Amazon has shipped more than 400 items per second at its peak. How did it grow from bookseller to retail giant? 0 items shipped in the time you’ve been on this page 1996 Amazon generated almost $16m in revenue just two years after being founded 1997 Went public at $18 a share 1998 1999 2000 Launched Amazon Marketplace, letting third-party sellers list items for sale 2001 2002 Launched Amazon Web Services (AWS), which now powers sites such as Netflix, Airbnb and the Guardian 2003 2004 2005 Amazon Prime launched, which now boasts more than 90 million subscribers 2006 2007 Introduced the Kindle e-reader. Amazon now controls around 80% of all ebook sales 2008 2009 2010 Launched Amazon Studios to create original TV content such as The Grand Tour and Mr Robot 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods, that specialises in organic products

Amazon now has domains in 15 countries, covering more than half of the world’s population

The company’s steady migration across the world masks a more rapid growth of some of its services. AWS, the company’s cloud computing arm, and Amazon Prime Video, its streaming platform, are available worldwide, and just last week, Amazon launched a new feature to make it easier for users not served directly by its retail arm to fill their baskets anyway.

Jeff Bezos has been so effective at branching Amazon out into new markets that the company has a recognised effect on the stock market when it announces it is entering a new sector. The day after Amazon announced it was forming a venture to provide healthcare for its employees, many US healthcare firms saw billions wiped off their market caps. A year earlier, the same thing happened with retail stocks when Amazon bought Whole Foods.

Amazon is now the fourth most valuable company in the world, valued at more than $700bn

• The headline and standfirst were amended on 27 April 2018 to clarify that Amazon is the largest retailer by market capitalisation.

