How ruthless is Amazon, really?

In 2009-10 Amazon went to war over nappies. The e-commerce giant, then worth about $50bn, identified a startup, Diapers.com, that had a devoted following among young mums. First it stalked it. Then it pounced, reaching out to buy the company on the same day that it slashed the price of its own baby products by 30%. Amazon’s price cuts almost crushed Diapers.com, forcing it to sell itself to its nemesis. Marc Lore, Diapers’ founder, has not forgiven Amazon. He later went on to lead the e-commerce division of Walmart, its biggest rival, partly to get his own back. “It’s still triggering,” he admitted at a recent event attended by your reviewer.