What does it take to keep prices low on hundreds of millions of products? In this episode, Doug sits down with Christa Glenn, Vice President of Pricing and Promotions at Amazon. Christa shares how Amazon's pricing philosophy puts customers first (and profit second), why tenets matter, and how her team prepares for Prime Day. And along the way, Christa and Doug swap stories about the first Prime Day, how they're using AI day to day, and their mutual sock obsession.

(00:00) – Amazon Pricing

(00:55) – Christa’s Amazon Story

(02:57) – Amazon Campus

(06:45) – “Startup” Mentality

(07:33) – Seller Pricing

(10:20) – Amazon’s Pricing Philosophy

(14:30) – Pricing Escalations

(15:23) – Pricing Comparisons

(17:15) – What’s new in pricing?

(18:33) – Garlic Press Tests

(19:18) – Price History Feature

(20:29) – Pricing Tenets

(21:28) – Early Prime Day Memories

(25:00) – Amazon’s First Prime Day

(26:58) – Prime Day Today

(28:00) – Personalized Prime Day

(28:55) – Socks! and Other Deals

(30:23) – Flip the Script: Experimenting with AI

(31:55) – AI as a “Mentor”

(33:24) – AI Analyzing Email

(34:47) – Importance of Pricing at Amazon

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What does it take to run a 665,000-square-foot fulfillment center with 3,000 employees and millions of products? In this episode, Doug sits down with Alessandro Carbone, an Amazon General Manager who traded his law career in Italy—and never looked back. Alessandro shares how he thinks about flowing a building like a river, why a clean floor is a safety strategy, and what it means to lead like a mayor of a small Italian town. Along the way, they discuss the magic of getting avocados and AirPods to your door by morning, and why stepping outside your comfort zone is the best career advice he's ever followed.

(00:00) – Introduction

(01:05) – What’s your Amazon story?

(02:00) – Amazon Pathways Program

(02:45) – Transitioning to Amazon

(03:13) – Amazon Culture

(05:11) – An Amazon Family

(06:20) – Alessandro’s ACY1 Site

(07:05) – Robotics at Amazon

(09:15) – Explaining Amazon to Alessandro’s “Nonna”

(11:00) – The Heart of Amazon’s Network

(14:45) – What does a GM do?

(17:00) – Walking the Floor

(19:00) – Complicated vs. Complex Problems

(22:12) – “Flowing” the Building

(23:15) – Operations Secret Sauce

(25:57) – 5S and Safety

(29:35) – ACY1 Culture

(32:33) – Service Leadership

(33:39) – “Flip the Script” – Alexa for Shopping

(38:08) – Shopping Beyond Amazon

(39:10) – Breaking out of your Comfort Zone

(40:43) – Obstacle is the Way

(41:37) – Learn and Be Curious Origin Story

(43:13) – Conclusion and Thank You

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Amazon is transforming how customers shop for groceries by bringing fresh perishables directly to customers through Same-Day Delivery on Amazon.com. Doug Herrington sits down with Sidira Sisich, a Senior Product Manager on the Amazon Grocery team, to explore how Amazon integrated fresh produce, meat, dairy, and more into its Operations network. Doug and Sidira talk about why speed matters in business, the excitement around "zero-to-one innovations,” and an old project called Amazon Wine.

(00:00) — Welcome and Sidira’s Amazon Story

(04:19) — Amazon’s Early Clothing Business

(08:05) — Amazon Wine

(11:12) — Early Amazon Grocery

(12:36) — Perishable Groceries on Amazon

(13:58) — Doug’s Amazon Interview with Jeff Bezos

(17:22) — Perishable Product Growth

(19:13) — Early Days of Amazon Fresh

(21:40) — Zero to One Businesses

(23:57) — “Flip the Script”

(24:31) — Speed Matters in Business

Resources:

Learn how Amazon expanded fresh groceries with Same-Day Delivery:

https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-same-day-fresh-grocery-delivery-united-states

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