As Amazon turns 30, three factors will define its next decade

About a week ago Amazon joined an exclusive club. Its market value ticked over $2trn, putting it in the company of only four other firms: Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. In its 30 years Amazon, which began life as an online bookseller in Seattle on July 5th 1994, has been astonishingly successful. Its network of warehouses and vans delivers more packages each year than FedEx or UPS, equivalent to $850bn-worth of goods worldwide. Its pioneering cloud-computing business is used by millions of customers and generates annual revenues of $100bn. Beyond its core operations, it is investing in delivery drones, satellite networks and self-driving cars.