Amazon is one of the leading e-commerce websites in the world. It ranks #1 as the most successful online shopping center, above eBay and Walmart. But what is it that caused Amazon to become so successful and to continue its success?
If you’d like to learn more about why Amazon is so successful, continue reading through this article for 15 reasons that make Amazon the top eCommerce website in the world.
15 Reasons Why Amazon Is So Successful
1. Amazon Puts Customers First No Matter What
The main reason Amazon is so successful is due to its high-quality customer experience.
Amazon offers low prices, a large selection of products, and fast and reliable delivery times.
Additionally, Amazon has managed to sustain this business model for many years and in multiple countries, enabling the company to remain so successful.
2. A Large Selection Of Products
Amazon sells in a large variety of categories, allowing for a vast and diverse group of consumers.
Amazon and third-party sellers through Amazon can sell products in all the following categories:
- Appliances
- Apps & Games
- Arts, Crafts & Sewing
- Automotive Parts & Accessories
- Baby Items
- Beauty & Hygiene
- Books
- Vinyl & CD’s
- Mobile Phones & Accessories
- Fashion
- Shoes & Footwear
- Jewelry
- Collectibles
- Fine Art
- Computers
- Electronics & Kindle
- Garden & Outdoor Living
- Grocery
- Handmade Items
- Home & Kitchen Appliances
- Industrial & Scientific Appliances
- Luggage & Travel Gear
- Movies & TV
- Musical Instruments
- Office Supplies
- Pet Care & Supplies
- Sporting Equipment
- Tools & Home Improvement
- Toys & Games
- Video Games
3. Innovative Technology
Amazon has integrated state-of-the-art technology into its business model.
For example, Amazon’s Echo is a voice-command device that can play music, research, check the weather, and more. In 2017, Amazon sold 22 million Echo units, making the product an exceptional source of revenue.
A party to the Echo is Amazon’s Alexa, an AI integration to the Echo that users can download to their phones and apply to all sorts of different situations.
For example, Alexa can be hooked up to light fixtures, which can be turned on and off with a simple voice command.
These applications have proven to be extremely popular among Amazon customers, as they further add to Amazon’s goal of offering convenience to consumers outside of their marketplace.
4. Excellent Customer Service
Amazon has a vast array of ways to help customers. The Customer Service page has different categories to select for choosing the needs a customer requires. The categories are as follows:
Your Orders
- This page allows customers to locate recent orders, track the packages down, and to cancel packages.
- Customers can use this page to report any problems they may have with their order, they can leave seller feedback and can also write a review of the product that they ordered.
Returns & Refunds
- This page directs customers to frequently asked questions about how returns and refunds are processed. It has two direct links to customer’s order pages as well as the Manage Returns page.
Digital Services & Device Support
- This page is separated into two main categories with their sub-categories- Things You Can Do and Popular Articles.
- The Things You Can Do category allows customers to view/cancel digital orders, install or remove apps, change digital and device settings, manage devices, manage digital content, and manage app store subscriptions.
- The Popular Articles category lists helpful articles for returning kindle books, getting a Fire Tablet to charge, canceling Kindle Unlimited, getting help pairing a Fire TV remote, canceling Music Unlimited, and downloading the Alexa App.
Manage Prime
- This page lists the Prime membership’s services, including shipping, streaming, exclusive deals, and Prime Reading.
- A list of frequently asked questions is at the bottom of the page for how to properly manage a Prime account.
Payment Options
- This category allows customers to add and change their payment options for their Amazon orders.
Your Account
- This category lists 6 sub-categories for how to manage a customer account. Your Addresses, Login & Security, Your Payments, Gift Cards, Prime, and Your Orders.
- Listed below are a series of articles to help customers with ordering and shopping preferences, digital content and devices, email alerts and messages, other ways to pay, subscriptions, and more.
Safe Online Shopping
- This page lists a series of articles to assist customers with their safety and privacy while shopping online. Phishing, Spoofing, and Legal Policies are also listed.
5. Perks Of Amazon Prime
One main thing that has risen Amazon to success is Amazon Prime membership.
This membership makes customers eligible for Amazon Prime Video, Prime Delivery, Prime Early Access, and tons more.
The Prime membership only costs .99 per month (9 per year) and comes with a large number of perks.
Customers have a larger incentive to purchase more items and can take advantage of the two-day or even same-day shipping.
6. Delivery Speeds
While Amazon’s delivery speeds are varied depending on the country and region, orders will always be upfront with the estimated delivery date and are quicker than most e-commerce websites.
With an extra few dollars a month, Prime members are eligible for speedier deliveries, with some orders being delivered as early as the same day.
Also, all orders come with a tracking number, which allows customers to regularly check on the status of their package.
7. A Full UX Team
Amazon employs a full UX Team (or User Experience Team) to conduct search engine research to see what their customers are interested in purchasing.
This allows each individual customer to have the products in their recommended section be catered towards their particular niche or interest.
This has been proving to produce more sales, and contributes toward Amazon’s customer experience.
8. Multiple Sale Strategies
Amazon has gained a lot of success by moving outside its online marketplace and branching out into other forms of business.
For example, opening the Amazon Fresh grocery store has enabled Amazon to create and sell its own produce and snack food brand, further expanding its market and generating more profit outside of Amazon.com.
As well, Amazon offers packaging and shipping centers in physical locations such as Kohl’s, allowing customers to make returns hassle-free.
While this service doesn’t always cost money, it adds to the positive customer experience Amazon strives to offer.
9. Regular Discounts And Reasonable Prices
Amazon frequently offers discounts for most categories on their website (the Fashion category is excluded from discounts in some areas).
They have deals in the following categories:
- Today’s Deals
- Watched Deals
- Outlet Deals
- Warehouse Deals
- Lightning Deals
- Coupons
- eBook Deals
- Subscribe & Save
10. A Focus On The Book Business
Amazon began its e-commerce business as an online bookseller and has continued to increase its focus on the book business the more its website has grown.
Amazon Kindle e-readers, Kindle Direct Publishing, Audible, and their wide selection of physical books have consistently kept Amazon in a high spot for online booksellers.
Also, Amazon owns the website Goodreads.com, the largest social media site for book lovers.
11. Worldwide Service
Amazon has websites for the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Amazon also offers a Worldwide Store for countries that don’t currently have an Amazon website for their country.
12. Catering Product Display To Individuals
Due to the UX Team that Amazon employs, customers have an easier time finding the products that they’re searching for by books, clothing, and other items being displayed in their recommended section that are related to products they’ve previously searched for.
In addition to the recommended pages, Amazon also displays related items underneath product pages.
For example, if a customer is looking at a hardcover journal, Amazon may display similar journals beneath the product page to help their customer find exactly what they’re looking for
13. Safe Consumer Environment
Amazon has a very thorough Privacy Notice that ensures the safety of customers when making purchases.
Amazon doesn’t share any personal or financial information outside of third-party sellers, and they have a system for reporting scams and misconduct from sellers or other consumers.
To learn more, you can see our full guide on how to shop on Amazon safely.
4. Caters To Multiple Niches
With its extensive catalog of products, Amazon can cater to multiple niches.
Metalworking, bookbinding, vintage decor, aesthetics, and many more niches can be catered to by searching for the correct product.
15. Kindle Direct Publishing
Amazon focuses widely on books in its business model, and this includes self-publishing services.
Authors can publish physical books and ebooks through Amazon free of cost, unlike most self-publishing services.
Additionally, Amazon publishing provides wider distribution than most self-publishing services.
Conclusion
Amazon is successful due to its high-quality customer experience. They offer reasonable prices, reliable shipping, a large product catalog, safety while shopping, and they cater their products on display to each individual consumer.
Amazon offers a wide variety of services, from self-publishing to grocery shopping, and they offer their services worldwide.
