Amazon’s Domination is Blocked by a Delivery Truck

The challenges of managing Amazon’s order are costing a fortune. Amazon in the last year spent $18.5 billion — a record 12.3 percent of its revenue — on sorting packages, transporting them and handling other shipping-related tasks. Amazon shipping costs were about 8 percent of revenue in 2012.

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Amazon’s zeal to win the war to customers’ doors is also a reminder that success in the technology industry often depends on mastering rather dull things.

Are the new cargo planes running out of runway? Unlikely, but for a quick look at how Jeff Bezos approaches the “dull things” in business here’s an interesting summation of every Amazon Shareholders Letter since 1997.