I am going to formulate a more detailed post on this tonight and I think this is a topic needing coverage. It is all about how Amazon got where they are.
The central point: Don't blame Amazon for killing retail. Amazon was and still is insanely focused on the customer which causes them to innovate around CUSTOMER needs and not internal politics.
While other companies are trying to figure out how to cut out value for the customer to improve costs, Amazon figured out what will "wow" the customer and then figured out how to do this at an acceptable cost.
If others would get maniacal about serving the customer, they could compete. The funny thing is most won't do it.
I went to a Sears store over the weekend looking for a belt. They didn't have any. There was nobody around to ask for help. Then I went to a Carson Pirie Scott. They had belts! I looked up the belt on Amazon, and found the exact same belt for 25% less. I ordered from Amazon and it will be delivered today.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Brad Stone's book on Amazon, "The Everything Store", and you could not help but feel the commitment to the customer from Jeff Bezos and how it resonated through the company. While many of the stories around tactics utilized for acquisitions may have made you cringe, it was never about the bottom line of Amazon and always about value for the customer. Looking forward to the next post on this topic.
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