One thing common among great companies is that they don't compete on prices. Competing on prices will mean that there is a high chance that someone will match it and worse beat it. So no, Zappos which I believe is a great company does not offer price match with its competitors. However, if the price of the item you purchased from Zappos went down during one year on Zappos website, they will match it, or rather I should say that it is in their best interest to match that price if a customer requests. I purchased a suitcase last month from Zappos for $207. Just yesterday, I was browsing the website and noticed that the suitcase I paid $207 for is now selling at $142. That's a $65 difference in less than a month. I contacted their live chat agent and she told me that their price match policy is only for 10 days but she'll do it once for me as a courtesy. I appreciated but reminded her that by virtue of Zappos 365 day return policy which included free shipping both ways, they are effectively offering a 365 day price match policy too. She disagreed and I had to explain her that if she refuses to price match in future, I'll simply order the same thing again, won't even open it when it arrives and then send it back with my previous orders receipt as if I was returning the original product that I might already be using. This will get me my price match and will cost Zappos extra money in shipping. Unless Zappos can find a way to tag every single item, they cannot differentiate between two similar pair of shoes or bags or anything. This will require an RFID tag which can be very costly (about 10 cents per item) and will also fly against their practice of exceptional customer service. So, in my opinion, Isabella, you are better off matching that price every time a customer requests as long as it is within 365 days, otherwise you'll end up with an unhappy customer who will figure out a way to get the price match and Zappos will end up losing price match amount plus two way shipping charges.
Showing posts with label Zappos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zappos. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
What's next for Zappos
Zappos is one of my favorite companies. In 2009 I purchased a pair of shoes from Zappos. The reason I chose Zappos at the time was the variety that they had. Before my purchase, I went to Macy's, Von Maur and was not able to find anything that I liked. When I searched online, I found Zappos and I was amazed at the collection. I noticed that their prices are same as what you'd pay at a brick and mortar store except that their collection is huge. Shipping is free on both sides and so I decided to try them. After spending a lot of time going through the selection, I ordered a pair of shoes. I used free standard shipping option. A day later I had my shoes delivered with a thank you note that said that they bumped my shipment to free overnight. I was amazed. I loved my shoes and became a zappos fan.
Last month I read Tony Hsieh's (pronounced Shay) "Delivering Happiness". First half of the book is very exciting where Tony has described the challenges Zappos faced as a young company and how they survived. I love risk takers and so I loved Tony's story about Zappos. Its a great example of passion combined with the fact that big achievements requires taking substantial risks.
Today on facebook, Zappos asked, what business should they enter next. For those who don't know, Zappos is already selling Shoes, clothing, bags (best selection again anywhere to be found in my opinion), sporting goods, eyewear, jewelry, watches and fashion accessories. Now million dollar question is what should be next? Remember, they don't sell cheap stuff. What differentiates Zappos is their customer service. If you are a Starbucks customer and haven't purchased anything from Zappos yet, then I must tell you that Zappos is the only company that matches a customer service experience that you get at Starbucks in my opinion.
I am not going to buy books from them because I can get virtually any book I want to read from amazon and they are cheap. By the way, in case you don't know amazon owns zappos. Similarly I don't think I'll buy electronics from them as there are too many alternatives. That's why I believe (and may be I am wrong) that their housewares business is probably not very profitable. I think so because "Bed, Bath and Beyond" is a good alternative. Remember one of the reasons I am willing to pay them extra is because of their collection and I think in these areas there are many companies that are offering a huge variety and at a price lower than Zappos.
In my opinion the next big thing for them could be "Home Decor". I went to Europe last year for a vacation with my wife and kid. One of the cities we visited was the beautiful Italian city, Venice (Venezia). Besides the fact that its a beautiful city and you should go there if you ever go to Europe, one thing that me and my wife agreed was when we have our own house, we'll go back to Venice, just for shopping. You simply won't find the kind of glasswork they have anywhere else. Glasswork is not the only thing you'll find in Venice (and I am assuming its true for all of Italy). They have hand crafted wooden objects for home decor and again something difficult (definitely not impossible) to find in US.
In my opinion Zappos can bring these to American consumers. They don't have to be only from Europe. Zappos can get things that are only available in Far East, South Asia and other places in the world and supply them in US market. One thing that should be unique is a huge variety and little competition. I think we still don't have a big online store or even a brick and Mortar store that sells a huge variety of Home Decor. There are several smaller ones but it is difficult to find everything under one roof and that's where in my opinion an opportunity exists for Zappos. Search cost for consumers is high because of an absence of major player in this market and Zappos can provide value by reducing their search cost by providing a huge variety under one roof.
One of the biggest challenges in extending business in 'Home Decor' sector is the fragility of most Home Decor objects. One possible solution is to open a brick and mortar store but they don't have any experience or expertise in running a brick and mortar store.
It's a difficult question to answer and I have to leave or I'll miss my train so I'll let Zappos figure out how to overcome this challenge.
Last month I read Tony Hsieh's (pronounced Shay) "Delivering Happiness". First half of the book is very exciting where Tony has described the challenges Zappos faced as a young company and how they survived. I love risk takers and so I loved Tony's story about Zappos. Its a great example of passion combined with the fact that big achievements requires taking substantial risks.
Today on facebook, Zappos asked, what business should they enter next. For those who don't know, Zappos is already selling Shoes, clothing, bags (best selection again anywhere to be found in my opinion), sporting goods, eyewear, jewelry, watches and fashion accessories. Now million dollar question is what should be next? Remember, they don't sell cheap stuff. What differentiates Zappos is their customer service. If you are a Starbucks customer and haven't purchased anything from Zappos yet, then I must tell you that Zappos is the only company that matches a customer service experience that you get at Starbucks in my opinion.
I am not going to buy books from them because I can get virtually any book I want to read from amazon and they are cheap. By the way, in case you don't know amazon owns zappos. Similarly I don't think I'll buy electronics from them as there are too many alternatives. That's why I believe (and may be I am wrong) that their housewares business is probably not very profitable. I think so because "Bed, Bath and Beyond" is a good alternative. Remember one of the reasons I am willing to pay them extra is because of their collection and I think in these areas there are many companies that are offering a huge variety and at a price lower than Zappos.
In my opinion the next big thing for them could be "Home Decor". I went to Europe last year for a vacation with my wife and kid. One of the cities we visited was the beautiful Italian city, Venice (Venezia). Besides the fact that its a beautiful city and you should go there if you ever go to Europe, one thing that me and my wife agreed was when we have our own house, we'll go back to Venice, just for shopping. You simply won't find the kind of glasswork they have anywhere else. Glasswork is not the only thing you'll find in Venice (and I am assuming its true for all of Italy). They have hand crafted wooden objects for home decor and again something difficult (definitely not impossible) to find in US.
In my opinion Zappos can bring these to American consumers. They don't have to be only from Europe. Zappos can get things that are only available in Far East, South Asia and other places in the world and supply them in US market. One thing that should be unique is a huge variety and little competition. I think we still don't have a big online store or even a brick and Mortar store that sells a huge variety of Home Decor. There are several smaller ones but it is difficult to find everything under one roof and that's where in my opinion an opportunity exists for Zappos. Search cost for consumers is high because of an absence of major player in this market and Zappos can provide value by reducing their search cost by providing a huge variety under one roof.
One of the biggest challenges in extending business in 'Home Decor' sector is the fragility of most Home Decor objects. One possible solution is to open a brick and mortar store but they don't have any experience or expertise in running a brick and mortar store.
It's a difficult question to answer and I have to leave or I'll miss my train so I'll let Zappos figure out how to overcome this challenge.
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