MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AMAZON 1
Marketing Strategies of Amazon
Shrikant Pradeep Darne
Fairleigh Dickinson University
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AMAZON 2
A last touch on the screen and a long journey begins. This journey begins with a pick up
from an extensive warehouse and ends with delivery at our doorstep or a person holding a
box which proudly sports the letters AMAZON with a smile on it. This is the moment when
happiness is delivered wishes are fulfilled and a customer is gained. Amazon Inc. is an
American ecommerce giant who laid its foundation in the year 1994(Amazon facts). The
company had a modest start in a garage and started shipping books locally. This small speck
became the world’s biggest “bookstore” and propelled itself in innumerable directions and
has leaded itself to monopolistic growth in the field of e commerce. The growth is so huge
that his company has become an unstoppable giant and has conquered a part from everyone’s
life, but there is a reason to it, Jeff Bezos, who is the ideologist behind Amazon’s tremendous
success. He has quoted that “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they
might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell
6,000 friends” (Jeff Bezos). This statement shows the essence of obsession towards customer
contentment by Amazon and delivering them with value which can or cannot be quantified.
Thus there are three main aspects in building a loyal customer: the targeted demographics, the
products and the impact of social media.
We are in 2015 and there is no one that cannot use a smartphone or make use of the
internet. Amazon is available on internet as well as mobile platform in many parts of the
world and has 270 million active users who range in various demographics (statistics). A
report by Billy Hulkower who is a senior technology analyst at Mintel has researched on the
online shopping patterns in the US. His experience in the industry and his survey on Amazon
states that, out of the total number of online buyers 48% buy their products on Amazon.
Followed by, 16% who buy all or almost all of their products from Amazon. The youth
ranging between the ages 25-34 admits to purchase 24% of all books, music, gaming
equipment, perfumes, accessories and clothing on Amazon (Hulkower Billy). Averaging the
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AMAZON 3
age of youths to 29 years, we can claim that, these people who buy 24% of personal goods on
Amazon will continue to buy for another 30 to 35 years then; it will lead to creation of loyalty
and increased number of purchases.
Moving forward to the next aspect which focuses on products and services, Amazon
provides an uncountable array of products which range from a pin to a piano. But this is an
understatement as Amazon has opened its doors and has expanded from a garage full of
books to 89 strategically placed warehouses full of conventional and unconventional
products(amazon facts). Amazon is an online marketplace which connects a various channels
and builds links between buyers to Amazon, business to business, business to Amazon and
buyers to business. These links have helped Amazon to develop a huge catalogue of products.
Not only does Amazon sell and market products from other businesses but also has its own
home developed products which stick to their roots of selling books and easing out the task of
