What Makes Amazon So Successful?
January 14th, 2008 | by valiik |I have mentioned Amazon many different times in previous articles and now I want to start analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. Tackling such an e-commerce giant can be a bit overwhelming in some respects, however it’s necessary to look at their successes and failures to see what should possibly be replicated in projects that come up for us as web designers. Amazon is one of those web giants that is loved by some, hated by others, but used by all whenever necessary. So, how does Amazon do it? What makes them such a massive, successful presence on the web? Let’s find out!
Amazon has built its business slowly and methodically (founded in 1994 and launched in 1995, posting their first profits in 2002). The original concept was simply to sell books online; however it quickly branched out into other diverse products. In fact, many other large retail companies now use Amazon to power and host their websites (Borders, Virgin Megastores, Target, Sears and many more). It seems that these companies have adopted the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em strategy.” In a nutshell, the Amazon system works. It works so well that Amazon.com attracts over 50 million visitors every month from just the United States alone.
Even though the Amazon website is so humongous, they create a personal feel for every user. Every time I log in, they have suggestions for me based on my previous orders or searches. Sometimes I think…’how nice’ while at other times I think, ‘I’d never buy that item.’ The point I’m trying to make here though is that they are engineering their site toward one thing…THE END USER. The list of ‘benefits’ offered to the customer is pretty lengthy. Yes, all of these benefits are geared toward the goal of making money for Amazon…but isn’t that the reason capitalism and free enterprise exist? Yes, they are trying to make a buck…but their approach is user friendly. Customer product reviews, shipping discounts, their own credit card with bonuses, Amazon Prime membership, 1-Click ordering, product forums, etc. are all great ways to get the customer involved. Amazon’s goal isn’t just to be a place to purchase items. Their goal is to make it an experience…a good experience. They want it to be an experience that people will want to be involved in over and over again.
Amazon has become a ‘one stop Internet shopping destination.’ Because of their appeal, they now have over 900,000 associates (their term for affiliate marketing companies). Simply put…you can buy almost anything on Amazon. You can usually get it at a reasonable price too. With their adherence to The Long Tail economic principle, they also give people easy access to hard to find items as well. Sometimes these are specialized products that aren’t available in your nearest brick and mortar store. This ability to offer people hard to locate items simply by searching on one website is of great comfort to millions of people around the world. “Can’t find it at the store? Look on Amazon.” I know of several families who live in remote areas of Alaska within the Arctic Circle who use Amazon as their grocery store…because they don’t have a local grocery store. They order their supplies through the Internet and pick them up at the airport. It’s a pretty awesome setup for them. This is just one of many different niches that Amazon fills. The cumulative total of these small niches results in posting revenues like the ones they posted in 2006 ($10.7 billion).
From the customer end of things, Amazon’s site is simple in appearance and simple to use. The order process is easy. This is the most critical component of their entire site. Keeping the ordering process uncomplicated is what really makes customers return. If you were to only use two key components of Amazon’s site and replicate them into your own site or your next customer’s site, they would be customer features and simplicity in giving the customer results. Whether those results are retail oriented or information oriented, keeping the process simple will in the long run create happier visitors on the site. Whether you love or hate Amazon, you have to recognize the fact that they are successful as a website. In recognizing that, look at what you can use from their example to make the next website you design a successful one.
One Response to “What Makes Amazon So Successful?”
By web design lincolnshire on Mar 27, 2008 | Reply
Amazon is great because users are always updating content on the site, and this builds up the content of the website.
This is why blogs are so ideal.