Zappos.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zappos.com
Type Private
Founded 1999
Headquarters headquarters: Henderson, NV
warehouse: Shepherdsville, KY
Key people Nick Swinmurn, founder
Tony Hsieh, CEO
Alfred Lin, CFO
Products Shoes, Handbags, Eyewear, Accessories, Apparel
Revenue $840 million (2007)[1]
Employees 1500+
Website www.zappos.com
Zappos.com headquarters in Henderson
Zappos.com headquarters in Henderson

Zappos.com is an electronic commerce company specializing in footwear and is currently based in Henderson, Nevada, having moved their operations out of California in 2004.[2] That same year, they received funding from Sequoia Capital (led by Michael Moritz).[3] The company warehouse is located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, along with an outlet store. In addition, Zappos has two outlets stores in Las Vegas, Nevada and Henderson, Nevada.

Founded in 1999, Zappos is a leader in online shoe sales.[4] Zappos did "almost nothing" in sales for 1999, but grossed over $800 million in merchandise sales in 2007, and is projecting over $1 billion in 2008.[1]

The name, Zappos, is derived from the Spanish word zapatos, meaning shoes.

Contents

[edit] Products

Zappos has expanded from shoes to handbags and purses, and has launched a second line of high-end shoes called Zappos Couture.

Zappos also focuses on niche shoe markets, including narrow and wide widths, hard-to-find sizes, vegan shoes, and Zappos exclusives.

Recently, Zappos has started to sell eyewear, apparel, and watches.

[edit] Sales model

Zappos uses a loyalty business model and relationship marketing. The primary source of the company's rapid growth has been through repeat customers and word of mouth.[5][6] In 2005, the chairman reported that 60% of customers were repeat buyers.[6]. In order to position themselves as a service leader, they promote such benefits as:

They ended their 110% price protection policy and free overnight shipping in January 2008. [7] The company promises 4-day shipping free with all orders but often delivers next-day as to pleasantly surprise customers.[8]

[edit] Company culture and core values

Zappos claims to place great emphasis on company culture and core values. The company publishes a "Culture Book" annually that is made up of contributions from employees that describe what the company culture means to them.[citation needed] http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7427746.html

All employees that are hired into their corporate office, regardless of position, are required to undergo a 4-week Customer Loyalty Training course, which includes at least 2 weeks of talking on the phone with customers in the call center.[8] at full salary. After training the new employees are offered $1000 to leave the job immediately.[8] This is to ensure people are there for the love of the job and not the money. Over 90% turn down the buyout. [8] The quit-now bonus began at $100 and was soon bumped to $500 and will likely go higher than $1,000.[8]

[edit] Competitors

  • Endless.com, a shoe and handbag store owned and operated by Amazon.com
  • gumshoe.com, an independently owned children's shoe store
  • Piperlime, an online store owned by Gap Inc.
  • Shoes.com, owned by Brown Shoe Company

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b about Zappos.com
  2. ^ Max Chafkin (2006). How I Did It: Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com. Inc.com. Inc. Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
  3. ^ Sequoia Capital provides Zappos.com funding.
  4. ^ Sidra Durst (2007). Shoe In. CNNMoney.com. CNN. Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
  5. ^ Shoe Fits, fastcompany.com, 2005
  6. ^ a b Spotlight on BBBOnLine Participant Zappos.Com, BBBOnLine Update: June 2005, Vol.5 No. 6
  7. ^ Chavda, Pranav (2008-01-09). No more Free overnight shipping at Zappos!. Final Tag. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  8. ^ a b c d e Bill Taylor (2008). Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit—And You Should Too. Harvard Business Review.

[edit] External links