This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
No, those were not raisins.
Amazon Pharmacy. Healthcare just got less painful.
Bring spring to your door with Target Circle 360.
Get all you need for Easter hosting, Spring Get -Togethers and more with unlimited same -day delivery through Target Circle 360.
From Easter basket goodies to fresh florals, getting everything the same day is easy!
Open the Target app and bring the magic of the season to your door with unlimited same -day delivery through Target Circle 360.
Visit target .com slash circle or the Target app for more details.
Subscription required.
Same -day delivery is subject to terms. Applies to orders over $35.
Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil... And I'm Georgina.
If you've ever done shopping online then you may well have used the internet giant Amazon.
From its origins as an online bookstore, Amazon has grown into grocery deliveries, TV and music streaming and even space exploration, making its founder, Jeff Bezos, the richest person on Earth.
Amazon is so successful it affects how many of us live our lives – so in this programme Sam will be taking a look inside the brain of Jeff Bezos to find out how he thinks.
When Jeff Bezos' friends talk about him, three words they often use are invention, risk -taking and long -term vision.
These are qualities which Bezos admired in his grandfather, Lawrence, who from an early age taught Jeff that by careful thinking any problem can be solved.
As a boy, Geoff and his grandfather repaired an old, broken -down truck.
When interviewed today, Bezos sometimes compares Amazon to that truck – very heavy, but impossible to stop when it rolls downhill – which is exactly what accidentally happened one day.
But do you know how the story ends, Georgina?
That's my quiz question.
What happened when the young Geoff Bezos' car accidentally rolled downhill?
Was it... a.) Geoff jumped in and pulled the handbrake, b.) Geoff's grandad lost a thumb, or c.) Geoff's hair fell out?
Well, Geoff Bezos is bald so maybe it's c.) His hair fell out.
OK, Georgina. We'll find out later.
As a company, Amazon has been remarkably strong.
It survived the dot -com crash of 2000 and saw profits jump during the Covid pandemic as more and more people started shopping online.
Retail analyst Natalie Burg thinks Amazon's success is due to its customer strategy as she explains to BBC Radio 4 programme, Seriously.
Jeff Bezos applied this concept to Amazon by relentlessly focusing on customers, by putting them at the heart of the business, that that would attract more customers, more traffic to its site, which would in turn attract more sellers, which would mean a greater selection for customers, which again would enhance the customer experience.
Natalie thinks that Amazon put customers at the heart of their business.
In other words, they make customers the most important part.
This improves Amazon's customer experience – a customer's total perception of their experience with a business, including such things as the quality of service and support if something goes wrong.
Customers can write reviews on Amazon's website and happy customers means more web traffic – the number of people visiting a particular website.
In the difficult years following the dot com crash, Jeff Bezos started Marketplace, where other sellers compete with Amazon's own products.
More sellers brought more customers which in turn brought down prices.
Then in 2013, Bezos bought the Washington Post, and in 2019 he launched his space exploration company Blue Origin to explore mineral resources on Mars.
Most recently, Jeff Bezos has set his sights on even bigger things, saving the future of the planet.
Bezos chose Tom Rivet -Carnack of the environmental group Global Optimism to help Amazon meet climate initiative goals aimed at slowing climate change.
Here is Tom Rivet -Carnack telling David Baker, presenter of BBC Radio4's Seriously, about his conversation with Jeff Bezos.
It did seem to me that it was a legacy issue for him, that he wanted to be on the right side of history...
..and you don't think it's just greenwashing in the end?
How do you define that?
I mean, would you define greenwashing if you said somebody got into this issue because they wanted to improve a reputation of a company or an individual?
Actually, that's fine, right?
As long as they do something meaningful and deliver a major outcome.
Protecting the planet is what Jeff Bezos wants to be part of his legacy – the achievements of his life that will continue after he dies.
In other words, Bezos wants to be on the right side of history, judged to have acted correctly or morally by future generations.
Ultimately, though, it's real action on climate change that counts, not just greenwashing.
Do you know this new expression, Georgina?
Well, I know that whitewashing means trying to hide the truth about something.
Right, so greenwashing means trying to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.
Well, with so many achievements already behind him, I'm sure Jeff has made his grandparents very proud, which reminds me of your quiz question, Neil.
Ah yes, I asked Georgina what happened when the car Jeff Bezos and his granddad Lawrence were fixing accidentally rolled downhill.
I thought it was C – that Jeff lost all his hair.
Was I right? No, you were wrong, I'm afraid, Georgina.
The correct answer was that b.) His grandfather lost his thumb.
OK, Neil, let's recap the vocabulary starting with customer experience.
Are customers' feelings about their experience with a business?
If you put something at the heart of things, you make it the most important part.
Web traffic is the number of people visiting a website.
Your legacy means all your life achievements that will continue after your death.
Someone who's on the right side of history will be judged positively by future generations.
And finally, greenwashing is when you pretend that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.
That's all for our peek inside the brain of the world's richest man.
Join us again next time when we'll be discussing another trending topic.
Bye for now. Goodbye!
