When Amazon first started selling books in 1994, nobody could have predicted how the Amazon success story would shape up. But here we are in 2022, and according to Statista, as of June, the company accounted for 37.8% of the US e-commerce market.
The Amazon success strategy in simple terms is the tech giant’s commitment to customer experience. Giving a customer the best experience means letting them shop for everything comfortably and easily under one roof.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos started the company from a small garage in 1994. Today, the e-retailer has nothing less than 185 centers globally. In recent times, high inflation and recession forecasts have forced the company to conduct Amazon layofffs.
Amazon Success Story: From A to Z
Over the last two decades, Amazon business has focused on providing customers’ A to Z needs under one umbrella. Started in 1994, Amazon business grew quickly to over 1,000,000 customers by October 1997.
Jeff Bezos once said, “If we can keep our competitors focused on us while we stay focused on the customer, ultimately we’ll turn out all right.”
The company started by selling books, expanding its product range to include CDs, DVDs, and more. By 2000, the Amazon success story started taking shape as the company started letting small businesses and individuals sell their products on Amazon.com.
As customers and products grew, the firm launched Amazon Web Services (AWS), to provide infrastructure support to developers. Initially, it offered insights on Internet traffic patterns and other data –related information for marketers and developers.
Today, AWS has a market share of around 10.79% in the web hosting industry. It is also the most popular vendor in the cloud infrastructure market, with nearly 33% market share.
Amazon Prime was launched in 2005 and it changed the way people dealt with the company. The paid subscription service included same-, one-, or two-day delivery options, along with streaming music, video, e-books, gaming and grocery shopping services. Launching Prime shifted the Amazon success story into high gear.
In the US, over 100 million customers have an Amazon Prime account. Research indicates that Prime members are not just more loyal, but also spend an average $1,400 on the site each year.
During the 2021 Prime Day, shoppers spent an average of $44.75. In 2022, Amazon Prime Day shopping reached an estimated $12 billion worldwide.
The Prime Day sale resulted in customers buying more than 300 million items.
Then, came the Amazon Kindle and other flagship devices. By late 2010s, Amazon had started building in-house brands, leveraging its insights on customer behavior, needs, and expectations. Most of Amazon’s in-house brands have been kept secret but are hugely successful.
Amazon Success Strategy
As a customer-focused company, Amazon left no stone unturned in trying to provide the best possible experience. Bezos always pushed his employees to think in “growth-mode.”
The company is unafraid to innovate and try new things to improve their customers’ lives. Amazon has a wide understanding of technology and implements it into its business model.
Over the years, as Jeff Bezos steered the mega ship he followed the philosophy of being stubborn about the vision but being flexible when it comes to details.
This is why the company is extremely agile and makes quick decisions to stay on top. A number of in-house systems enable managers at Amazon to make quick calls, which shape the future of the company.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is known for being instrumental in shaping up the company’s cloud platform. Picking effective leaders is something Bezos is good at.
Nobody can beat Amazon when it comes to the range of products it offers and timely delivery. Amazon invests heavily in building up its logistic side to have full control over customer experience.
While appointing Jassy to the top post in June 2021, Bezos stated that Jassy “has the highest of high standards and I guarantee that Andy will never let the universe make us typical.” He added, the new CEO “has the energy needed to keep alive in us what has made us special.”
These factors have helped shape the Amazon success story and kept the company going, even during the pandemic.
As of December 2022 Amazon has a market cap of $902.34 billion, making it the fifth most valuable company as per market cap. Amazon’s success strategy revolves around curating the customer experience and making fact-based decisions that can change history.
