Originally published August 18 2015
New online retailer set to rival Amazon with unprecedented corporate transparency
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) The growth of online retail sales has revolutionized the way millions of Americans shop, but most of the biggest companies have tended to adopt stereotypical corporate practices, which include secret deals and other methods of hiding activity from customers.
However, a new start-up online retailer that promises to rival Amazon.com has pledged something new and unique for the corporate world: Transparency. The new online retailer? Jet.com
As reported by the New York Post, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, may sell a lot of books, but Marc Lore, founder of Jet.com, is an "open book." Lore says he will be fanatical about ensuring that his company remains accessible and is always about full disclosure.
That compares to Bezos, who is "notoriously tight-lipped," secretive and not one who is prone to transparency. As the Post notes:
The notoriously tight-lipped Bezos has famously refused to break out basic info on which products are selling well at Amazon, and how much money is being lost by features like free shipping.
Lore, meanwhile, is looking to upend such secretive corporate habits with what could be unprecedented financial disclosures.
Transparency is a good thing
Lore, a New Jersey native (Jet.com will be headquartered in Hoboken), earlier sold another startup, Quidsi, to Amazon for $550 million. He subsequently went to work for Bezos at Amazon.com. So far, for Jet.com, he's managed to raise an amazing $225 million to wage retail war with his old boss.
Needless to say, Lore's goal of unseating or at least rivaling Amazon.com is daunting, to say the least. But he says he has done the due diligence and is betting that so-called "competitive information" is not all it's made to be.
"At the end of the day, it's about executing," he told The Post, adding that being secretive with financials could weaken a firm's stock valuation because "people can assume something is worse than it actually is."
But he says what is decidedly underrated is the excitement and sense of accomplishment among employees of firms where information is not closeted and instead is freely shared.
"I've noticed a pattern. People were motivated when they felt connected to the bigger vision of the company — everyone's talking about everything all the time — raising money, hiring, deals, partnerships — you heard it all," said Lore. "People felt completely trusted, it's all based on trust."
For Jet.com, that's going to translate into real-time updates for investors, suppliers, employees and, eventually, the public as the site increases product offerings of everything from books and home items to groceries and appliances.
"We'll disclose gross merchandise sales, number of new members, average order size, number of orders, repeat rate, units per order. We'll give cash flow, cash on hand, whatever people need," said Lore.
He estimates that Jet.com will generate $20 billion in annual sales by 2020.
Will Jet.com be less secretive and less threatening than Amazon.com?
His commitment to openness and transparency is a stark contrast to Bezos' Amazon, which operates in the shadows and is even in bed with Uncle Sam. According to Canada-based Global Security, Amazon received a $600 million contract from the CIA to provide "cloud" services to the agency.
"The relationship means that Amazon — logoed with a smiley-face arrow from A to Z, selling products to millions of people every week — is responsible for keeping the CIA's secrets and aggregating data to help the agency do its work. Including drone strikes," said Global Security.
Also, it's possible that Jet.com won't be as politically correct as Amazon has been, since the former has committed to not being so "corporate-correct" with its commitment to transparency. Remember, Amazon caved to progressive special interests recently when it decided to drop Confederate flags and paraphernalia but continued to sell items pertaining to the murderous Nazi Germany.
And there is Amazon Fire, the device that plugs into your TV so you can stream movies and programming. Some have suggested that it is the perfect spy/surveillance device.
Jet.com has a ways to go to compete with Amazon.com, but Lore is getting the company off to a good start.
Keeping reading Liberty news at Liberty.news!
Sources:
NYPost.com
English.Pravda.ru
SagaciousNewsNetwork.com
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