Zappos – Wow!
Posted by Joe Cannon
Have you been following Zappos over the last few years? Well we have. The online retailer (not just selling shoes anymore) is known for its “Wow” customer service and quirky culture (see “Zappos knows how to kick it,” Fortune, January 22, 2010). They have recently come out with a new television advertising campaign (see below) and they are moving into video sharing. Looking for more? Link through to read more about Zappos and its founder, CEO and “2009 SUCCESS Achiever of the Year,” (Success Magazine, March 2, 2010) Tony Hsieh.
I like to talk about Zappo’s when I get into retailing. I like to show students how one or two retailers have developed marketing strategies that work — and walk through the target market and four Ps. I start by confessing to my students that fifteen years ago I told students that shoes would probably never be sold over the Internet because of the need to try them on (what did I know?).
You can walk through the marketing strategy — starting with big efforts at customer retention — so a major target is current customers. Especially with shoe buyers, customer retention is key — since their returns will be much lower than new customers. They keep customers with phenomenal customer service. Prices are reasonable. For Promotion, the great customer service generates word of mouth. Promotion also utilizes advertising (see example below — that probably targets new targets and customer acquisition) and now I can add a discussion of online video. Place befits a quick tour of the Zappos website – where you can demonstrate more Promotion with the customer reviews of several products. you can also talk about free shipping and returns when you are talking about Place policies. And Product is interesting as the firm has a very wide selection and now sells a lot more than shoes.



