Amazon 's Success And Customer Service

Although retailers such as Walmart and Target do have loyal customer bases, they are not sitting idle as Amazon and other eCommerce firms obtain a greater market share. They are expanding their online profiles and offering similar shopping experiences. However, they hold one major advantage over Amazon. Every store can serve as a distribution center. Walmart is a perfect example. It has expanded its online profile to provide eCommerce services to its customers (Thau, 2014). Because every store serves as a distribution center, customers can receive their order much faster than Amazon can deliver it.

Amazon.com has successfully managed to make its customers to feel that anything they could possibly want could be found on their website. Additionally, its products are marketed at a competitive price. Another important factor is their speedy delivery with their usage of UPS and FedEx (United States) and Royal Mail (United Kingdom). The company also caters for people that prefer online shopping with extra services such as Amazon Prime - a service with a yearly payment, customers are eligible for free next day delivery. Even though Amazon.com is known to be an online seller of most things, it still excels in its original market of book selling. Evidence of such is

Amazon.com is a customer centric company. They put more effort in improving their system to make the experience of customer more comfortable so that he keeps on returning to the website. Jeffery Bezos who is the founder of the Amazon.com started this company after seeing the use of internet increasing rapidly.

It must not be forgotten that most of those companies failed and were shut down soon. Amazon had been successfully operating for almost two decades because of its unique business style. Amazon has ensured all this time that it must make customer preferences its preference and must cater to them accordingly.

Amazon is notable for use of cutting-edge technology but also convenience. A combination of these two involves the use of their new grocery stores, using technology to get rid of checkout lines, where a customer simply takes the product they want, and walks out the door.

The switching cost for customers from Amazon to any other company is low. They could go to stores like Macy’s or Walmart and can physically see and inspect of try the product they want to buy.

During an interview with Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos regarding their success, he stated “Put plainly, Amazon puts the customer at the center of everything they do.” This customer focus is what creates loyal and happy customers that are excited to shop at your retail store. First it is crucial to gather information from your customers to understand what their needs are, what they are happy with, and what can be improved. “Whether you engage with trained and certified mystery shoppers capable of providing detailed customer experience reports, a customer intercepts program geared to capture reactions just after customers leave the store, or customer satisfaction surveys tailored to your in-store experience, this is a key step to defining exactly

For Consumers:Amazon.com along with other third-party sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished, and used items across dozens of product categories that include books to movies, music and games, digital downloads, electronics and computers, home and garden, toys, kids and baby, grocery, apparel, shoes and jewelry, health and beauty, sports and outdoor, and tools. Amazon’s technological innovation drives their growth of offering customers

Amazon has outperformed every other online retailer for the past few years. There is a simple explanation for their success. Their main strength and why consumers choose Amazon is because they provide an excellent customer experience. They call it “Customer Obsession”. If a product on Amazon is sold by or fulfilled by Amazon, the returning process is extremely simple. In my own experience with returning products to Amazon, no matter the case, they will pay the shipping and give the customer a full refund or a replacement for the product. This provides customers with a worry-free experience. There is absolutely no hassle if a product is defective or if the customer simply finds it unsatisfactory.

Amazon.com creates value for its customers by offering customers broad array of products to select from through their website and ensuring timely delivery of products to exhibit high level of commitment towards their business and customers

Amazon strives to be, “Earth’s most customer-centric company,” driven to provide consumers with any product or service they desire. The company operates on a geographic basis, with two segments: North America and International. Amazon serves their customers by offering enormous selection, low prices and incredible convenience. Amazon is an industry leader in the

Amazon’s major competitors are divided in two parts. The first part is physical stores such as Walmart or Target. The second area of competition is through the online market eg; EBay and BestBuy. As opposed to Amazon, customers in a physical store could have more comprehensive experience, especially for specific products like clothes and electronic devices. Some customers need to be able to see and try the product themselves before feeling comfortable enough to purchase it. Secondly, although Amazon has two day free shipping for its Amazon Prime, people are required pay a yearly membership fee. People can also choose one day shipping and are charged higher shipping fees. Physical stores still have more advantages than Amazon in this aspect. Customers can directly buy what they want in the store and avoid obnoxious shipping fees.

Amazon is a company, whose vision statement is, “Our vision is to be earth 's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”(Forbes, 2012) A key element of this statement is “customer centric” this phrase states that Amazon is committed to social responsibility on all levels including the environment. Amazon has gone to great lengths to be the world’s best company in customer service and to make online shopping affordable, convenient, and fast. All of these elements has propelled them to be an e-commerce giant, but they have langered in being the most green and sustainable company in the world.

focus is not to use analytics to compete, but rather to carry out the fundamentals of the company. Consequently, this has led Amazon to be superior to their competitors within the Internet and Retail Industry. As mentioned before, one of Amazon’s core principle is customer service. I know all too well from first-hand experience through working at Amazon, that customer service is their distinctive capability. The company’s most important core value is being customer obsessed, which basically means that every decision that the company makes and everything that is done, is formulated around benefitting the customer. Unlike most companies, Amazon works backward. In order words, they start from listening to what the customer needs and wants,

Amazon plays big roles such as a middleman, a marketplace, and an online retailer. Amazon can be viewed with having one channel of distribution. However, Amazon divides its channel into two groups professional and individual. Professional is the plan for who sells more than 40 items a month such as retailers and wholesalers like Apple, Target, and Nordstrom. Individual is the plan for 3rd party sellers who sell less than 40 items a month. Products will be sent and stocked at Amazon’s fulfillment centers, then Amazon will delivery those products to the final consumers. In addition, Amazon also gives professionals and individuals to delivery their products straight to their customers without going through Amazon fulfillment centers. Many retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, publishers, and 3rd party sellers are attracted to Amazon.com because of its popular platform. Amazon became a great channel for businesses to expand their market exposure. Even though, many retailers like Target and Apple cooperate well with Amazon, but there are still many conflicts between others and Amazon. Take the case of Toys’ R Us in past, Toys "R" Us alleges Amazon violated its promise that Toys would be the sole seller of toys, games and baby products on Amazon 's Website. Amazon claims Toys’ R Us failed to deliver on its promise to maintain a certain selection of toys (WSJ). Another recent example, Amazon is deliberately keeping a low stock to pressure Hachette