Business and IT

ECOM-500: Business and IT

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date

Amazon: Uses of Database Technology

Today, most businesses are leveraging on data technology to serve their customers better and stay ahead of competition. One such company is Amazon, Inc. Amazon is an American technology company that majors on e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and data streaming. Amazon uses data technology and artificial intelligence to create and improve its recommendation engine (Chen, 2017). The technology can predict what a customer wants based on previous search results and recommend a product to them. It also uses the data to provide better services to customers and to monitor, track, and secure its inventory.

Benefits from the data technologies and ways

Amazon benefits most from the use of the data technology by helping customers in their shopping, which improves their bottom line. The company also sells the data to marketers, which translates to another source of income and advertising revenue (Chen, 2017). However, customers also benefit from the data as spend lesser time shopping and get suitable recommendations for their purchases.

Downsides of data technologies

The downsides of the data technology include breach of customers’ privacy and security. People are concerned about what happens when Amazon collects all the data. Amazon does not ask for customer consent before selling the data to marketers, which indicates a violation of consumer rights. Further, the data collection methods are susceptible to bugs, which might compromise the data privacy of the consumers.

Recommendations for database technologies

Amazon should consider automating its site’s back end processes and functionality using data technology. This could inform decision making on the best ways to serve customers and improve the supply chain by running tests and evaluating results using the data traffic from their websites.

Utilizing database technologies

Business managers can use database technologies to track consumers to understand their behavior and mindset. This could start from the consumer’s need to what they searched, and their personal needs in future. It would also help managers to understand what to offer customers and what to augment.

References

Chen, Y. (2017, February). Application and Research of Big Data in E-Commerce Enterprises. Amazon as the Case. In 2016 7th International Conference on Education, Management, Computer and Medicine (EMCM 2016). Atlantis Press.