The Great Unbundling

Amazon’s approach to logistics is a masterclass in balancing vertical integration vs openness.

While the unbundling of Craigslist created billions of dollars of value, it pales in comparison to the unbundling we’re currently living through. Outside of commerce, unbundling is now affecting a much broader domain of everyone’s lives: work is being unbundled from traditional employment.

The great trick of online retail has been to get us to do more shopping while thinking less about it – thinking less, in particular, about how our purchases reach our homes. This divorce of a product from its voyage to us is perhaps the thing that Amazon has sold us most successfully. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, never wanted his customers to worr... See more