Luka Gumberidze
Basel Airout

Part III

Amazon’s Strategic Competitive Advantages:

Amazon has moved from one sector to the next over the previous two decades, intensifying rivalry in books, toys, electronics, clothes, pet items, and food. As a result, Amazon faces competition from retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Best Buy, Kroger, Petco, and PetSmart, among others.

These shops understand the importance of speed and the appeal of same-day or next-day delivery, but there are other ways to set themselves apart.

Attractiveness of its Leaders and Leadership:

Amazon’s pragmatic leadership style has been highlighted. “Establish high expectations and openly demand that themselves and their people accomplish those goals,”. The company’s founder and first CEO, Jeff Bezos, is a clever and seasoned businessman. Bezos combines visionary and servant leadership styles to great effect, emphasizing the need of good customer service in Amazon’s operations. The Amazon Board of Directors is made up of nine seasoned business leaders from a variety of fields (The Audit Committee, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee just to name a few). Amazon’s senior leadership staff has been chastised for its lack of diversity.

Despite the current low profit, Amazon’s leadership is concerned about maintaining the company’s profitability. To now, the organization has been able to address this challenge by making process changes, optimizing human resource value, and continually entering new market sectors.

What can be learnt from these companies and use in our business:

• Move quickly

All of the time, Amazon is in a state of flux. New departments, alliances, UX, call to action tweaks, and changes to the seller networks will all be implemented. Amazon has a track record of producing results quickly. Introducing Amazon Prime is a wonderful example. Although customers had not directly requested it, it was widely agreed that being able to deliver items within a day, if not hours, would be a game changer. And it turned out that this concept was spot on. It has gone on to set delivery standards all around the world since then. Keeping up with the times is essential in the digital world. Forget about the turtle clock; the race is usually won by the enterprises who are winded.

• Be creative

Aside from Amazon Prime, the company has a long list of important accomplishments. The concept of “others who bought like you also bought” was first implemented on a big scale by Amazon. This case study is discussed in my book Digital Marketing Strategy. There was a lot of room for cross-selling here. Many of us have discovered new things, purchased sets of items, and added items to our shopping cart that we didn’t realize we ‘needed.’ This cutting-edge strategy has been as transformative for Amazon as Adwords has been for Google.

• Never stop experimenting.

Amazon excels at putting concepts to the test. Most of what we mentioned above and below was tested on a specific market or specialty before being rolled out. There’s also a lot you’re not aware of that has been attempted and failed. Indeed, Jeff Bezos once claimed to have “earned billions of dollars on Amazon failures.” Not every test yields a positive result, but that is why we test in the first place. We learn more from our failures than we do from our victories. It’s crucial to ensure that you can quickly roll back if something goes wrong, as well as to thoroughly test before growing. Why wait until tomorrow to see what you’re capable of?

• Develop a long-term plan.

Even if it pivots, a company must have goals and a direction of motion; otherwise, it is just doing stuff. Amazon is a firm that is known for its patience. Despite working swiftly and frequently testing, they are patient with some of their discoveries. Some of their wagers took years to pay off, sometimes more than a decade. They have conquered some difficult obstacles, however, by having a clear goal, a well-defined strategy, and the unrelenting focus for which they are recognized. Stick to your plans and be strategic in your approach.

• Diversify your portfolio in a smart way.

If there’s one thing Amazon is known for, it’s not being a one-trick pony. Just a handful of the many possibilities accessible right now are Amazon Prime, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Kindle, and Amazon Web Services. From shopping to streaming to tech gadgets to back-end hardware, Amazon has its fingers in a number of pies. However, this isn’t a fully random diversification. Every step has been a step in the right direction.

Why is amazon unique:

What distinguishes Amazon is that it has never been content to “stay in its lane.” The business started as an online store and has subsequently evolved into a (perhaps) market leader in cloud computing operations. If you’re a paying member of their loyalty club, the company that thought that online book sales made sense since books are easy to send is now offering to ship big TVs and incredibly heavy construction equipment for free. Amazon’s innovation strategy has been centered on one astonishing achievement: the company’s ability to expand without becoming too bloated. None of Amazon’s promotions have harmed or diminished the company’s overall quality.

Our assessment of the future of Amazon:

Amazon assessment process is made up of 7 stages which include

• Amazon Online Application
• Amazon Online Aptitude Tests
• Amazon Versant Test
• Amazon Work Style Assessment
• Amazon HirePro Technical Tests
• Amazon Assessment Center
• Amazon Final Interview

Throughout the recruitment process, Amazon will test you against a list of key values:

• Customer Obsession
• Ownership
• Deliver Results
• Ability to Work to the Highest Standards
• Dive Deep
• Earn Trust
• Bias for Action
• Frugality
• Learn and be Curious
• Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
• Invest and Simplify
• Think Big

With these components for the future of Amazon it will reach higher peaks than it currently is at.

Emotional appeal of the customers to Amazon:

Amazon’s ranking according to some digs we have got through research shows that you don’t have to be a company like Disney to enlighten strong emotional responses from your customers. This is crucial for all businesses to understand, because pleasant emotional experiences are one of if not the most likely ingredient to lead to loyalty. What makes Amazon so emotionally appealing to the consumers is their mastery of planting and spreading positive emotions while shrinking negative ones. They help their customers to let go of the negative emotions such as annoyance with traffic getting to City centers, worry trying to find a parking spot, and anxiety about endless sea of merchandise. At the same time, they encourage good vibes such as relief from the ease with which you can select the correct product for your needs, peace of mind from knowing when it will be delivered, and relaxed from the time you save during the process. This combo elicits a strong emotional response in most people, which may explain why Amazon, in the ostensibly mechanical and mundane industry of internet shopping.

Conclusion:

At the end of it all, Amazon will always be one of the top players in the business industry for its tactics, combinations, collaborations and experimentations that has cemented the company as a Statue of Liberty of selling and technological corporation in the modern age.