Some takeaways for me include having a better understanding of how
to analyze financial statements and look at past statements/numbers
in order to gain an idea of where a company is headed. I learned how
we need to make adjustments for uncommon factors - the pandemic
affected everyone and it was important to understand how numbers
for the past few years aren't necessarily indicative of future potential.
In my current role, this class reinforced how to examine and interpret
financial statements. a I certainly appreciate any help in strengthening
my understanding of balance sheets and income statements.
For my project, I chose Amazon. They're currently the largest e-
commerce retailer, but competition is increasing. a Some trends to look
for this year and beyond include conventional bank loans being
replaced with revenue-based financing, e-commerce businesses are
going global to overcome growth bottlenecks, and competition in the
industry is heating up. a By the end of this year e-commerce will
account for just over 20% of global retail sales, up from 10% five
years ago. (Hung, 2022). a Amazon will need to keep up with the
increase in competition. Currently, Wal-Mart is their biggest
competitor so Amazon will have to find creative ways to keep their
position as #1. a Amazon continues to raise the cost of their Prime
membership, but they also continue to add more perks to that
membership. While Wal-Mart provides two-day shipping on many of
their items, Amazon includes music streaming, film and tv streaming,
free e-books books, and grocery discounts at their Whole Foods
stores.
Reference
Hung, P. (2022, March 14). E-commerce trends 2022: what the future holds.
Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/03/14/e-
commerce-trends-2022-what-the-future-holds/?sh=76d1aaa758da
