Case study: Amazon.com: Obsessed with Creating Customer Value and Relationships

When you think of shopping online, chances are good that you think first of Amazon. The company sells everything from books, music, electronics, tools, housewares, apparel, and groceries to loose diamonds and Maine lobsters.

From the start, Amazon has grown explosively. Its annual sales have rocketed from a modest $150 million in 1997 to more than $74 billion today. What has made Amazon such an amazing success story? Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos put it in three simple words: Obsess over customers. To its core, the company is relentlessly customer-driven.

Amazon wants to deliver a special experience to every customer. Most regulars feel a surprisingly strong relationship with the company, especially given the almost complete lack of actual human interaction.

Visitors to Amazon.com find a huge selection, good value, low prices, and convenience. But its the discovery factor that makes the buying experience really special. Amazon.com has become a kind of online community in which customers can browse for products, research purchase alternatives, share opinions and reviews with other visitors, and chat online with authors and experts. That ability to share opinions and reviews builds relationships with the company and with other customers.

Indeed, Amazon has become a leader for companies that are obsessively and successfully focused on delivering customer value.

q1)Referring to the Amazon website and your reading of the above case, what needs, wants, and/or demands is Amazon attempting to fill?

Understand the market place, customer needs, wents and derrand Design Gustomer- oriented marketing strategy Construct a marketing program Build profitable customer relationship Capture value back from the customer