A move by Amazon.com Inc. into the $412bn pharmacy business would shake up how generations have gotten their medicines, but success could prove elusive even for the ever-expanding e-retailer.

Amazon.com has driven an economic boom in Seattle, bestowing more than 40,000 jobs upon a city known for Starbucks coffee and Seahawks fandom. Its growth remade a neglected industrial swath north of downtown into a hub of young workers and fixed the region, along with Microsoft before it, as a premier locale for the Internet economy outside Silicon Valley.

Book publishers are giving an advance review of the industry's future, and it looks a lot like the past.

More and more online shoppers want their stuff fast. But the economics of making that happen haven't changed.

As the leadership team at a consumer products company debated its digital strategy, two opposing views emerged. To stay competitive, some argued, the company needed to invest several hundred million dollars to automate its existing network of large regional plants.

Rent the Runway began eight years ago as a rental service for formal gowns, cocktail dresses and bejeweled accessories. Now the company is doubling down on its efforts to appeal to more women, more often.

Amazon said Monday that it received 238 proposals from cities and regions in the United States, Canada and Mexico hoping to be the home of the company's second headquarters.

We are only seeing the opening act of the e-commerce effect, according to logistics IT company Unisys.