Amazon's jack-in-the-box
Amazon is full of surprises. Just days after complaining about the unpredictability of the decision-making process in the CR (with regard to its aborted investment into a distribution center in Brno), the online retailer made its own unpredictable move. After years of systematically lowering its postage & handling fees for deliveries to the CR, it suddenly went in the other direction and raised the fees significantly. Having a single paperback book delivered to the CR from Amazon Deutschland has more than doubled, from just above €3 to nearly €8 (not including the price of the book). There is now a minimum fee of €5 per delivery, plus a weight charge. Amazon hasn't commented on the price increase, but it appears that short-term shareholder expectations have prevailed over long-term plans to conquer the world with low prices. For the moment at least, Czech internet shops can breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
Glossary of difficult words
jack-in-the-box - a toy consisting of a box containing a figure on a spring that pops up when the lid is opened, surprising the user;to abort - to bring to a permanent end because of a problem or fault; to halt something;
to breathe a sigh of relief - to exhale noisily as a sign of comfort or reassurance.