Amazon's Biggest Lesson For E-Commerce Companies

By Matt Mullen, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Neopost Commerce & Shipping

How Amazon continues to build a loyal customer base that keeps them coming back

“The new generation is killing the [insert X] industry.” It’s a topic we hear about almost every day, but in reality, times have changed and businesses need to react quicker, more intelligently and on a much larger scale in order to stay alive. So what’s the magic equation?

Let your business evolve with and by your customers to create the perfect experience.
None of this is demonstrated more clearly than by Amazon.

It seems like every day I see a story about a new service, product or feature that Amazon is bringing to the market. But all this news can be summed up in one way: Amazon doesn’t follow the leader, they are the leader. They consistently transform their business to match what their customers want, and they do it quickly.

"We're always innovating and experimenting on behalf of customers and the businesses that sell and grow on Amazon to create faster lower-cost delivery choices," said Kristen Kish, an Amazon spokeswoman.

Most recently, Amazon made headlines when news broke that they are further expanding their “seller flex” trial (now called Fulfillment by Amazon Onsight), meaning the company is increasing initiatives that allow them to ship directly from their merchants’ warehouses. This permits Amazon to provide additional conveniences to their customers (aka faster and cheaper shipping of groceries, cleaning supplies and more) without adding extra inventory, complexity and operational efficiencies to their own warehouses. And why are their merchants buying into the program? Because Amazon is enticing them with lower delivery costs, logistics software andwarehouse inspections and recommendations. The downfall? Amazon would have quite a bit of control over their shipping operations, and it might affect their merchants’ carrier relationships.