Final answer:
Amazon originally began as an online bookstore, disrupting the traditional book-selling market and outcompeting physical retailers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble through efficient online delivery, large inventory, and competitive pricing.
Step-by-step explanation:
Amazon.com first started out as an online platform to sell books and music. It has since evolved into a massive e-commerce company that has fundamentally altered the landscape of retail, especially in the book industry.
Before Amazon, consumers largely bought books from independent bookstores with small inventories or from larger retail chains such as Borders and Barnes & Noble in urban areas. With Amazon's advent, the convenience and efficiency of online delivery and purchase of books became preferable, contributing to the decline of traditional bookstores and the transformation of consumer behavior.
Amazon's business model, with its extensive inventory, competitive prices, customer-centric approach, and innovation in logistics, has effectively crushed its competition and redefined book selling. Its dominant presence in the market is evident by the closure of Borders and struggles faced by Barnes & Noble and numerous independent bookstores.