Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos developed unique approaches to increase customer happiness. On many occasions, Bezos has discussed the differences Amazon makes concerning overall customer experience and customer service. Correcting consumer issues creates more loyalty among customers according to Bezos. Ina addition, this also allows Amazon to identify persistent problems that require attention more thoroughly.
Since their creation over fifteen years ago, Amazon has developed three approaches in an attempt to ensure their target market continues to receive this treatment. They are fulfillment centers, Amazon Prime, and AmazonFresh. According to the article, amazon has 89 fulfillment centers. Amazon has built the complex machinery to make sure a product will ship out in less than 2.5 hours from the time a customer clicks place your order. In efforts to improve customer experiences, Amazon has put lots of money into building these centers to be closer to where there customers are located. This way, customers are able to spend less on shipping costs and they receive their orders more efficiently.
A major disadvantage to making purchases via the internet is the lack of instant satisfaction that a consumer would receive in face to face interactions. Satisfaction is a key variable that influences the development of long-term relationships with customers (Jain, Kumar, & Dash, 2014). Once customers make purchases they want to be able to receive their merchandise as quickly as possible. For this reason, Amazon has initiated the Amazon Prime. This offers customers an option to receive their merchandise within two days for a fee of $79.00 per year. This applies to products that are in stock and qualify for the program. Within the last two years Amazon has expanded Prime to be international and has also increased the availability of products that are offered. The service is credited with helping to drive explosive growth at the world's largest online retailer (Gustin, 2014)..
AmazonFresh is actually a Trojan horse, a service designed for a much greater purpose (McCorvey, 2013). Originally, this service was only available in Seattle, Washington. However, Bezos has decided to grow AmazonFresh into additional markets. This service allows customers to order groceries that will be delivered to them, and customers can also choose from a plethora of other items ranging from children’s toys to flat screen TVs. Shoppers will receive their items either the same day or they will arrive the following morning. Industry observers believe that part of Amazon’s reason for delivering groceries is that it will create enough sales volume and delivery demand to justify delivering all other Amazon merchandise within one day.
According to the article, Bezos says