First Team Post, Amazon and Promotion

Amazon. com has not only become the biggest online retailers, but it also ranked second in terms of browser satisfaction. Amazon's promotional mix is very simple and straightforward, on-line direct marketing. By providing personalized stores and recommendations, Amazon becomes my Amazon and everybody's Amazon. The ultimate goal is to provide the customer's best on-line shopping experience.

Some critics criticize that Amazon is "lagging on basic retail techniques, because the e-mail enticements from Amazon are sporadic". You may get e-mails for reminder of Father's Day gift but not for Mother's Day. You will never get a wish list sales promotion from Amazon unlike some other on-line music or DVD retailer, eg. Columbiahouse.com. Amazon e-mails are all opt-in only. Amazon dropped their free shipping order amount from $45 per order to $25 only because it wants to match Barnes & Noble.

Amazon may not be a diligent on-line e-mail promoter, but compared to all the spam and excessive e-mail alerts that we get everyday, Amazon is the ultimate interactive on-line promotor. How can you economically draw customers to your website? Amazon's customer databases include comprehensive data of the customer’s purchasing and browsing history. When people use their myAmazon acount, it enables Amazon to provide extensive and tailored recommendations to the customers, personalized items ratings, and personalized new product promotions. Treasure box, for example, is a gold box on the right top corner of Amazon’s website. It usually contains special offers for random items for sale for limited 24 hours. This is not only a sales promotion, but also a way to identify the customer's interests for future personalized recommendations. "What is unique about Amazon is the ability to target and initiate suggestions ... and thus stimulate buying."

Personally, I prefer the personalization of myAmazon to the aggressive and unpersonalized email promotions of other online retailers. I am much more likely to look through Amazon’s recommendations than I am to open the countless emails I get from other stores.