Amazon has plenty to celebrate as it turns 20

It’s hard to imagine a time when buying online was not only possible but a perfectly acceptable way of shopping. These days, it’s commonplace to download your magazine or book on the commute home, stream music while you read and maybe log on to order your evening meal or weekly groceries before you step off the bus. You can pay bills, study or even socialise online.

But in the early days of Amazon, things were vastly different. Twenty years ago, Amazon was only getting started. The future tech giant, which celebrates its 20th anniversary today, began life in founder Jeff Bezos's garage.

Although its initial focus was selling books, Amazon soon branched out, offering everything from digital music and movies to electronics and household goods. Then it moved into creating its own hardware. The Kindle brought books into the digital age and has been a major weapon for Amazon in its war with rival ebook makers.

Over the years, Amazon has added to its service. Its subscription service, Prime, brought two-day delivery and other benefits such as video and music streaming to Amazon customers for an annual fee. According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Prime had 40 million members in the fourth quarter of the year.

In the space of two decades, Amazon has moved from being a bookseller to a hardware maker, a service provider, a grocery service and an entertainment firm. Books, once its mainstay, have become a small part of its service. According to an article in the New Yorker last year, Amazon earns about 7 per cent of its annual revenue from books, clocking up a yearly revenue of $75 billion.

Amazon first turned a profit four years after it was listed on the stock exchange, and in the years since, has bounced between profit and loss.

Although the past 20 years have generally been good for Amazon, there have been some missteps along the way.The Fire smartphone has failed to set the tech world alight. Its tablet, the Kindle Fire, has had more success but it hasn’t quite hit the heights of “iPad killer” as expected.

The company has also found itself on the end of other adverse publicity. In 2014, there was a call to boycott Amazon, among other multinationals – in an outcry over the practice of routing UK sales through a single European hub in Luxemburg rather than in the UK. In 2013, Amazon paid just £4.3 million in tax to Britain’s revenue services on just £449 million in sales, despite other figures claiming more than £4.7 billion in sales.

But times are changing. In May, Amazon said it was changing its practices and would begin paying tax on retail sales in Britain. Its impact extends to more than just its tax contribution. Its dominance has resulted in a more difficult environment for independent bookshops, with retailers unable to compete with Amazon’s reach and clout.

Next up to battle the online giant are the publishers and authors, who have taken their concerns to authorities and called for an investigation into possible antitrust issues.

From a niche supplier it has become part of the everyday shopping landscape, more so than other online retailers and one that, when anticipating your needs with a service such as Amazon Family or the convenience of the Dash button, can be more convenient than bricks and mortar stores.