You may not have the funds to build an eCommerce system on the scale of Amazon, but there are several lessons you can learn from them that will help you sell more, online and offline.
Make it easy to buy. Amazon pioneered One Click Ordering, where customers’ shipping and credit card information is stored for future purchases. They make it easy to buy without taking out your wallet and entering a large amount of data. Can you set up accounts or keep customers’ billing information available so they can buy with a phone call or signature?
Make others sell for you. Amazon.com Associates was the first online affiliate program. Associates link from their websites to Amazon.com and receive commissions for the sales they refer. Today, more than 900,000 websites refer customers to Amazon.com. You can run your own affiliate program with inexpensive software or by using one of the many services that will manage your program for you. Offline, reward customers who send you new business with free products or services.
Show related products. While shopping on Amazon, you’ll see suggestions like “Customers who bought this item also bought…”. Make related product displays in your retail store, group products and accessories in your catalog, and list product suggestions on web pages.
Provide personalized information. Amazon remembers what you buy and even the products you have bought. Your shopping apparel is used to provide personalized recommendations when you arrive at Amazon.com. You may be able to use features in your online shopping cart to upsell based on the item purchased. Send emails or postcards to customers who have purchased certain products when you have a new product or service that might interest them.
Encourages community growth. Customers can post reviews on any product page on Amazon.com. Want to recommend a favorite product or warn others about a failure? Submit a review. Although the system is not perfect, you can get a lot of useful information from customer reviews, and the availability of this information encourages customers to buy from Amazon. A user group or online forum can make customers feel part of your community.
Do what you do best. If you visit Borders.com, you will discover that it is fulfilled by Amazon.com. Borders decided it didn’t want to reinvent the wheel when it came to e-commerce and handed over its website to Amazon so they could focus on their physical stores. You can learn from both sides of this relationship. If something doesn’t fit with your core business, outsource it. If there is something you do very well, consider offering the service to others, even your competitors. everybody wins
Although you may not be a giant (yet), you can learn lessons from giants like Amazon.com. Apply them to your business and increase your profits.