Web 2.0: Retail Therapy 2.0 with Zappos

Zappos is a company that is “powered by service”. You could also say that the web today is powered by service. If not  “powered by service”, it certainly is driven by the people. Zappos based their company off of Amazon and their idea of making the online retail experience a bit more personal. Zappos uses one to one marketing to really satisfy the needs of the customer. For those who are new to marketing, one to one marketing is a way a company can stand out o differentiate themselves from their competitors. One to one makes online retail (or e-commerce) more of an intimate experience where companies customize what they are selling to each customer. It allows the customer to feel special in a way because they get the feeling that their purchase matters. The overnight success of the company was due largely in part to this idea

Zappos is a clothing retailer that was primarily started and still remains a great place to find a good pair of shoes. When you chose something on Amazon or sign in, you receive suggestions to what you should purchase. This not only helps the customer feel like they are getting more of a personal experience, but it also makes retail therapy come a bit easier while browsing the site. The suggestions also come from customers as well. When you are looking at a certain product, you can view what others say about it. It  makes the customer feel like they can have a dialog about the product and hopefully not feel so much buyers remorse after knowing how much other people enjoyed the product. For Zappos, they have made the idea of customer service an art and it extends far past suggesting products. The site prides themselves on having such personal relationships with their customers. They also are differentiated b their unprecedented free shipping both back and forth. This allows the customer to feel more as if they were experiencing a personal shopping experience at a store, where shipping is not needed. As the above commercial shows, they set out to find employees who are passionate about customer service. This passion does not come at a steep price either; Zappos.com is listed as ne of the top places to work today. Making the experience extremely personal, both online and over the phone with their 24/7 customer service line, Zappos  heightens the “Retail Therapy 2.0” experience.

The principals of wikinomics and the new web 2.0 are openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally. In this bloggers opinion, Zappos.com does all of these things except maybe peering, and is why they are so successful in a larger sense. Zappos gained overnight success maybe for its 24/7 customer service and free shipping, however, the lasting success is due to the four principles of wikinomics.

Openness is the idea that a company is transparent to the customers. They get knowledge from outside the company and share that knowledge. Zappos is doing so by letting customers give their feedback on what they like and didn't like about products and even the service the customer receives. This openness allows the shopping experience to be more of a collaborative experience. They also have blogs on the site that although are written by hired writers, the blogs give that sense of openness because they are pretty much writing daily what comes to mind involving the retail experience. These blogs are different and every consumer can find a blog right for them.

The second aspect that Zappos.com uses is sharing. Although they have not have this idea exactly right as other companies like amazon do, they implement the idea on the site at least a little. On other websites, when you are purchasing things, the site sometimes directs you to a competitors website to ensure you get exactly what you are looking for. In Zappos' case they are just starting to let customers see competitors on their website. For example, if you really like the Betsy Johnson Collection on Zappos, you are able broaden your horizons and see everything that the designer offers. This again helps customize the purchasing experience for customers. It also reiterates the idea that the customer comes first. This is enough to stop any "shopoholic" from even leaving their couch.

 The final aspect of wikinomics that Zappos.com is now starting to implement is acting globally. The company now sells to Canada and more than likely will continue to expand. Acting globally is the essance of the internet and especially the 2.0 web because it is the idea of making the world a whole lot smaller. No longer does a person need to travel the globe to fully experience it. For todays shoppers, experiencing the shopping of France will one day be a click away.

As far as Zappos.com and their business plan is concerned they certainly are going in the right directing. Their advanced customer service shows that they understand that the customer should have the best experience possible ( a large part of Web 2.0 retail sites). As long as they continue to implement all of the      wikinomic ideas they are on the fast track to success. In the future  I can imagine a merger with Amazon since the website has not fully integrated fashion onto their website. Zappos is currently a "mini" Amazon and seems to be following in its footsteps. Regardless, the future looks quite bright for Zappos.com.