What Do You Think?†

Companies are learning to make the most out of customers' online reviews of their products

Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2009 — Online, everyone has an opinion. For e-commerce businesses, the hard part is making the most of them.

Amazon.com Inc. began posting customer ratings and reviews of its products online in 1995, with an anonymous five-star write-up of Dr. Seuss's "The Butter Battle Book." Since then, most online businesses have found that allowing customers to post reviews—including negative ones—can boost sales and help merchants quickly identify problems with their products.

Now, makers of review software are adding features that allow businesses to get more out of consumers' input online.

Amazon Basics: Branding Advice for Jeff Bezos from 11 Marketing Experts

Fast Company, September 28, 2009 — This past weekend, Fast Company convened a virtual roundtable of marketing strategists and brand consultants solely for the purpose of advising Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. The reason? Amazon Basics, Bezos' first foray into a private label product line. Shoppers can now buy blank DVDs and HDMI cables branded with the Amazon seal, with more products to be added to the line in the months ahead.

Product branding can do wonders for a company ("Intel Inside") or cheapen its brand (generic...anything). We convened a group of 11 experts to advise Amazon on how to do the former and avoid the latter.

Can Amazon Be Wal-Mart of the Web?

Amazon is expected to soon sell more general merchandise than media products like books and DVDs.

New York Times, September 20, 2009 — THE hum of 102 rooftop air conditioners and a chorus of beeping electric carts provide the acoustic backdrop in Amazon.com’s 605,000-square-foot distribution facility on this city’s west side. But the center’s employees can almost always hear Terry Jones.

On a recent summer afternoon, Mr. Jones, an “inbound support associate” making $12 an hour, steered a hand-pushed cart through the packed aisles and shouted his location to everyone in earshot: “Cart coming through. Yup! Watch yourself, please!” Mr. Jones explained that he was just making his time at Amazon “joyful and fun” while complying with the company’s rigorous safety rules.

But his cries might double as a warning to the retail world: Amazon, the Web’s largest retailer,... continue reading

Amazon Opens Wallet, Buys Zappos†

Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2009 — Amazon.com Inc., making the biggest acquisition in its 14-year history, said it would buy rival online footwear retailer Zappos.com Inc. for about $847 million in cash and stock.

The Seattle e-commerce giant’s purchase reflects its most serious effort to tap into Internet sales of apparel, the largest online-shopping category and one in which Amazon has had limited success in the past.

Amazon's Silent Mistake in the Face of a Social-Media Firestorm†

Incident Demonstrates -- Again -- the Need to Monitor Your Brand 24/7

Advertising Age, April 13, 2009 — "Amazon: the Internet company that doesn't understand the Internet" is my favorite of thousands of tweets on the subject of Amazon's sudden censorship of gay- or lesbian-themed books. The episode proved that even a well-liked, household-name company can pay a high price for not monitoring its brand in social media.

Over the weekend, thousands of people on Twitter, in blogs, on Facebook and in forums angrily noted that gay- and/or lesbian-themed books by James Baldwin, Gore Vidal, Jeanette Winterson and scores of others had been suddenly removed from Amazon listings and search results.

Amazon: Armed to Beat the Recession

Analysts say the e-tailer's new iPhone shopping app, among other high-tech tools, will help it outperform rivals amid weak consumer spending

BusinessWeek, December 9, 2008 — Gary Bacon II had bargain-hunting on the brain when he visited his local Barnes & Noble (BKS) in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 7. But he didn't make any purchases. Instead, the Web designer whipped out his smartphone, snapped a few photos, and headed for the exit.

Bacon was using a new feature, released by Amazon.com (AMZN) on Dec. 3, that lets users take mobile photos of items they want to buy, store them in an online shopping cart, and purchase them whenever they want—typically at a discount—via the online retailer.

Building a Better Twitter

BusinessWeek, November 7, 2008 — A host of rival sites allow users to share short messages like Twitter, but offer unique features such as picture-sharing or private groups

Frustration-Free Packaging

Springwise Newsletter, November 4, 2008 — Thanks to a new, multi-year global initiative announced yesterday, Amazon is working with manufacturers to eliminate the causes of "Wrap Rage" while also minimizing the impact of packaging on the environment. As a result, 19 best-selling products are now available through Amazon in the US packaged in smaller, easy-to-open and recyclable cardboard boxes that protect the products within just as well, the company says.

Consumers Become Kindle Ambassadors†

Amazon Enlists Volunteer Army of Enthusiasts to Demonstrate Device

Advertising Age, September 8, 2008 — On a recent sunny New York afternoon, Stephen Beck, a retired lawyer and voracious reader, spent an hour at a Chelsea Starbucks showing off his Amazon Kindle reader. He patiently demonstrated how to wake the device, adjust font size, download sample books and even look up the definitions of words.

Small Firms Tap Amazon's Juice†

Web-Services Unit Gains Popularity Renting Storage, Server Capacity

Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2008 — When Internet start-up Renkoo Inc. created a program called Booze Mail in June, its chief technology officer, Joyce Park, didn't want to set the program up on the company's main computer infrastructure. Instead, she signed up for Amazon.com Inc. By doing so, Ms. Park joined a growing group of start-ups and entrepreneurs now turning to an unusual ally: Amazon.