Interesting analogy. Elephants are the last thing I think of when I think of eCommerce and Amazon.
It's not fair to compare Amazon to regular eCommerce sites unless you are talking about other major sites with over 10 million in revenue. Most eCommerce sites are small mom and pops, or it is a side business to a retail store. These stores don't have the $7 billion Amazon has to hire analyst, SEOs, buyers, programmers, and the other 10,000 plus staff that Amazon employs. It's like comparing apples to oranges.
sbspalding
· 1 year ago
The size is obviously different, but what I was trying to illustrate was that where Amazon has succeeded has been in making their site a portal as well as a simple "store." I think where smaller retailers have to stand out is creating community around their offerings, even if it is something as simple as a forum. It can really help.
Thanks for the input mate.
Monsterzeug
· 1 year ago
If you are in a market where "thousands of sites out there looking to sell the same products that you offer" than you probably will have a hard time anyway. Once you focus on a nische it will also become easier to attact an active community and reap the benefits that you mentioned.
sbspalding
· 1 year ago
Very true. I should have said "basically the same products." As a tee-shirt company, for example, you can differentiate pretty substantially but you still sell tee-shirts so it might be hard to fight against the more general interest retailers like Amazon or Threadless without nurturing trust and loyalty through stellar service and community.
Magazin Online
· 1 year ago
Do you consider the biggest flaw in an ecommerce solution the lack of communication tools? My company recently launched a shopping cart software and as per now we haven't developed such module, although at some point we surely will. What other lacking features you'd outline? I am truly curious.
All Comments
It's not fair to compare Amazon to regular eCommerce sites unless you are talking about other major sites with over 10 million in revenue. Most eCommerce sites are small mom and pops, or it is a side business to a retail store. These stores don't have the $7 billion Amazon has to hire analyst, SEOs, buyers, programmers, and the other 10,000 plus staff that Amazon employs. It's like comparing apples to oranges.
that where Amazon has succeeded has been in making their site a portal as
well as a simple "store." I think where smaller retailers have to stand out
is creating community around their offerings, even if it is something as
simple as a forum. It can really help.
Thanks for the input mate.