There was a time when Wal-Mart ruled the retail world, but Amazon is chipping away at that empire. The company is now said to be taking to the shipping business, which might in effect push UPS and FedEx out of the fold.

According to The Seattle Times, Amazon is making its first moves in the new business by buying out the French package delivery company Colis Prive. By the end of the first quarter this year, Amazon is expected to complete a transaction that will give it 75 percent of the company's shares.

Although that is a European based company that pales in comparison to the kind of shipping monopolies UPS and FedEX have in the U.S., it appears to be the first leg in their new business model that depends on those companies to thrive in the competitive world of retail shopping.

Since it is almost exclusively an online shopping environment, the company has to rely on other services to get their products to their customers. It made huge strides when it started offering its Amazon Prime service, which basically allows their customers to order anything from their warehouse or approved secondhand vendors and get free two-day shipping and delivery to their homes.

That is something that customers have taken to very well within their company and they have also added the perks of unlimited video streaming on their service, which gives people access to all of their Prime content and exclusive Amazon shows. That also competes with Netflix for the streaming market share.

Their Prime subscribers also have access to a buffet of streaming music as well, which competes with rival music services like iTunes and Spotify.

Given their unique standing in the marketplace, they have not abandoned their roots. They are the largest supplier of e-books on the market and their devices allow users to read, watch, listen and shop directly from their website. They have essentially become the one-stop place for everything that people need or want.

Now that they have entered into the shipping business, their unique standing in the market will give them ultimate control over every aspect of the business.

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