Zappos

The shoe industry is a $3 billion dollar business. Zappos holds one fifth of the market, ahead of all other competition. Zappos is one of the first online only shoe stores that provides free shipping and return policy. Founded in 1999, the company sells shoes with free overnight shipping. If a return is necessary, customers are able to print off prepaid postage from its website and send back the shoe for a different style or size. 

Zappos uses a merchant web business model. It virtually displays shoes for customers to view at different angles. It carries shoes from many different brands and allows people to find what they need from the comfort of their home. Once a customer gets onto the website, he or she is able to type in the kind of shoe that they want. Different options arise, and they can scroll down to find what they are looking for. Customers may also use the

 sorting option, which separates shoes into different categories such as boots, sneakers and dress shoes. It also sorts by brand or upcoming events such as the Boston Marathon. There is also a women, men and children section that also link to a clearance section. This allows customers to quickly find what they are looking for and do not have to be bothered by searching store to store. After the purchase is made, the shoe is sent straight to the customer’s door the next day. If they are unsatisfied, they may send it back free of charge. Zappos also has 24-hour 365 day a year customer service for those who need questions answered. Live online helpers that speak different languages are always available. It uses these tactics to create a competitive advantage of customer loyalty in the online shoe market.

The measure of revenue, the number of customers and the amount of repeat customers are a few ways to measure the success of Zappos. Since 1999, Zappos has doubled its revenue every year. Although free shipping can get expensive, in 2006 it hit $600 million in revenue. Also, by 2006, Zappos had 4 million customers. Using its approach to obtain customer loyalty, 65% of them were repeat customers. This is a great way to measure the success since Zappos uses much of its funds to give the customer a pleasurable experience. Another metric that could be used may be the amount of people who have clicked through the website and stayed 

on it for a reasonable amount of time. It displays people’s interest in the web site. Random customer comments and surveys are also used to measure its success. These types of primary data can be superb tools to attend to customers’ needs and wants. Many times something that one customer asks for, may be something that others would also enjoy. It is important to meet these needs because Zappos is really focused on the customer experience.

Zappos pure play merchant business model has proved to be a success. Its measurement tools have only taught the company the best way of doing things and made them more money. It remains number one in the online shoe industry.