The Marketing Mix - Amazon

The Marketing Mix - Amazon

Amazon is the largest E-Commerce company on the planet today they offer much more than just a retail platform, Services range from Streaming TV and Films to Cloud-based servers.

Founded in 1994 Amazon was founded by inspiring entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, Amazon started life in a garage solely as a bookstore and was then selling online by 1995. Jeff Bezos always had big ideas for the company and wanted this to become a one-stop-shop where any customers were able to buy any product at any time, 

Since researching the company in recent weeks I believe that Amazon has stuck to their core values from day one, In the early days of the internet people found it hard to adapt from shopping on the high street to shopping online, you have to consider that a transaction for products in 1995 was mainly done with cash & face to face in your local store where it was then common to know the person you are purchasing from in some cases you was on the first-name basis with the shop owner and the rapport that was built with them, people often saw this as a type of friendship.

How people viewed the internet in the early ’90s was with hesitation, the trust had to be built, it was a much more difficult process when you can’t conversate with your customers without saying “thank you” or something as simple as “have a nice day”, To build this trust Amazon had to play the long game, they operated with the customer's interests at heart and aimed to be the worlds most “Customer-Centric Company”,

One of the ways that Amazon tried to adapt and build this trust was keeping prices as low as possible then trying to price out the competition on the high street, they were able to do this by keeping the overheads as low as possible and this was easier done as being on the online company they didn’t have the standard costs of a high street store, they were buying stock direct from warehouses and selling them with little profit, 

Its soon became apparent that customers were spending more with companies that offered free deliveries, so Amazon quickly adapted and changed the delivery process when customers spent over $100 in the US they were given free delivery, Amazon was trying to adapt their model so they could keep their customers happy. This is just one example of many on how quickly Amazon adapt their business to keep their customers happy.

Amazon has put customers focus at the main priority since the company was founded in 1994, the mission statement is to be “Earths Most Customer-Centric” company, (Amazon.com) this I believe is what has ensured the growth of the company and made this the largest E-commerce planet today.

Amazon keeps a close on eye on customer relations and allows them to speak their mind regardless of if the feedback and good or bad, this has implemented and installed the trust allowing the company to adapt to changes and move accordingly with the time an essentially keeping it ahead of the competition they want to ensure they are understating the customers wants and needs this allows the customer to be the most important person, allowing customers to leave an honest review on products whether this is good or bad has allowed a trust to form over some time, this has essentially allowed the brand to grow and create a trust.

Amazon has an award-winning customer service and over the last 10 years have been voted the best customer service of the decade in the UK, Amazons can understand customers and personalise services to their needs. (Blog.aboutamazon.co.uk 2020),

Its shows that keeping employees and customers happy is a key factor in success for this business model Amazon were voted the best employer to work for by Linkedin and Glassdoor (Blog.aboutamazon.co.uk 2020), this is showing that having employees that are happy in their role will have a direct impact on how the customer service is provided. It is understood that Amazon employees are taught from day one that the motto for the company to be earth's most customer-centric company is that the customer is king.

The customer service team is accessible for customers if they are unable to find the answer through the FAQ page of the website, If the customer is struggling to return a package or track and order then they are easily accessible through a live chat function directly through the Amazon website or they can call & speak to the agent 24/7.

In 2017 Amazon held a jobs fair for over 50,000 people in the USA this was to account for the growth in the business within the company and keep up with the demand, During this point, Amazon was looking to recruit a sales team to build a workforce that could keep with the demand, this area of the company was growing faster than any other position, The sales team was introduced to help with businesses who were looking to use the AWS cloud base system as this allowed the business customers to speak to a salesperson before they would make any purchasing Decisions (CNBC.COM)

In the Amazon retail stores, Amazon GO it is designed to be a new type of shopping experience, where customers can go into a store, scan their Amazon Go app and pick up goods around the store and the customer will then be charged the amount to their Amazon account, using a new type of technology helps the customer experience by reducing queuing times, this is a revolutionary way of shopping, Amazon would only look to employ between 6 human employees per store with the majority of the work being carried out by robots (The Verge 2017) The concern currently is 2.9 million people are employed in retail in the UK (retaileconomics.co.uk) the change could then impact employment rates in this sector in the future should other retailers use this process.  

Customer focus has been the main value for Amazon here are some examples of how they have adapted to the other Ps in the Marketing Mix.

Product

Amazon started selling books to now selling over 12 million different products online, Selling everything from Books to Garden Equipment, they have their range of smart products that are some of the biggest selling items in the world today, Echo Dots, 

1st, 2nd & 3rd Generation Echo Dots showing the progression of the Amazon products over time. (Modern Castle)

Price

Amazon like to keep ahead of the competition they use sophisticated ranking algorithm to keep prices as low as possible and stay ahead of the competition, they will analyse what people are viewing, what people  are searching for how many product's are being sold at a particular time, this keeps the products relevant and cost effective for the customers, Often you will see prices change on products on daily basis due to this.

An image the shows how Amazon will focus on the algorithm to ensure that the best prices are being paid for each product and keeping ahead of the competition. (Goamify.com)

Place


Amazons uses its website and mobile app to target its customers being an e-commerce company they must be able to reach out to customers with ease and allow themselves to be accessible. They have different websites for their different products, Amazon.co.uk is the retail  site where customers are able to buy and sell goods, this is also available in a easy to use mobile app therefore making purchasing good on the go. Audible.com a Amazon subsidiary that is an online book store where the customers can listen to the books rather than read them, AWS.com is the site the hosts the cloud based system and allows the users to access their online content. They have a strong online presence.

A screen shot of the website from UAE showing this is a worldwide brand and this is easy to navigate (Amazon.com)


Promotion


Amazon now use a more traditional method to promote the company such as, TV adverts, search engine optimization and directly target the customers and reach a much wider audience,  this wasn't always the case as they relied heavily on word of mouth and  cheap deals to entice customers to use the website and spread the word to allow them to return again. Today they offer lightning sales and use these more so at Christmas to increase sales in their busiest time of the year.



   Lightning Deals pushed via app notifications to mobile phone or directly on the website when logging in, creating an urgency to buy products at a discounted rate. (Amazon.com)


Physical Evidence

Amazons physical evidence consists of it simple website and frustration free packaging , overtime they have created a website simple and easy to use people can easily search and find the products they are looking for and also can easily purchase them with a swipe of a button, The packaging that Amazon uses is know as "frustration free" simple yet easily recognised its has cut down more than 900,000 tons of packaging. 


Frustration Free packing was introduced to with the customer in mind to reduce waste and make it easier to open the products. (Amazon.com)

Process


Amazons process is is easy and straight forward to use whether this is purchasing goods directly through the site or selling them as a third party seller, Buying good directly from the website will be a case of searching or the product that you wish to purchase, Amazon will give you a list of products they will also give you their own recommendations once you have clicked to buy Amazon will then quickly check the stock in the warehouse only once they have confirmed this they will confirm the order this will be shipped directly to your desired address within 24 hours in most cases if you a prime customer, In regards to selling the products through this platform as a third party seller you can easily set up an account and send the goods you wish to sell to the Amazon they will store these for you at a cost, customers will then be able to view your products when searching through the website and if they then decide to purchase Amazon will also package and deliver your goods as part of their service.


This picture is showing the simplicity & process of how third-party users can sell goods through the Amazon website. (FBA Shipper)


People


Amazon have made the customers the main focus point when building their company, they aim to be Earths most customer centric company offering something different to what their competitors can offer, this goes from offering fantastic customer value with the products they sell online to the services they can offer with the being a prime member, listening to customers has allowed them to adapt quickly and change what is needed to keep ahead and relevant, just giving customers an opportunity to leave an honest review how allowed the trust to be built as people tend to buy a product that been recommended by review or by friends or family but also allow the customers to return and buy products again.

Allowing customers to leave honest and regular reviews on the products has allows the people to trust what they are purchasing. (Amazon.com)


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