HispanicBusiness

The web's biggest retailer is getting even larger. Amazon.com reported a 22-per-cent growth in first quarter revenue Thursday to 16.1 billion dollars.

But the growth came at the expense of profits which dipped 37 per cent to 82 million dollars as the web retail giant cut prices to the bone to attract shoppers, offered free shipping and invested heavily in new distribution centers.

The company is also building new data centers to expand its already strong web services businesses and is also expected to boost its Kindle brand of tablets with a set-top box for streaming video.

The company also boosted its payroll which now stands at 91,300 people compared to 65,600 a year ago.

Investors have bought in to the strategy of Amazon, sending its share price up 40 per cent compared to a year ago.