y. Some strategies for companies that fit this profile are backward, forward and horizontal integration, market penetration, market development, product development and joint venture. One strategy that would fit into the aforementioned categories would be international expansion. Expanding internationally is a market penetration strategy in which a company introduces its present products or services into new geographic areas. "As it stands, Amazon.com is well-positioned to remain the world leader in both the development of e-commerce strategy and its implementation" (Balanced Scorecard, p.6). There are several advantages to selecting this strategy. For instance, "Amazon has invested heavily in product development in the United States, building a state-of-the-art Web site that is generally considered the best in e-commerce. This technology is highly scalable and has been used for each new market the Company has entered. Furthermore, much of the personalization technology and U.S. content has already been created, and can be shared across markets. By leveraging this existing technology and infrastructure, Amazon has been able to keep product development costs low.Amazon also benefits from certain centralized costs that can be leveraged across multiple markets. [For instance], the Company does not have to hire a new team of engineers for every new market it enters, as it already has a base working out of Seattle. Clearly, these streamlining efforts give Amazon a significant advantage over single country e-tailers" (Becker, p. 5). For all of its strengths, the strategy of international expansion does have some weaknesses. For instance, "In the United States, Amazon built its brand essentially free through public relations and word-of-mouth advertising. Clearly, the Company benefits from its global brand - having shipped products to over 200 countries in the past five years. However, in Europe [for instance], e-commerce has no...
