7129_62-64_160608.qxd 06/06/2008 15:34 Page 31
CLOSE UP
<
Voting
with
As customers assume
increasing power in their
relationships with brands,
creating a positive
consumer experience is
os vital. One company that
as
their
knows all about it is US
online shoe distributor
Zappos.com, writes
Maeve McGovern
feet
perating a business with the traditional virtues of
O
kindness, compassion and the human touch is not
what you’d typically expect from a company with
revenues about to crash through the US$1bn mark.
But Zappos.com, which was set up in 1999 to sell
shoes online, attributes much of its massive growth in the past
nine years to its focus on the customer experience.
While it had a great business idea to start with, the Nevada-
based company has managed to develop an excellent reputa-
tion along the way for its service and attitude. The company’s
growth has been phenomenal — sales of $1.6m in 2000 inc-
reased to $32m by 2002, $184m by 2004 and $800m last year.
Andy Kurlander, senior
From haute couture to high-street brands, Zappos has been a
marketing manager,
Zappos.com
firm hit with internet shoppers, and boasts around eight million
customers. The online retailer currently carries over 156,000
May/June ‘08 Marketing Age 63
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