Amazon case

Business Administration

1. How would you contrast Amazon’s business design with that of Barnes ; Noble before Barnes ; Noble went online? From a customer’s prospective, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each design?

Customers shop by visiting Amazon.com, they can search and purchase a lot of books at once. They don’t need to visit off-line stores so they earn convenience. Also, When customers have a difficulty buying books or living far from the bookstore, Amazon makes them save their time. But, company has to pay to finance sales like delivery fees or something and has to provide less price to attract customers. Also, When the computer system break down, the company can not make a deal because Amazon is really connected to the Internet. That’s the serious problem. Physical bookstores such as Barnes & Noble can have enough selection of books. The customers can find out the product sampling and can read some parts in advance. Since they see the products, buyers remember and memorize the books easily. Also, Barnes & Noble has large spaces to accommodate visitors. So, they can use the advertising space on popular site when the new items are released. By attracting a lot of people effectively, the profit might increase easily than using on-line. However, The visitors have to go to bookstore when they don’t have enough time and have to wait for a long time if the bookstore is full of people. So, The customers might spend time-wasting.

2. Will Amazon continue to be successful against “click -and-mortar” competitors, such as Barnes ; Noble?
Making the customer’s on-line experience warm and pleasant is a key Amazon.com strategy. It means the service which Amazon has is really brilliant. Amazon is really thinking about customers’ behavior and mind, I think the company will grow more and more by having a lot of satisfied visitors. First of all, because of high individual advice, Amazon can get a high customer satisfaction. The site retains information on each customer and it can recommend books based on the past purchases of buyers
with similar histories. They know the next action of visitors, so the company increases their sales efficiently. Secondly, the site provides close relationship services between customers and company. The site allows readers to post their own reviews of books, offer profiles of authors, and includes staff recommendations. So, it can share a relationship with the company. This kind of systems make people have a useful information and let them purchase the books for a long time through Amazon.com. Third reason, Amazon.com has Just in time system that can reduces a lot of inventory. It means that Amazon.com can avoid the overhead and carrying charges associated with a large inventory. They offer the right products immediately when customers want, so they don’t have to make an effort to occupy books. Because of that, Amazon can produce the book which is out of print. Like these reasons, Amazon.com can attract visitors easily and continue to be successful over and over.

3. Is Amazon.com a model for the future of retailing?

Amazon.com is a definitely progressive model for the future of retailing because they have a good electronic network. These day, Internet is crucial element in our society. In fact, The potential of the Internet is great enough to allow for businesses that would never have started during the brick-and-mortar rules of yesteryear. Internet-based commerce, which requires no physical retail outlets of any size, is changing the shape of the bookselling industry. Electronic system makes Amazon grow widely. The available approach that reduces needless time between customers and company enables them much closer. Since Amazon.com is using collaborative filtering system, the customers can save their information securely. So, the next time, it only takes a single mouse click to complete an order. The customers feel convenient and efficient and Amazon.com makes it very easy to buy a book on-line. Some people think Amazon.com is unpredictable to manage the company, but I think Amazon.com has a potential possibility to cover many of its operating expenses or other things.