第三封信中英文对照：

To our shareholders:
致我们的股东：

The first 4½ years of our journey have yielded some amazing results: we’ve now served over 17 million customers in over 150 countries and built the leading global e-commerce brand and platform.
我们过去四年半取得一些惊人的成果：如今我们在超过150个国家，服务超过1700万用户，建立了一个全球领先的电子商务平台。
In the coming years we expect to benefit from the continued adoption of online commerce around the world as millions of new consumers connect to the Internet for the first time. As the online shopping experience continues to improve, consumer trust and confidence will increase, driving further adoption. And, if we at http://Amazon.com do our job right, we can be uniquely positioned to serve these new customers best and benefit as a result.
在未来的几年中，随着数百万的新用户首次连接互联网，当他们使用电子商务时，我们预计将能从中受益。当我们持续改进电子商务的购物体验，用户对我们的信任将会持续提高，进一步驱动更多人使用Amazon。如果我们把这些事情做好，我们可以在独一无二的领先位置为这些新用户提供最好的服务，我们因此从中受益。
A Recap of 1999
关于1999年
During 1999, our relentless focus on customers worked:
1999年，我们对客户持续不断的专注得到回报：

• Sales grew from $610 million in 1998 to $1.64 billion – a 169 percent increase.
• 销售额从1998年的6.1亿，提升到16.4亿，增长169%。

• We added 10.7 million new customers, increasing cumulative customer accounts from 6.2 million to 16.9 million.
• 我们新增了1070万用户，总用户账号数从620万提升到1690万。

• The percentage of orders placed by repeat customers grew from over 64 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998 to greater than 73 percent in the same period in 1999.
• 1999年第四季度，旧用户购买的订单，占全部订单的73%。1998年同一时间仅为64%。

• Customers around the world are now choosing http://Amazon.com for a wide array of products. Only two years ago, Amazon.com’s U.S. Books business represented 100 percent of our sales. Today, despite strong growth in U.S. Books, other areas account for more than half our sales. Major 1999 initiatives included Auctions, zShops, Toys, Consumer Electronics, Home Improvement, Software, Video Games, Payments and our wireless initiative, Amazon Anywhere.
• 现在，全世界的消费者都选择使用Amazon购买各种类型的商品。仅仅是在两年前，Amazon在美国的在线书店业务，即是我们所有的业务。今天，虽然书店业务仍强劲成长，其他领域的业务占我们的销售额一半以上。1999年，我们开始了新业务，包括拍卖、zShop、玩具、消费性电子产品、居家装饰、软件、电动玩具、支付和我们的无线业务Amazon Anywhere。

• We’ve continued to be recognized as best-of-breed not only in our more established areas such as books, but in our newer stores as well. Just to focus on one area, Amazon Toys has received multiple awards, including being rated the best online toy store in an MSNBC survey, a ranking as the No. 1 on-line toy store by Forrester Research, and the top e-Rating from Consumer Reports in the toys category, in each case beating out a number of longer-established players.
• 不只在书籍领域，我们也在新领域被消费者认为是最佳品牌。只看玩具领域，Amazon玩具斩获多项奖项，即使玩具市场中有许多比我们更老的公司，MSNBC调查中被评为最佳在线玩具商店，在Forrester Research的市场研究中排行第一，在Consumer Reports的玩具分类中排行最高。

• Sales outside of the US accounted for 22 percent of our business, totaling $358 million. In the U.K. and Germany, we added Music, Auctions and zShops. In fact, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and http://Amazon.com are now the #1, #2, and #3 most popular online retail domains in Europe.
• 在美国境外的销售额，占我们业绩的22%，总计3.58亿。在英国和德国市场，我们增加了新业务：音乐、拍卖、zShop。事实上，英国站、德国站和美国站分别排行欧洲在线零售领域的第一名、第二名和第三名。

• We grew worldwide distribution capacity from roughly 300,000 square feet to over 5 million square feet in less than 12 months.
• 在过去12个月中，我们全球的物流配送能力从30万平方英尺，提升至超过5百万平方英尺。

• In part because of this infrastructure, we were able to grow revenues 90 percent in just three months, while shipping well over 99 percent of our holiday orders in time for the holidays. As far as we can determine, no other company has ever grown 90 percent in three months on a sales base of over $1 billion.
• 从某种程度上，由于有了这些基础建设，我们能在短短三个月内提升营收90%，在假期及时运送99%突增的订单。据我们所知，没有其他公司在三个月内，以超过10亿美元的销售额增长90％。

I’m incredibly proud of everyone at http://Amazon.com for their tireless efforts to deliver what has become the standard-setting, Amazon.com-class customer experience while simultaneously handling such extraordinary growth rates. If any of you shareholders would like to thank this incredible worldwide team of Amazonians, please feel free to send an email to jeff@amazon.com. With help from my astounding office staff, I’ll compile them and send them to the company. I know it would be appreciated. (As a side benefit I’ll get to see if anyone reads these letters!)
我以Amazon的每一位成员为傲，在高增长表现下，他们付出不懈的努力以维持高标准的用户体验。如果我们的股东想要感谢不可思议的亚马逊全球团队，欢迎写信至jeff@amazon.com，我会非常感谢股东的来信。在杰出同仁的帮助下，我将在编辑整理后发送给全公司。（作为额外的好处，我将可以看看是否有人读过这些信件！）

In 1999, we continued to benefit from a business model that is inherently capital efficient. We don’t need to build physical stores or stock those stores with inventory, and our centralized distribution model has allowed us to build a business with over $2 billion in annualized sales but requiring just $220 million in inventory and $318 million in fixed assets. Over the last five years, we’ve cumulatively used just $62 million in operating cash.
1999年，我们持续从商业模式中获益。我们无须开设实体商店和管理库存。中心化配送模式，让我们可以用2.2亿元的库存和3.18亿元的固定资产，建立年收入超过20亿的生意。过去五年，我们总共仅运用了6200万现金。

What Do You Own?
身为股东你拥有什么？

At a recent event at the Stanford University campus, a young woman came to the microphone and asked me a great question: “I have 100 shares of Amazon.com. What do I own?”
在史丹佛大学的一场活动，一个年轻女子问我一个很棒的问题：「我有100股Amazon股票，意味着我拥有什么？」

I was surprised I hadn’t heard it before, at least not so simply put. What do you own? You own a piece of the leading e-commerce platform.
我很讶异我先前从未听过这样的问题，至少没有这么简单。你拥有什么？你拥有最领先的电子商务平台的一部分。

The http://Amazon.com platform is comprised of brand, customers, technology, distribution capability, deep e-commerce expertise, and a great team with a passion for innovation and a passion for serving customers well. We begin the year 2000 with 17 million customers, a world-wide reputation for customer focus, the best e-commerce software systems, and purpose-built distribution and customer service infrastructure. We believe we have reached a “tipping point,” where this platform allows us to launch new ecommerce businesses faster, with a higher quality of customer experience, a lower incremental cost, a higher chance of success, and a faster path to scale and profitability than any other company.
Amazon平台由品牌、消费者、科技、配送能力、深入的电子商务专业知识，和一个对创新和服务客户充满热情的团队组成。我们将以1700万用户、全球知名的声誉、最好的电子商务系统、配送和消费者服务设施展开新的一年。我们相信我们已经达到「引爆点」，新的电子商务进展将会更迅猛。以更好的消费者体验、更低的增量成本、更高的成功机会，以及更快的规模化速度和获利能力。

Our vision is to use this platform to build Earth’s most customer-centric company, a place where customers can come to find and discover anything and everything they might want to buy online. We won’t do so alone, but together with what will be thousands of partners of all sizes. We’ll listen to customers, invent on their behalf, and personalize the store for each of them, all while working hard to continue to earn their trust. As is probably clear, this platform affords an unusually large scale opportunity, one that should prove very valuable for both customers and shareholders if we can make the most of it. Despite the many risks and complexities, we are deeply committed to doing so.
我们的愿景是使Amazon成为世界上最用户导向的公司，一个用户可以找到任何想要的东西的在线平台。我们不是自己一间公司独自努力，有成千上万名大大小小的合作伙伴。我们聆听消费者的声音，发明他们需要的东西，为他们将商店个人化，努力工作以持续赢得他们的信任。很明显地，无论对客户或股东来说，只要我们能充分运用，这个平台将提供巨大的机会。尽管存在许多风险和复杂性，我们仍将坚定地这样做。

Goals for 2000
2000年的目标

In the year 2000, http://Amazon.com has six major goals: growth in both the number of our customers and the strength of the relationship we have with each of them; continued rapid expansion of the products and services we offer; driving operational excellence in all areas of the company; international expansion; expanding our partnership programs; and last, importantly, driving toward profitability in each and every business we are in. I’ll spend a moment on each goal.

2000年，Amazon主要有六大目标：

1. 消费者数量增长，并提升我们与消费者的深度关系
2. 产品和服务的快速扩张
3. 推动公司业务的卓越运营
4. 国际化扩张
5. 拓展我们的伙伴项目
6. 推动每一项业务实现盈利

Growing and strengthening customer relationships — We will continue to invest heavily in introductions to new customers. Though it’s sometimes hard to imagine with all that has happened in the last five years, this remains Day 1 for e-commerce, and these are the early days of category formation where many customers are forming relationships for the first time. We must work hard to grow the number of customers who shop with us, the number of products they purchase, the frequency with which they shop, and the level of satisfaction they have when they do so.
增长和强化我们和客户的关系－我们将继续大力投资于吸引新客户。尽管过去五年的进展巨大，有时让人难以想象，但对于电子商务来说，今日依然是第一日（Day 1），许多电商的类别正在形成，许多客户才第一次使用电子商务。我们必须努力提升在Amazon上购物的用户数、购买的商品数量、购买的频率以及满足程度。

Product and service expansion — We are working to build a place where customers can find and discover anything they want to buy, anytime, anywhere. Each new product and service we offer makes us more relevant to a wider group of customers and can increase the frequency with which they visit our store. So, as we expand our offering, we create a virtuous cycle for the whole business. The more frequently customers visit our store, the less time, energy, and marketing investment is required to get them to come back again. In sight, in mind.
产品和服务扩张－我们致力于建立让用户可以在任何时候、任何地点找到任何想买的东西的平台。每一样新的产品和服务，都让我们离消费者更近，提升他们到访Amazon的频率。我们拓展我们提供的品项，创造生意上的良性循环。消费越常逛Amazon商店，我们要让他们再次回访所需要的时间、精力和营销投资就越少。举目所见，心之所想。

Further, as we expand, each new store has a dedicated team working to make it best-of-breed in its category; thus each new store is also a new opportunity to demonstrate to customers our focus on them. Finally, each new product or service further leverages our investments in distribution, customer service, technology, and brand, and can yield increased leverage on our bottom line.
此外，随着我们拓展新市场，每个市场都有一支专门的团队，致力使其成为该市场的首选。因此，每一个新市场都是一次展示机会，展示我们对消费者的关注。每一种新产品和服务，都可以进一步运用我们对配送、客户服务、科技和品牌的投入，并提升我们的基础。

Operational excellence — To us, operational excellence implies two things: delivering continuous improvement in customer experience and driving productivity, margin, efficiency, and asset velocity across all our businesses.
卓越的运营－对我们来说，卓越的运营意味着两件事：提供不断改进的客户体验，并提升业务的生产率、利润率、效率和资产周转率。

Often, the best way to drive one of these is to deliver the other. For instance, more efficient distribution yields faster delivery times, which in turn lowers contacts per order and customer service costs. These, in turn, improve customer experience and build brand, which in turn decreases customer acquisition and retention costs.
通常，驱动其中一项的最佳方法是提升另一项。 例如，更有效的分配效率，带来更快的交货时间，从而降低了每个订单的联系成本和客服成本。 这些可以反过来改善客户体验，并建立品牌，从而减少客户获取和留存成本。

Our whole company is highly focused on driving operational excellence in each area of our business in 2000. Being world class in both customer experience and operations will allow us to grow faster and deliver even higher service levels.
2000年，我们整个公司将高度专注于在推动各领域业务的运营。在客户体验和运营方面处于世界一流水平，将使我们发展得更快，并提供更好的服务。

International expansion — We think that consumers outside the U.S. are even more under-served by retail than those within it, and, with our platform in place, http://Amazon.com is well positioned to be a leading global retailer. We already have significant brand, sales and customer presence around the world, as we’ve been shipping into over 150 countries for almost five years. I’m pleased to report that our stores in the UK and Germany are off to a strong start − they are already in the top 10 Web properties and the # 1 e-commerce site in each of their respective countries. Our customers and shareholders around the world can look forward to further geographic expansion from this base during the coming year.
国际化扩张－我们认为在零售领域，美国境外的消费者比美国境内的消费者接受更少的服务。Amazon目标是成为全球领先的零售商。过去五年，我们为全球超过150个国家的客户寄送商品，因此我们已拥有巨大的品牌、销售和全球客户。我很高兴地宣布，我们在英国和德国的商店即将开张－他们已经是各自国家中排名前10位的网站和排名第一的电子商务平台。 世界各地的Amazon客户和的股东，都将在未来一年中，从这个基础进一步拓展。

Expanding our partnership program — Through our platform, we are able to bring tremendous value to our partners, such as drugstore.com. In fact, our experience so far suggests that http://Amazon.com may easily be the most efficient, effective means for our partners to build their businesses. In many areas, partnering is the best way for us to rapidly expand our store in a customer-focused, cost-effective manner. One point worth emphasizing: the quality of customer experience a partner delivers is the single most important criteria in our selection process − we simply won’t build a partnership with any company that does not share our passion for serving customers.
拓展我们的伙伴项目－透过我们的平台，我们能够为合作伙伴（例如http://drugstore.com）带来巨大的价值。实际上，我们迄今为止的经验表明，Amazon是合作伙伴开展业务最有效的方法。在许多领域，合作是我们以客户为中心，具有成本效益的商店拓展方式。值得强调的一点是：合作伙伴提供给消费者的的体验质量是我们选择伙伴的最重要标准－我们不会为了要拓展业务，就和一家不对客户充满服务热情的公司建立合作伙伴关系。

We love these kinds of partnerships because they please customers, please our partners, and are financially attractive, pleasing our shareholders − you and us.
我们喜欢这样的合作伙伴关系，因为它可以使消费者满意，使我们的合作伙伴满意，并且在财务上具有吸引力，进而使我们的股东－你和我们感到满意。

Drive toward profitability in each business we are in — Each of the previous goals I’ve outlined contribute to our long-standing objective of building the best, most profitable, highest return on capital, long-term franchise. So in a way, driving profitability is the foundation underlying all of these goals. In the coming year, we expect to deliver substantial margin improvement and cost leverage as we drive continuous improvement in our partnerships with suppliers, in our own productivity and efficiency, in our management of fixed and working capital, and our expertise in managing product mix and price.
推动每一项业务实现盈利－先前描绘过的每一个小目标，对于我们实现长期目标都有帮助。我们的长期目标就是，建立最好的、最赚钱的、资本回报最高的市场领导地位。因此，从某种意义上来说，提高盈利能力是实现所有目标的基础。接下来，随着我们持续改善供货商关系、生产效率，以及提升管理固定资产、营运资金、产品价格的能力，我们期待能实质性地提升利润并改善成本杠杆。

Each successive product and service we launch this year should build on our platform, so our investment curve can be less steep and the time to profitability for each business should, in general, continue to shorten.
我们今年推出的成功产品及服务，都应该构建于我们的平台上。因此，我们的投资曲线将可以平缓一些，每个业务的获利时间应该会继续缩短。

It’s All About the Long Term
这一切关乎长期

In our 1997 letter to shareholders (our first), we detailed our long-term investment approach. Because we continue to add many new shareholders, we’ve appended that letter immediately after this year’s. I invite you to please read the section entitled It’s All About the Long Term, as it is the best way I know to help make sure we’re the kind of company you want to be invested in. As we wrote there, we don’t claim it’s the right philosophy, we just claim it’s ours!
在1997年的致股东信，也就是我们的第一封致股东信中，我们详细阐述了长期投资的方法。由于新股东持续增加，我们在今年的致股东信中，照例附上当年的第一封致股东信。我邀请你阅读「这一切关乎长期」章节，这一章节能帮助你确定Amazon是你要投资的公司。如同我们在信中说的一样，我们不敢说长期主义一定是正确的，只是说表明长期主义是我们的价值观。

In closing, consider this most important point: the current online shopping experience is the worst it will ever be. It’s good enough today to attract 17 million customers, but it will get so much better. Increased bandwidth will result in faster page views and richer content. Further improvements will lead to “always-on access” (which I expect will be a strong boost to online shopping at home, as opposed to the office) and we’ll see significant growth in non-PC devices and wireless access. Moreover, it’s great to be participating in what is a multi-trillion dollar global market, in which we are so very, very tiny. We are doubly-blessed. We have a market-size unconstrained opportunity in an area where the underlying foundational technology we employ improves every day. That is not normal.
最后，请考虑以下最重要的一点：现在的在线购物体验，放在今后的电商历史中依然是最糟糕的。然而，今天这样的状态就足以吸引1700万客户，而且它将变得越来越好。带宽提升将带来更快的页面浏览速度，以及更加丰富的内容。进一步的改进将使「永远在线」成真，我预计这将大大提升居家场景的电商购物体验。非PC设备和无线装置将会显著增长。此外，参与到这个万亿美元的全球市场是一件好事，Amazon在这个市场中还非常非常小，我们非常幸运。 在这个技术每天都在进步的时代，能遇到不受市场大小限制的机会，这是非比寻常的。

As always, we at http://Amazon.com remain grateful to our customers for their business and trust, to each other for our hard work, and to our shareholders for their support and encouragement. Many, many thanks.
一如既往，Amazon对客户的业务、信任、勤奋工作以及股东的支持和鼓励表示感谢。非常非常感谢。

Jeffrey P. Bezos
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Amazon.com, Inc.
杰夫·贝索斯
Amazon创始人暨CEO

我的观点

1999年的亚马逊还在飞快的增长，销售额翻倍了，新增用户也增长了2倍，现在的亚马逊卖各种类型的商品，而不是只卖书。每 一个领域，都成为消费者认为的最佳品牌。

贝索斯说亚马逊的愿景是成为世界上最用户导向的公司，一个用户可以找到任何要的东西的在线平台。 用户导向其实就是以用户为中心，用户需求作为设计产品的原动力，产品的核心价值是用户 ，这对于亚马逊这种在线平台是非常正确的。

亚马逊，2000年的目标六个：

1. 消费者数量增长，并提升我们与消费者的深度关系
2. 产品和服务的快速扩张
3. 推动公司业务的卓越运营
4. 国际化扩张
5. 拓展我们的伙伴项目
6. 推动每一项业务实现盈利

前面几项都是为了增长的，我理解的国际化扩张其实是非常正确的。美国公司的国际化其实是好做一点，在国内创业其实最好就是在一开始就国际化，不然后面就比较难。 现在的很多全平台游戏都是国内与国际同步的，像原神也取得了很不错的成绩。

还有一个就是推动每一项业务盈利，这确实是一个很牛的目标，每一项业务都承担挣钱的目的，那其实就意味着没有成本中心，确实是一个很帮的措施。但是这也只适合亚马逊这种平台型公司。

最后，我觉得他回答那个: "我有100股Amazon股票，意味着我拥有什么？"的问题时，答案是非常好的。 你拥有了最领先的电子商务平台的一部分。

第一，最重要的就是要自信，也在为愿景而奋斗
第二，为股东，为客户创造价值，不然我凭什么支持你