Amazon.com is the most successful online retailer, not just of books and CDs. Here are some lessons to be learnt from them on how to succeed.
Collaborative Storytelling.
Amazon does so much more than simply provide a picture and a description of the thing on sale. They quote in full reviews by professional reviewers and descriptions provided by publishers and record companies.
Authors tell about how they came to write the book, and why they did it the way they did.
Readers, listeners and users tell their own stories about the thing in question, how it affected their lives and work, and what they think of it.
Other readers write lists and guides in order to share their knowledge, and tell the story of how and why things have given them so much pleasure or proven so useful. People love stories. People value other people’s opinions.
Collaborative Filtering.
When you have done with reading, you can glance at the bread crumb trail style lists of related items at the bottom of the page. These lists are drawn from finding the patterns in other people’s preferences and purchasing behaviours as well as your own click path.
This works on the basis of “If you like this, try taking a look at that.” It is effectively a collaborative process.
Associates Program.
Amazon’s affiliation program means that every author, publisher, reviewer, band, fan and online magazine can become an Amazon.com storefront. They earn a small percentage from the revenue such referral sales generate. This works to increase mind share, even if it does not succeed in lining pockets with spare cash.
You Can Get It There From Anywhere.
Frustrated by local lack of choice? Annoyed by the lack of interest shop assistants show when you ask them to order something on your behalf? You know you can always get it from Amazon.com, almost overnight if you are prepared to pay extra for high speed shipping. Or you can wait a little, like you would have had to anyway if the local store could have been bothered to get it in.
A Great Learning Resource.
Amazon.com is first port of call for many people when they want to learn about a new subject. I know it is for me. I access it several times a week on that basis.
Dead Easy Purchasing.
Amazon’s One-Click purchasing solves the problem too common to most other online retailers—causing users to fail to successfully complete a purchase. On most other online retail websites, even finding the product you want to buy is hard enough.
Learn & Churn.
Amazon’s web team is constantly analyzing its customers’ behaviour. When an issue of usability, accessibility or any other kind comes up, they deal with it fast. The Amazon.com website is an adaptive organism, learning and churning, and evolving to work better each and every day. At Amazon.com, there is no Seventh Day.
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