When choosing, one of the most common questions asked by many cross-border e-commerce practitioners is: “What kind of company is Amazon?What are your main businesses?” This question may seem basic, but it determines your product selection strategy, operational priorities, and long-term layout. If your perception of Amazon is limited to “a website that sells goods,” then you may have missed a real growth point in its business. Based on Amazon's official information, this article will disassemble Amazon's business model and core business segments for you, and answer the most common entry questions that sellers are most concerned about. Whether you're a new seller or a seasoned practitioner looking to expand, this article will help you establish a clear business framework.

First, we need to clarify one core conclusion: Amazon is not just an e-commerce company, but a global customer-centric technology company. According to Amazon's official website, its business covers various cutting-edge fields such as e-commerce, cloud computing, digital advertising, and artificial intelligence. For cross-border e-commerce sellers, Amazon's global sales business is the most direct entry point into the world. According to official guidelines, Amazon Global Selling aims to help Chinese companies sell products to hundreds of millions of active users around the world through its more than 20 sites around the world. This means that sellers are not only using a sales channel, but also connecting to a huge commercial infrastructure built from technology, logistics, and capital.

Amazon's business system is large and collaborative. Below are a few of its core business segments. This information is all from Amazon's official documentation.

Amazon started as an online bookstore and is now one of the largest e-commerce businesses in the world. Its e-commerce business is mainly divided into two parts:

- Proprietary business: Amazon directly purchases and sells products and ships them through its global warehousing network.

- Third parties: This is the core of Amazon's global selling. Millions of sellers around the world sell products on Amazon through the “I want to sell” program. Third-party sellers account for more than half of total sales, according to official data.

The following table clearly compares the core differences between the two models:

- Product listing and listing optimization: create high-quality product pages through the backend.

- Advertising: Use tools such as product promotion and brand promotion to obtain traffic.

- Global logistics: Fast delivery through Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).

Amazon Cloud Computing Services (AWS) is a cloud service provider with a high global presence. It is not only the technology foundation for Amazon's internal operations, but also provides pay-as-you-go IT infrastructure services to millions of businesses and government agencies around the world. For Amazon sellers, although they do not directly use AWS for sales, their powerful data processing capabilities support Amazon's recommendation algorithms, advertising systems, and logistics scheduling, and indirectly improve sellers' operational efficiency.

Amazon's advertising business is one of its fastest growing segments. Through product promotion, branding, and display promotion, sellers can display ads in key locations such as search results pages and product detail pages. Unlike external ads, Amazon ads are directly based on a user's “purchase intent,” and the conversion rate is usually higher. The official guidelines state that Amazon advertising not only helps sellers increase exposure, but also provides insight into consumer behavior through “brand analysis” tools to optimize product strategies.

- Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA): Sellers send products to Amazon fulfillment centers where Amazon is responsible for storage, picking, packaging, delivery, and customer service. According to official data, products that use FBA usually get the “Prime” mark, which results in higher exposure and conversion rates.

- Prime members: Hundreds of millions of Prime members worldwide enjoy [tax approval required]. This system has greatly increased the repurchase rate of consumers and reduced the customer acquisition costs for sellers.

For Chinese sellers who want to expand overseas, Amazon Global Selling provides a clear onboarding process. According to the official guidelines, sellers only need to complete the following steps:

1. Register an account: Visit [https://gs.amazon.cn](https://gs.amazon.cn) to submit business information.

2. Prepare materials: Prepare materials such as business licenses, corporate ID cards, credit cards, etc.

3. Select sites: Select sites such as North America, Europe, and Japan according to product characteristics.

4. Upload products: Create product listings through Seller Central and decide whether to use FBA.

5. Start selling: optimize your listing, set up ads, and start getting orders.

Q: What are the qualifications required to sell globally on Amazon?

A: According to Amazon's official requirements, sellers are required to have a legally registered business license, a corporate ID card, and a credit card that can be deducted in foreign currency. Individual sellers are currently limited to select sites and are required to provide a personal ID.

Q: Do I have to use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) to sell on Amazon?

A: Not mandatory. Sellers can choose self-shipping or FBA. However, official data shows that products using FBA generally have advantages in terms of traffic, conversion rate, and buyer experience, and are particularly suitable for sellers seeking fast delivery and high ratings.

Q: Is advertising on Amazon expensive?How can newbies control costs?

A: Amazon advertising uses a bidding model, and costs are manageable. Beginners are advised to start with a low budget and use “product promotion” to test keyword effectiveness. The official Seller University provides free tutorials to help sellers optimize their advertising strategies.

Visit [https://gs.amazon.cn](https://gs.amazon.cn) to register your Amazon seller account and begin your global business journey. At the same time, pay attention to the official seller university, learn operation skills in a systematic manner, and avoid stepping into the pit. Success starts with the right information and decisive execution.

Based on Amazon's official information, this article systematically explains Amazon's core business as a technology and e-commerce giant, including e-commerce, AWS, advertising, and logistics. Special emphasis is placed on the complete support that Amazon Global Selling provides sellers. To sign up or learn more, visit [https://gs.amazon.cn](https://gs.amazon.cn) for official guidance.

Data source: Amazon Global Selling Official Guide (gs.amazon.cn)