Performance: Why companies should let their employees sleep in

In 2006, Amazon launched its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service for external sellers with just five marketplace vendors. Sunny Jain, now responsible for FBA operations worldwide, recalls that none of the initial team members could have foreseen the monumental business that would emerge from this modest beginning. The platform allowed sellers to ship goods to customers from six distinct Amazon warehouses located in the United States.

Initially, they limited the listings to rare books, which were often sold for mere cents, sparing the company from potential losses if anything went wrong. This was, as Jain puts it, "a bet." Twenty years later, Amazon has shipped 80 billion products from third-party sellers on its marketplace. Roughly 60% of global marketplace revenue, totaling 830 billion dollars annually, is generated by these third-party sellers.

Markus Schöberl, Director of Seller Services at Amazon Germany, asserts that without FBA, Amazon's global success - including its performance in Germany - would not be possible. Yet, this very success has made Amazon dependent on other businesses, creating a system that has made millions of sellers reliant on the US giant. However, some competitors are now challenging Amazon's dominance with new services and their own infrastructure.

David Zapolsky, who oversees government relations for Amazon, will attend the "Invest in Germany" summit hosted by the German government this day to present investment plans aimed at further expanding the company's empire.