Critical Analysis on Amazon

Critical Analysis of Amazon

Stephanie Stricker

Columbia University

Amazon is one of the leading online stores in today’s society with 135 billion dollars in sales. The company strives to offer the widest selection of products at the lowest price in an environment that promotes the best online customer experience.

Convenience, speed, and choice are three core benefits that make up Amazon's very unique selling proposition. Amazon is located online, within a click, which is extremely convenient. Just type in what you're looking for and read the reviews and description before adding it to your cart. Don't forget to add to your wish list if you see something for next time. They're fast. They've invested on warehouses and in developing a fulfillment program to help entrepreneurs and small businesses ship even faster.  They even offer a huge amount of choice, everything from books to barbecues. You can find just about anything for sale on Amazon. And it's the first place many people search. Amazon’s value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered, communicated, and acknowledged, which has been followed through in this company. Their value propositions make Amazon attractive to their customers and keep them coming back for more which, we can see in Amazons huge success and profit.

Amazons value proposition is sustainable. I will argue that the reason for this is that no other company has the capability to imitate Amazon’s core competencies. “Amazon has utilized the participatory network in order to create strong barriers to entry in the market”( Kotha, Sures). In the areas of price, selection and online customer experience, Amazon has leveraged the contributions of a participatory community in order to decrease prices, increase selection, and effectively enhance the online customer experience of its shoppers. Amazon controls so much of the market that no smaller company could over power the company, therefore the company’s value proposition is sustainable.

Corporate culture refers to the “shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that characterize members of an organization and define its nature” (Marketing: an introduction, 12). Amazons slogan “Earth's Most Customer- centric Company" is what’s makes the company so successful. Amazons corporate culture creates the company itself. It plays into all of these questions because without its culture the company wouldn’t thrive and succeed, making it a failed organization. The corporate culture is rooted in an organization's goals, strategies, structure, and approaches to labor, customers, investors, and the greater community.

         Amazon’s marketing strategy targets the middle class & upper class people who have got hands on experience in the basic technology but don’t have time or prefer convenience over shopping from the physical outlets. It is designed to increase customer traffic to their websites, drive awareness of products and services, promote repeat purchases, and strengthen and broaden the Amazon.com brand name. Amazon employs various means of advertising, which consist primarily of online advertising, including their associates program, sponsored search, portal advertising, e-mail campaigns. Amazon offers everyday free shipping options worldwide.  Also offer Amazon Prime, a membership program in which members receive free or discounted express shipping, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.