Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN): Investment Philosophy Rule No. 3, Find a Catalyst

I think that the easiest one for me has just always been the trend toward e-commerce, because we’ve seen the Internet sort of take over in a short amount of time here. Growing up, where the normal behavior was on a Saturday you’d maybe go to the mall and do your shopping, that has certainly taken a turn.

[Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) ], now with the advent of Prime and two-day shipping, and just ordering at the click of a button, and mobile technology, and everything like that — all of a sudden you realize that, even though the retail environment here in the United States alone is huge, e-commerce only makes up maybe around 6% of that, in total.

What that tells us is that we’re still just in the very early stages of this. It’s not just Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), right? All these companies are really developing their online strategies and learning how to benefit from that.

I think Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) is another good one. I think it’s responsible for the Anthropologie brand. What is another one? Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM); they’re also really focusing in on that e-commerce platform and mobile, and learning how to take advantage of a lighter capital structure.

If you can sell a lot more stuff without having to maintain these big stores, then more power to you. You’ve seen Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY), I think, take a pounding here recently because of everything that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), for example, has done to change the game there.

When you find a CEO like Jeff Bezos, who’s virtually relentless in looking to figure out any which way to make life seemingly easier for the customer, customers not only win, but I think it’s also a great example of where investors can win, too.

The article Investment Philosophy, Rule No. 3: Find a Catalyst originally appeared on Fool.com.

Jason Moser and Richard Engdahl both own shares of Amazon.com. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Amazon.com. 

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