She needs your help.

在21世紀初，地球受到外來物種Ne’ ahtu威脅，他們用計算機病毒癱瘓地球的防禦體系，感染了地球的能源網絡。在他們要進行致命一擊時，計算機科學天才Amy Ramanujan解決了計算機病毒，拯救了地球。現在，Ne’ ahtu即將再次造訪地球，Ramanujan博士必須阻止他們對地球發起全面進攻。Ramanujan需要你的幫助。

That’s how Sev Zero, the first Fire TV exclusive from Amazon Game Studios, begins. The team combined tower defense with shooter gameplay and created a co-op mode where one player leads on the ground with their gamepad controller while a second player provides air support from a tablet. I can assure you that there are some intense moments when you’ll appreciate a well-timed air-strike. When you see it, you may be surprised that this level of game play is possible on an inexpensive streaming media device. Sev Zero is only the first of a collection of innovative and graphically beautiful games we’re building from the ground up for Fire tablets and Fire TV.

以上就是Amazon遊戲工作室的第一款Fire TV遊戲《Sev Zero》的開頭。團隊結合了塔防遊戲和射擊遊戲，並創造出一種合作模式，由一名玩家開始操控遊戲手柄，並由另一名玩家透過平板電腦提供空中支援。我可以向你保證，你會在某些緊張刺激的時刻，見到適時的空襲幫助。當你見到它時，相信你會驚訝於平價設備的遊戲展示能力。《Sev Zero》只是我們為Fire平板和Fire TV打造的第一款遊戲，我們將會再接再厲，持續推出一系列精美的遊戲。

Amazon Appstore

Amazon應用商店

The Amazon Appstore now serves customers in almost 200 countries. Selection has grown to include over 200,000 apps and games from top developers around the globe — nearly tripling in size over the past year. We introduced Amazon Coins, a virtual currency that saves customers up to 10% on app and in-app purchases. Our Whispersync for Games technology lets you start a game on one device and continue it on another without losing your progress. Developers can use the Mobile Associates program to offer millions of physical products from Amazon inside their apps, and earn referral fees when customers buy those items. We introduced Appstore Developer Select, a marketing program that promotes new apps and games on Kindle Fire tablets and on Amazon’s Mobile Ad Network. We created Analytics and A/B Testing services — free services that empower developers to track user engagement and optimize their apps for iOS, Android, and Fire OS. Also this year, we embraced HTML5 web app developers. They too can now offer their apps on Kindle Fire and through the Amazon Appstore.

Amazon應用商店為近200國家的客戶提供服務。提供的App持續增加，包括來自全球頂級開發者的20萬種App及遊戲－過去一年中規模增長2倍。我們推出虛擬貨幣Amazon Coins，可為客戶節省多達10%的App費用。我們的Whispersync for Games技術可以讓你在一台設備開始玩遊戲，然後在另一台接續遊戲進度。開發者還可以參與Mobile Associates計畫，在App內分銷Amazon的商品，賺取推薦費。我們推出Appstore Developer Select營銷計劃，在Kindle Fire和Amazon的移動廣告網絡上推廣新的App和遊戲。我們推出Analytics分析服務和A/B測試服務，這些免費服務可以幫助開發者追蹤用戶數據，並優化他們的iOS、Android和Fire應用。今年，我們開始服務HTML5網頁應用開發者，他們現在也可以把App上架於Kindle Fire和Amazon應用商店。

Spoken Word Audio

有聲書語音服務

2013 was a landmark year for Audible, the world’s largest seller and producer of audiobooks. Audible makes it possible for you to read when your eyes are busy. Millions of customers download hundreds of millions of audiobooks and other spoken-word programming from Audible. Audible customers downloaded close to 600 million listening hours in 2013. Thanks to Audible Studios, people drive to work listening to Kate Winslet, Colin Firth, Anne Hathaway, and many other stars. One big hit in 2013 was Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance of The Great Gatsby, which has already sold 100,000 copies. Whispersync for Voice allows customers to switch seamlessly back and forth between reading a book on their Kindle and listening to the corresponding Audible book on their smart phone. The Wall Street Journal called Whispersync for Voice “Amazon’s new killer app for books.” If you haven’t already, I recommend you give it a try — it’s fun and expands the amount of time you have available to read.

Audible是世界最大的有聲書品牌，業務包含生產有聲書和銷售有聲書。對於Audible來說，2013年是一個具有里程碑意義的一年。當你的眼睛忙於其他事情時，Audible可以為你朗讀。數百萬用戶透過Audible下載數億本有聲書和其他語音節目。2013年，Audible用戶共下載了超過6億小時的播放內容。多虧了Audible Studios，人們可以在通勤路上收聽Kate Winslet、Colin Firth、Anne Hathaway等一眾明星的節目。Jake Gyllenhaal的《The Great Gatsby》大受歡迎，一共售出超過10萬次。Whispersync for Voice技術讓用戶可以在Kindle閱讀與Audible朗讀之間無縫切換，《The Wall Street》將此技術稱為「Amazon的殺手級應用」。若你還沒嘗試過，我建議你可以試看看－不僅有趣，而且還可以拓展你的閱讀時間。

Fresh Grocery

生鮮雜貨

After trialing the service for five years in Seattle (no one accuses us of a lack of patience), we expanded Amazon Fresh to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Prime Fresh members pay $299 a year and receive same-day and early morning delivery not only on fresh grocery items but also on over 500,000 other items ranging from toys to electronics to household goods. We’re also partnering with favorite local merchants (the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, Pike Place Fish Market, San Francisco Wine Trading Company, and many more) to provide the same convenient home delivery on a great selection of prepared foods and specialty items. We’ll continue our methodical approach — measuring and refining Amazon Fresh — with the goal of bringing this incredible service to more cities over time.

在西雅圖開展生鮮雜貨業務五年之後（沒人指責我們缺乏耐心），我們將Amazon生鮮服務拓展至洛杉磯和舊金山。Prime Fresh會員一年只要付299美元，就能享受當天送達的新鮮食品雜貨，品項超過50萬種，從玩具、電子產品到家庭用品應有盡有。我們還與當地最受歡迎的賣家合作（比佛利山莊的奶酪店、派克魚市場、舊金山葡萄酒貿易公司），以最便捷的方式送貨上門，提供各式現成的食品與特色菜餚。我們會持續評估並完善Amazon生鮮業務－目標是讓這個不可思議的服務拓展至更多城市。

Amazon Web Services

AWS雲端運算服務

AWS is eight years old, and the team’s pace of innovation is actually accelerating. In 2010, we launched 61 significant services and features. In 2011, that number was 82. In 2012, it was 159. In 2013: 280. We’re also expanding our geographic footprint. We now have 10 AWS regions around the world, including the East Coast of the U.S., two on the West Coast, Europe, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Brazil, China, and a government-only region called GovCloud. We have 26 availability zones across regions and 51 edge locations for our content distribution network. The development teams work directly with customers and are empowered to design, build, and launch based on what they learn. We iterate continuously, and when a feature or enhancement is ready, we push it out and make it instantly available to all. This approach is fast, customer-centric, and efficient — it’s allowed us to reduce prices more than 40 times in the past 8 years — and the teams have no plans to slow down.

AWS推出至今已經有八年歷史，而我們團隊的創新步伐仍在加速。2010年，我們推出了61種重要服務。2011年，服務數從61種增加為82種。2012年，服務數增加為159種。2013年，服務數擴增為280種。我們還在擴大服務範圍，目前我們在全球有10個服務區域，包括美國東海岸、美國西海岸、歐洲、新加坡、東京、雪梨、巴西、中國，以及一個名為GovCloud的政府專用區域。我們的內容分發網絡有26個可用區域，其中包含51個邊陲位置。開發部門直接與客戶合作，擁有直接調整設計並發布的權力。我們會持續迭代，當新功能就緒時，我們就會提供給所有客戶。這樣以客戶為中心的做法，快速且高效－使我們在過去8年中降價超過40次，而且沒有放慢速度的跡象。

Employee Empowerment

員工授權

We challenge ourselves to not only invent outward facing features, but also to find better ways to do things internally — things that will both make us more effective and benefit our thousands of employees around the world.

我們挑戰自我，不只是為了向外證明什麼，也是為了幫助自己把事做好－既可以使我們更有效，也可以惠及全球成千上萬的員工。

Career Choice is a program where we pre-pay 95% of tuition for our employees to take courses for indemand fields, such as airplane mechanic or nursing, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. The goal is to enable choice. We know that for some of our fulfillment center employees, Amazon will be a career. For others, Amazon might be a stepping stone on the way to a job somewhere else — a job that may require new skills. If the right training can make the difference, we want to help.

「職業選擇（Career Choice）」是一個Amazon員工的培訓計畫。由公司預付95%學費，提供員工選修飛機修護或護理等技能的機會，技能不需要和工作直接相關。這項計畫是為了提供選擇。在Amazon配送中心工作的員工之中，有些人把這份工作當成他的職業；有些人則把這份工作當成另一份工作的墊腳石。他們未來的工作可能需要新技能，如果職業訓練能幫助他們，我們很樂意這麼做。

The second program is called Pay to Quit. It was invented by the clever people at Zappos, and the Amazon fulfillment centers have been iterating on it. Pay to Quit is pretty simple. Once a year, we offer to pay our associates to quit. The first year the offer is made, it’s for $2,000. Then it goes up one thousand dollars a year until it reaches $5,000. The headline on the offer is “Please Don’t Take This Offer.” We hope they don’t take the offer; we want them to stay. Why do we make this offer? The goal is to encourage folks to take a moment and think about what they really want. In the long-run, an employee staying somewhere they don’t want to be isn’t healthy for the employee or the company.

「給錢走人（Pay to Quit）」是另一項計畫。這樣的做法起源於Zappos，而我們Amazon配送中心持續優化此做法。給錢走人計畫非常簡單，Amazon每年會提供一次機會讓員工拿錢走人。第一年給1000美元，第二年給2000美元，直到達到5000美元。此計畫的信件標題為「請不要接受此提案」，我們希望員工留在Amazon。那為什麼我們要提供這項計畫？我們的目的是希望人們花時間思考自己真正想要的東西是什麼。長期來看，對公司或員工來說，留在自己不想去的地方都不是一件健康的事。

A third inward innovation is our Virtual Contact Center. It’s an idea we started a few years back and have continued to grow with terrific results. Under this program, employees provide customer service support for Amazon and Kindle customers while working from home. This flexibility is ideal for many employees who, perhaps because they have young children or for another reason, either cannot or prefer not to work outside the home. Our Virtual Contact Center is our fastest growing “site” in the U.S., operating in more than ten states today. This growth will continue as we hope to double our state footprint in 2014.

第三項內部創新是我們的虛擬客服中心。我們幾年前有了這個點子，並持續開展做法，取得了令人矚目的成果。根據該計畫，員工在家中工作時，可以為Amazon和Kindle用戶提供客服支持。對於因為小孩或其他原因而無法離開家的員工來說，這種靈活性是理想的選擇。虛擬客服中心是我們在美國增長最快的「站點」，目前已在十多個州運營。我們希望在2014年，將站點數持續擴大一倍。

Veteran Hiring

退伍軍人招聘

We seek leaders who can invent, think big, have a bias for action, and deliver results on behalf of customers. These principles look familiar to men and women who’ve served our country in the armed forces, and we find that their experience leading people is invaluable in our fast-paced work environment. We’re a member of Joining Forces and the 100,000 Jobs Mission — two national efforts that encourage businesses to offer service members and their families career opportunities and support. Our Military Talent team attended more than 50 recruiting events last year to help veterans find job opportunities at Amazon. In 2013, we hired more than 1,900 veterans. And once veterans join our team, we offer several programs that help them transition more easily into the civilian workforce and that connect them with our internal network of veterans for mentoring and support. These programs have earned us recognition as a top employer by G.I. Jobs Magazine, U.S. Veterans Magazine, and Military Spouse Magazine, and we’ll continue to invest in military veteran hiring as we grow.

我們尋求領導人者的條件是：創新、富有遠見、具備以客戶為中心的價值觀。若你在軍隊裡服役過，你可能對這樣的要求很熟悉。我們發現，在Amazon的快節奏工作中，領導團隊是很珍貴的經驗。Amazon是Joining Forces和100,000 Jobs Mission的成員，這兩個組織旨在鼓勵企業提供員工與其家庭成員工作機會和支持。去年，我們的軍事人才團隊參加了50多次招募活動，以幫助退伍軍人在Amazon裡找到適合的工作機會。2013年，我們雇用了超過1900位退伍軍人。一旦退伍軍人加入Amazon的行列，我們將提供一些計畫，幫助他們從軍人身分過渡為民用勞動力，並將新進者加入我們的退伍軍人網絡，給予指導與支持。這些計畫給我們帶來美譽，《G.I. Jobs Magazine》、《U.S. Veterans Magazine》和《Military Spouse Magazine》給予Amazon最佳雇主的認可。在持續增長的同時，我們會持續投入於退伍軍人招聘。

Fulfillment Innovation

配送創新

Nineteen years ago, I drove the Amazon packages to the post office every evening in the back of my Chevy Blazer. My vision extended so far that I dreamed we might one day get a forklift. Fast-forward to today and we have 96 fulfillment centers and are on our 7th generation of fulfillment center design. Our operations team is extraordinary — methodical and ingenious. Through our Kaizen program, named for the Japanese term “change for the better,” employees work in small teams to streamline processes and reduce defects and waste. Our Earth Kaizens set energy reduction, recycling, and other green goals. In 2013, more than 4,700 associates participated in 1,100 Kaizens.

19年前，每天晚上我都要開著車，到郵局寄送Amazon包裹。我當時想，要是能買台堆高機就好了。時間快進到今天，我們擁有96個配送中心，而且配送中心已迭代至第7版。我們的運營團隊十分傑出、做事有條理且獨具創意。透過我們的Kaizen計畫（Kaizen的意思是日語的「為了更好而改變」），員工編列成小團隊來簡化流程，以降低資源的浪費。在環境層面，Kaizen計畫設定了減少能源消耗、回收利用和其他環保目標。2013年，Kaizen計畫數量總計超過1100個，一共超過4700名員工加入其中。

Sophisticated software is key in our FCs. This year, we rolled out 280 major software improvements across the FC network. Our goal is to continue to iterate and improve on the design, layout, technology, and operations in these buildings, ensuring that each new facility we build is better than the last. I invite you to come see one for yourself. We offer fulfillment center tours open to the public, ages six and above. You can find info on the available tours at www.amazon.com/fctours. I’m always amazed when I visit one of our FCs, and I hope you’ll arrange a tour. I think you’ll be impressed.

先進成熟的軟體設施，是配送與運營（Fulfillment & Operations）的關鍵。今年，我們在配送與運營方面推出了280項重大軟體更新。我們的目標是持續迭代配送中心的設計、佈局、技術和運營，確保每個新設施都比上一個更好。我邀請你自己來看看。我們向六歲以上的大眾提供公開的配送中心導覽，你可以在www.amazon.com/fctours查看相關資訊。我自己每次參觀配送中心時，總會一遍又一遍地感到驚喜。我希望你能夠安排一趟導覽，相信你也會印象深刻。

Urban Campus

都市園區

In 2013, we added 420,000 square feet of new headquarters space in Seattle and broke ground on what will become four city blocks and several million square feet of new construction. It is a fact that we could have saved money by instead building in the suburbs, but for us, it was important to stay in the city. Urban campuses are much greener. Our employees are able to take advantage of existing communities and public transit infrastructure, with less dependence on cars. We’re investing in dedicated bike lanes to provide safe, pollutionfree, easy access to our offices. Many of our employees can live nearby, skip the commute altogether, and walk to work. Though I can’t prove it, I also believe an urban headquarters will help keep Amazon vibrant, attract the right talent, and be great for the health and wellbeing of our employees and the city of Seattle.

2013年，我們在西雅圖增加了42萬平方英尺的新總部空間，這裡會成為四個城市街區和數百萬平方英尺的新總部建築。事實上，我們大可選擇在郊區建立新總部，這樣比較省錢。然而，對我們來說，總部設在城市裡是一件很重要的事。都市的園區綠化做的比較好。我們的員工能夠運用既有的大眾運輸工具，減少自行開車的需求。我們大力投資於單車路線建設，提供安全、低汙染、簡易的通勤方式。許多員工住在公司附近，他們可以直接走路上班。雖然我沒辦法直接證明，但我相信位於都市的總部，可以幫助Amazon保持活動，吸引更多人才，並保持員工健康。對於Amazon或西雅圖這座城市來說，都是好事。

Fast Delivery

快速送貨

In partnership with the United States Postal Service, we’ve begun for the first time to offer Sunday delivery to select cities. Sunday delivery is a win for Amazon customers, and we plan to roll it out to a large portion of the U.S. population throughout 2014. We’ve created our own fast, last-mile delivery networks in the UK where commercial carriers couldn’t support our peak volumes. In India and China, where delivery infrastructure isn’t yet mature, you can see Amazon bike couriers delivering packages throughout the major cities. And there is more invention to come. The Prime Air team is already flight testing our 5th and 6th generation aerial vehicles, and we are in the design phase on generations 7 and 8.

我們與美國郵政署（United States Postal Service）合作，開始向部分城市提供週日送貨服務。週日送貨服務，對於Amazon的消費者來說是一件好事。我們計畫在2014年在更多城市開展這項服務。在英國，由於服務商無法支持我們的需求，我們已經創造自家的最後一哩路送貨網絡。在印度和中國，由於配送基礎設施尚未成熟，你會看到Amazon送貨員騎著單車在大城市中穿梭。這就是創新的起源。Prime Air團隊正計畫著第5代和第6代的飛行器試飛，第7代和第8代飛行器也正在設計中。

Experiments and More Experiments

試驗與更多的試驗

We have our own internal experimentation platform called “Weblab” that we use to evaluate improvements to our websites and products. In 2013, we ran 1,976 Weblabs worldwide, up from 1,092 in 2012, and 546 in 2011. One recent success is our new feature called “Ask an owner”. It was many years ago that we pioneered the idea of online customer reviews — customers sharing their opinion on a product to help other customers make an informed purchase decision. “Ask” is in that same tradition. From a product page, customers can ask any question related to the product. Is the product compatible with my TV/Stereo/PC? Is it easy to assemble? How long does the battery last? We then route these questions to owners of the product. As is the case with reviews, customers are happy to share their knowledge to directly help other customers. Millions of questions have already been asked and answered.

我們擁有自己的內部測試平台－Weblab。我們使用Weblab來測試我們的網站和產品。2011年我們在全球進行546次測試，2012年進行1092次測試，2013年進行1976次測試。我們近期的成功是一項新功能「問賣家（Ask an owner）。這是多年前我們提出的想法，讓消費者可以在線評論、分享意見，幫助其他消費者做出更好的購買決策。從產品頁面，消費者可以提出關於產品的任何問題。產品是否和我的電視／音響／電腦兼容？是不是容易組裝？電池耗電狀況快不快？我們會把問題的答案分享給其他消費者。與評論的反響一樣，消費者很樂於分享知識，直接其他人進行購買決策。現在，問題和答覆已經超過數百萬個。

Apparel and Shoes

服裝與鞋子

Amazon Fashion is booming. Premium brands are recognizing that they can use Amazon to reach fashionconscious, high-demo customers, and customers are enjoying the selection, free returns, detailed photos, and video clips that let them see how clothes move and drape as the models walk and turn. We opened a new 40,000 square foot photo studio in Brooklyn and now shoot an average of 10,413 photos every day in the studio’s 28 bays. To celebrate the opening, we hosted a design contest with students from Pratt, Parsons, School of Visual Arts, and the Fashion Institute of Technology that was judged by a panel of industry leaders including Steven Kolb, Eva Chen, Derek Lam, Tracy Reese, and Steven Alan. Kudos to Parsons who took home the top prize.

Amazon Fashion正在蓬勃發展。高端品牌已經意識到，他們可以運用Amazon來觸達重視時尚的客群。消費者也很喜歡這些品牌、免費退貨服務和詳盡的商品照片與影片，使他們能夠清晰地看到模特走路和轉身時的實際樣子。我們在布魯克林設立了一個40000平方英尺的照相館，每天平均拍攝10413張照片。為了慶祝開幕，我們與來自Pratt、Parsons、School of Visual Arts和Fashion Institute of Technology的學生一起舉辦一場設計競賽，由業內人士進行評判，其中包括Steven Kolb、Eva Chen、Derek Lam、Tracy Reese和 Steven Alan。在此向奪得最高榮譽的Parsons致上敬意。

Frustration-Free Packaging

Frustration-Free包裝計畫

Our battle against annoying wire ties and plastic clamshells rages on. An initiative that began five years ago with a simple idea that you shouldn’t have to risk bodily injury opening your new electronics or toys, has now grown to over 200,000 products, all available in easy-to-open, recyclable packaging designed to alleviate “wrap rage” and help the planet by reducing packaging waste. We have over 2,000 manufacturers in our FrustrationFree Packaging program, including Fisher-Price, Mattel, Unilever, Belkin, Victorinox Swiss Army, Logitech, and many more. We’ve now shipped many millions of Frustration-Free items to 175 countries. We are also reducing waste for customers — eliminating 33 million pounds of excess packaging to date. This program is a perfect example of a missionary team staying heads-down focused on serving customers. Through hard work and perseverance, an idea that started with only 19 products is now available on hundreds of thousands and benefiting millions of customers.

Amazon與煩人的綁帶和塑膠包裝的鬥爭越來越激烈。五年前，我們開始了Frustration-Free包裝計畫。最初的想法很簡單，就是讓消費者不用冒著受傷的風險打開商品的包裝。從電子產品、玩具到目前超過20萬種商品，所有商品的包裝都是易於開啟、可回收的設計，並實現減量幫助地球。在計畫中，我們與超過2000間包裝耗材製造商合作，包括Fisher-Price、Mattel、Unilever, Belkin、Victorinox Swiss Army、Logitech。透過Frustration-Free包裝計畫，我們已經向全球175個國家運送了數百萬件包裹。迄今為止，我們為消費者減少了3300萬磅多餘耗材。此計畫是我們以客戶為中心的典範。經過艱苦奮鬥，這個計畫涵蓋的範圍，從起初的19項商品增加至成千上萬種，使數百萬客戶受益。

Fulfillment by Amazon

Amazon配送服務

The number of sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon grew more than 65% last year. Growth like that at such large scale is unusual. FBA is unique in many ways. It’s not often you get to delight two customer sets with one program. With FBA, sellers can store their products in our fulfillment centers, and we pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Sellers benefit from one of the most advanced fulfillment networks in the world, easily scaling their businesses to reach millions of customers. And not just any customers — Prime members. FBA products can be eligible for Prime free two-day shipping. Customers benefit from this additional selection — they get even more value out of their Prime membership. And, unsurprisingly, sellers see increased sales when they join FBA. In a 2013 survey, nearly three out of four FBA respondents reported that their unit sales increased on Amazon.com more than 20% after joining FBA. It’s a win-win.

去年，使用Amazon配送的賣家數量增長超過65%。如此大規模的增長是很罕見的。Amazon配送服務在很多方面都是獨一無二的。通常來說，你很難用一項服務滿足兩群客戶。有了Amazon配送，賣家可以將商品寄存在我們的配送中心，由我們來進行撿貨、包裝和運送和客戶服務。受益於世界最先進的配送網絡，賣家可以輕鬆拓展業務，服務數百萬客戶。Prime會員可以享受到兩天內到貨的免費送貨服務，因此他們更可能會購買更多第三方賣家的商品。毫不意外，賣家發現他們加入Amazon配送後銷量提升。在2013年的一項調查之中，近四分之三的受訪者表示，在加入Amazon配送之後，他們的單位銷量提升了20%。這是一個雙贏結果。

“FBA is the best employee I have ever had. … One morning I woke up and realized FBA had shipped 50 units. As soon as I realized I could sell products while I sleep, it was a no-brainer.” — Thanny Schuck, Action Sports LLC

「Amazon配送可以說是我的最佳員工。一天早晨我醒來時，意識到亞馬遜物流已經運送了50批商品。我一想到自己可以在睡覺時同時銷售商品，一切就容易多了。」Action Sports有限公司的Thanny Schuck如此說道。

“Starting out as an unknown brand, it was difficult to find retailers willing to stock our goods. No such barriers existed at Amazon. The beauty of Amazon is that someone can say, ‘I want to start a business,’ and they can go on Amazon and really start a business. You don’t have to get a lease on a building or even have any employees at first. You can just do it on your own. And that’s what I did.” — Wendell Morris, YogaRat

「起始於一個不知名的品牌，我們很難找到願意庫存我們商品的零售商，除了Amazon。Amazon吸引人的地方，當有人說：『我想創業』，他們可以在Amazon上開展業務。你不必先租用建築物，也不必先僱用任何員工，你可以來。這正是我所做的。」YogaRat的Wendell Morris如此說道。

Login and Pay with Amazon

使用Amazon登入與付費

For several years we’ve enabled Amazon customers to pay on other sites, such as Kickstarter, SmugMug, and Gogo Inflight, using the credit cards and shipping addresses already stored in their Amazon account. This year, we expanded that capability so customers can also sign in using their Amazon account credentials, saving them the annoyance of needing to remember yet another account name and password. It’s convenient for the customer and a business builder for the merchant. Cymax Stores, the online furniture retailer, has seen tremendous success with Login and Pay. It now accounts for 20% of their orders, tripling their new account registrations, and increasing purchase conversion 3.15% in the first three months. This example isn’t unusual. We are seeing results like these with many partners, and the team is excited and encouraged. You should look for more in 2014.

多年來，我們拓展Amazon的服務，使我們的用戶可以把帳戶中綁定的信用卡用於其他網站上購買商品，並寄送到綁定的收件地址。這些網站包括Kickstarter、SmugMug和Gogo Inflight。今年，我們擴展此項服務，除了使用Amazon帳戶中的信用卡付費，用戶還可以使用Amazon帳戶直接登入其他網站。如此一來，用戶無須記得另一個帳號和密碼，免去繁瑣的註冊流程。這對消費者和商家都很方便，線上家具零售商Cymax Stores便透過這項服務取得巨大的成功。在前三個月內，使用Amazon登入付費的用戶建立了20%的訂單，產生了三倍的新註冊帳戶，提升了3.15%的轉換率。這個例子並不罕見，我們看到很多合作夥伴取得相似的成績，我們的團隊對此大受鼓舞。2014年，相信會有更好的表現。

Amazon Smile

Amazon Smile

In 2013 we launched Amazon Smile — a simple way for customers to support their favorite charitable organizations every time they shop. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon donates a portion of the purchase price to the charity of your choice. You’ll find the same selection, prices, shipping options, and Prime eligibility on smile.amazon.com as you do on Amazon.com — you’ll even find your same shopping cart and wish lists. In addition to the large, national charities you would expect, you can also designate your local children’s hospital, your school’s PTA, or practically any other cause you might like. There are almost a million charities to choose from. I hope you’ll find your favorite on the list.

2013年，我們推出了Amazon Smile，讓消費者可以在買東西時，也能輕鬆地支持喜歡的慈善團體。當你在smile.amazon.com購買商品時，Amazon就會將購買價格的一部份金額捐給你選擇的慈善團體。你在smile.amazon.com會看到和Amazon一模一樣的品項、價格、寄送方式、Prime服務、購物車和願望清單。除了大型的全國性慈善團體，你也可以捐給當地兒童醫院、學校的家長教師聯誼會或任何你想要捐助的慈善團體。有將近100萬個選擇，我希望你能從中找到你喜歡的慈善團體。

The Mayday Button

Kindle上的Mayday求助按紐

“Not only is the device awesome but the Mayday feature is absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!! The Kindle team has hit it out of the park with this one.”

「Kindle不僅是個很棒的設備，它的Mayday求助按鈕更是棒！Kindle團隊極為傑出！」

“Just tried the mayday button on my hdx. 15 second response time…amazon has done it again. Thoroughly impressed.”

「我只是在我的Kindle Fire上嘗試按了Mayday求助按鈕，15秒後就得到回應。Amazon團隊再次做到令人驚豔的事。」

Nothing gives us more pleasure at Amazon than “reinventing normal” — creating inventions that customers love and resetting their expectations for what normal should be. Mayday reimagines and revolutionizes the idea of on-device tech support. Tap the Mayday button, and an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX and can co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you — whatever works best. Mayday is available 24x7, 365 days a year, and our response time goal is 15 seconds or less. We beat that goal — with an average response time of only 9 seconds on our busiest day, Christmas.

在Amazon，沒有什麼事情比「重塑常態」帶給我們更多的快樂－創造客戶喜愛的東西，提高他們的預期。Mayday求助按鈕重構了電子產品的客服支持，帶給用戶新的想像。按下Mayday按鈕，一名Amazon專家會出現在你的Kindle Fire上，他可以指導你操作裝置，也可以直接幫你遠端操作。Mayday求助按鈕一年365天，每天24小時全年無休為你服務。我們的目標是回應時間在15秒以內。我們達成目標－就算是最忙碌的聖誕節，平均回應時間也在9秒內。

A few of the Maydays have been amusing. Mayday Tech Advisors have received 35 marriage proposals from customers. 475 customers have asked to talk to Amy, our Mayday television personality. 109 Maydays have been customers asking for assistance with ordering a pizza. By a slim margin, Pizza Hut wins customer preference over Domino’s. There are 44 instances where the Mayday Tech Advisor has sung Happy Birthday to the customer. Mayday Tech Advisors have been serenaded by customers 648 times. And 3 customers have asked for a bedtime story. Pretty cool.

有些Mayday的案例很有意思。Mayday技術顧問收到35個結婚協議。475名消費者想要跟我們的電視虛擬人物Amy對話。有109個案例是要幫忙訂比薩，而其中比較多人想要訂的是必勝客而不是達美樂哦！有44個案例是請Mayday技術顧問和消費者一起唱生日快樂歌。Mayday技術顧問為消費者唱了648次小夜曲。3名客戶想要聽睡前故事。這些案例十分有趣。

I hope that gives you some sense of the scope of our opportunity and initiatives, as well the inventive spirit and push for exceptional quality with which they’re undertaken. I should underscore again that this is a subset. There are many programs I’ve omitted in this letter that are just as promising, consequential, and interesting as those I’ve highlighted.

我希望你對我們想把握的機會有所理解，同時重新認識被低估的創新與追求卓越的驅動力。我應該再次強調，上述提及的只是一小部分，還有很多計畫沒在這封信提到。那些未被提及的計畫，一樣也很卓越、顯著與有趣。

We have the good fortune of a large, inventive team and a patient, pioneering, customer-obsessed culture — great innovations, large and small, are happening everyday on behalf of customers, and at all levels throughout the company. This decentralized distribution of invention throughout the company — not limited to the company’s senior leaders — is the only way to get robust, high-throughput innovation. What we’re doing is challenging and fun — we get to work in the future.

我們很幸運的擁有一支龐大、富創造力的團隊，成員們都具備耐心、勇於探索和認同客戶至上的文化。無論大小，對於客戶有益的創新，每天都在發生。創新發生在各個角落，不限於公司的資深領導層。這讓我們能夠取得大量的創新成果。我們正在做的事情，充滿挑戰，但也很有趣。無論過去、現在還是未來，我們都會繼續保持這樣的工作方式。

Failure comes part and parcel with invention. It’s not optional. We understand that and believe in failing early and iterating until we get it right. When this process works, it means our failures are relatively small in size (most experiments can start small), and when we hit on something that is really working for customers, we double-down on it with hopes to turn it into an even bigger success. However, it’s not always as clean as that. Inventing is messy, and over time, it’s certain that we’ll fail at some big bets too.

失敗和發明相伴相生。這不是可以避免的，我們對此有清楚認知，而且堅信在快速失敗、快速迭代的方式能使我們最終獲得成功。當我們這麼做時，我們的失敗相對來說很小（所有嘗試都從小規模開始）。當我們找到可行的做法，我們就會加倍努力把它做好，使它能夠真正幫上客戶的忙。然而，它並不總是如此清晰，創新總是艱難。我們很清楚，我們終究會在某些大賭注上失敗。

I’d like to close by remembering Joy Covey. Joy was Amazon’s CFO in the early days, and she left an indelible mark on the company. Joy was brilliant, intense, and so fun. She smiled a lot and her eyes were always wide, missing nothing. She was substance over optics. She was a long-term thinker. She had a deep keel. Joy was bold. She had a profound impact on all of us on the senior team and on the company’s entire culture. Part of her will always be here, making sure we watch the details, see the world around us, and all have fun.

最後，我希望大家記住前Amazon首席財務官Joy Covey，她為Amazon留下不可抹滅的印記。Joy非常傑出，做事認真，為人也很有趣。她經常笑臉迎人，眼睛大大的，什麼事都逃不過她的眼睛。她是一名光學專家，也是善於長期思考的人。她的膽子很大。她為資深團隊以及全公司留下深遠的影響。一部分的她會永遠留在Amazon，確保我們關注細節，了解我們周遭的世界，讓一切充滿樂趣。

I feel super lucky to be a part of the Amazon team. As always, I attach a copy of our original 1997 letter. Our approach remains the same, and it’s still Day 1.

身為Amazon團隊的一份子，我感到十分幸運。如同往常，我把我們在1997年寫的致股東信附在文末。我們的價值觀依然不變，今天依舊是Day 1。

Jeffrey P. Bezos

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Amazon.com, Inc.

April 2014

傑夫·貝佐斯

Amazon創始人暨CEO

2014年4月

以上就是2013年Amazon致股東信。

想看隔年的Amazon致股東信，請至《2014年Amazon致股東信：第三方賣家服務促成跨境電商興起》。

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