Amazon opened its online store by selling books in July 1995.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore, initially operating from his garage in Bellevue, Washington. The company’s original name was Cadabra, but Bezos changed it to Amazon before launch. The website went live in July 1995, offering a much larger catalog than a typical physical bookshop could stock.
Books were a practical starting point because millions of titles existed, while customers did not need to inspect each item physically before buying. Amazon later expanded into music, video, electronics, household goods, cloud computing, advertising, and many other businesses.
A common mix-up is saying Amazon began by selling everything online or started as a general marketplace. Its first retail focus was books, and the third-party marketplace came later. The company is now best known as a diversified technology and retail corporation, but books remain central to its origin story.