Amazon vs Walmart - The Big Bang Theory of E-Commerce | 1

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ninety-six percent of Americans now shop online, snapping up everything from rare coins to industrial-sized barrels of hand sanitizer. Almost half of those purchases take place on one website: Amazon.

But before sales were a click away, Walmart was the top dog, decimating main streets across America with its big-box efficiency and ruthlessly low prices.

It’s 1994, and a slim 30-year-old with thinning hair dreams of leaving his high-paying finance job to sell books on the internet — a move he’s convinced is his ticket to one day dominating the world of e-commerce. Jeff Bezos just has to break the news to his parents. Luckily, he’s already found the perfect name for his new venture.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to business wars, add free on Amazon music.
0:04.8	Download the app today.
0:07.0	It's a Saturday morning in 1998, Bentonville, Arkansas.
0:20.0	David Glass, CEO of Walmart, watches through his window as a large moving truck backs into
0:24.6	the driveway of this sprawling house across the street.
0:28.4	He knew this was coming, but that doesn't stop the anger from surging through him.
0:34.6	He sighs as he runs his hand through his thick, salt and pepper hair and shakes his head
0:39.0	and disgust.
0:41.8	Glass turns to see his wife Ruth standing in the doorway.
0:45.1	Her hair is ruffled and she's tying her bathrobe belt tight around her waist.
0:49.8	What is all that noise?
0:52.2	The mover is packing up John and Lauren's house.
0:55.3	Where are they moving?
0:56.6	I'll give you one guess.
0:59.2	Seattle?
1:00.7	Glass nods, clenching his jaw and annoyance.
1:04.6	For the past year, a new internet company in Seattle has been steadily poaching his executives,
1:10.6	especially those who worked on setting up the infrastructure for Walmart's vast warehouses.
1:16.1	By Glass' count, John is the twelfth executive they've snared this year.
1:21.6	Ruth sees her husband getting tense and goes over to rub his shoulders.
1:26.6	Don't worry, they won't last.
1:30.0	Glass has a reputation for being quiet and unassuming, but right now his eyes flash with anger.
	...

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