ZAPPOS another successful venture of AMAZON.COM - Essay Example

? ZAPPOS-another successful venture of AMAZON.COM Introduction Trust is always the word of theday. Believe it and have it all. It does not matter the field, be it media or marketing, retailers or consumers, each and every person in business is much more concerned with the word “trust.” The recent 2009 Mintel report on top consumer trends puts trust as “...the paramount concern ….as banks, food manufacturers and government officials suffer from losing people’s trust” (Need, n.d.). The benefit and success in business go hand in hand with trust. None of the businesses in the entire world would ever wish to run losses in the market however crowded it may seems to be. To be successful, business would want consumers to buy and try more and comfortably pay for the goods and services. This is where brand trust comes in. Defining brand trust remains challenging as any retailers would prefer its definition left to the consumers’ view of their products and services (Weinberg, 2009). However, my ideas seem to differ from that: it is the responsibility of the business to build trustworthy relationship with the consumers. A good example of brand trust can be taken from the printing industry. If you buy a printing machine allegedly printing one thousand copies in one minute, yet in reality it can only produce one hundred copies in one minute, then there is no trust towards the producers of the machine. The above example introduces another important factor in brand trust, which is honesty and clarity. Honesty and clarity are very much essential in building brand trust. According to the study conducted in 2010 by the Reader’s Digest European Trusted Brands, 13% of consumers trust advertising and 32% of consumers trust international companies. However, according to Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey, 48% of consumers trust their work colleagues, friends and neighbors, 90% of consumers, trust recommendations from friends while 70% trust opinion posted online (Grimes, 2012). A question then may arise: do many clients understand key factors required to build trust? Perhaps we can say they do or they do not; it depends on the kind of scenario presented before the consumer. The only reality you can bank on is that every client wants to build trust. But how can we achieve trust for products and services? This is a question many entrepreneurs and marketing officers attempt to answer on a daily basis. Just like people build trust in relationships, the same way clients build trust for brands and business. This is achieved through trust drivers as illustrated below. Factors influencing the effects of online Trust The steady growth of the Internet has in the recent past promoted e-commerce to a great extent. The Internet is now an essential part of a multichannel strategy for firms. In order to create a long term relationship guided by trust, companies are required to build on customer trust (Bhusry, 2005). This is very necessary in the world of e-commerce because consumers depend on the Internet for extraction of useful information and purchasing of products/services offered. Successful e-commerce requires a wide evaluation and understanding of how brand trust is achieved and the effects it has on consumer behavior (Epstein, 2004). In the case of Zappos e-business, quite a number of trust drivers come into plays. We must note that the web site design is also a very important part of e-commerce, and thus very essential factor in building trust. In addition, the web site design strategies of different web sites classification emphasize different characteristics like navigation, privacy and advice that are very crucial in building trust (Weinberg, 2009). Quite a number of factors may affect online trust of Zappos e-business, namely, risk of information, price of the product/service on the web site, financial risk and the navigation ability of the web site. The above factors can be broken down into details as follows: (a) Risk of Information. The risk of information refers to the provision of information on the web site that may lead to the exposure of certain private information. Zappos e-business web site provides information only relevant to the product or service in question and thus does not allow a leak of information regarding the privacy of the business (How Zappo's shoes in success, 2010). (b) Price of the products/services at the web site This is concerned with the extent of engagement with the consumer on the website. The Zappos e-business web site provides information on the price of the products and services which is clear and easy to understand. It also provides the image and color of the product/service on sale. This ensures easy interpretation of the transaction process. (c) Financial risk This refers to the cost incurred on the web site during the e-business engagement with the customer. As much as the Zappos e-business web site would like to expose more product and services online, the advertisement cost incurred may incur losses on other products whose cost does not relate properly with the promotion process. Zappos e-business should work to ensure that not losses are incurred during the advertising and sales process. (d) Navigation ability of the web site. This refers to the availability of the information regarding the product or services on the web site and the time involved in extracting the information. As much as I may be convinced that the design of the Zappos e-business web site is easy to navigate through, the structure of the web site may pose challenges to other people. Volumes of products and services on the web site may lead to “squeezing” of other products that may be on demand to other people who may not be able to get access to them due to the design of the web site (Michelli, 2012). The above discussed features of Zappos e-business lead us the consumers to trust drives that can be extracted from the Zappos e-business web site. These are very essential factors that will further promote and enhance continuity and success of the e-commerce for a great extent of time. The trust drives put consumers/customers closer to the business making the latter increase sales while making good profit from the products and services offered. From the above analysis, the following trust drives can be taken from the Zappos e-business web site: security, privacy, brand strength, advice, order fulfillment and community features. However, a very essential trust drive is not well featured on the web site – navigation. The above trust drives can be expanded in detail as below: i. Security. Security is very important as it involves the safety of credit cards and financial information. Zappos e-business web site is well secure and thus cannot allow a stranger to access the information of other customers/ consumers. The Zappos e-business has ensured strict rules and measures that completely prevent the leaking of other customers’ information. ii. Privacy Privacy refers to the coverage of customers’ information on the Internet and involves the inclusion of disclosure and privacy policies. The Zappos e-business has build up proper privacy measures and does not allow exposure of any identifiable information to any third party. The privacy measures have earned the e-business trust from customers and business leaders all over the world. iii. Brand strength Brand strength refers to the tag mark for trust generating process. It represents a symbol of quality and works towards building trust. Zappos e-business has a high quality brand that promotes trust at a higher degree compared to other online e-commerce web sites. iv. Advice Advice is very important to customers/consumers in order for them to make wise choice of the kind of product/services they want. It is no secret that the Zappos e-business web site provide useful information that influence customers decisions. The wise decision is very important to the customers as it also promotes a healthier relationship between the customers and the business (Klein, 2010). v. Order fulfillment Order fulfillment involves the delivery of orders placed by the customers as fast as possible. Delays of deliveries can create a bad impression of the business as it will destroy trust between the buyer and the business (Nelson and Quick, 2011). Zappos e-business has also ensured quick delivery of orders to the respective buyers. Delivery is very important, and every business can be judged by the speed of delivery. The above mentioned trust drives from the Zappos e-business provide a great opportunity for customers to build trust on the products and services offered. This can then explain the success of Zappos e-business in proper details. However, despite the great work the Zappos e-business has put to build on customers trust, one key factor is lacking – the navigation ability. Not many people can search deeply for other products on the website; it requires time to do so. I believe this is because of the bulk of products on sale. Zappos e-business has a lot in stock to sale, which leads to “squeezing” of other products. A business that does not make profit is not a business, and an enterprise that makes profit is not considered as a business automatically. A business is considered to be one when it can make both the profit and also advise consumers/customers wisely like Zappos e-commerce. Bibliography Need, B., (n.d). Mintel reviews global consumer trends of 2009. Mintel. [online] Available at: [Accessed 27 Nov. 2012] Grimes, M. (2012, April 10). Nielsen: Global Consumers' Trust in 'Earned' Advertising Grows in Importance. Nielsen. [online] Available at: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press-room/2012/nielsen-global-consumers-trust-in-earned-advertising-grows.html [Accessed 27 Nov. 2012] Epstein, M. J. (2004). Implementing e-commerce strategies: a guide to corporate success after the Dot.com bust. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Bhusry, M. (2005). E-commerce. New Delhi: Firewall Media. Nelson, D. L., and Quick, J. C. (2011). Organizational behavior: science, the real world, and you. Mason, OH, USA, South-Western: Cengage Learning. Weinberg, T. (2009). The new community rules: marketing on the social web. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly. How Zappo's shoes in success. (2010). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education Pub. as FTPress. Klein, T. D. (2010). Built for change: essential traits of transformative companies. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger. Michelli, J. A. (2012). The Zappos experience: 5 principles to inspire, engage, and wow. New York, McGraw-Hill. Read More