Marketing Strategy and Plan for Amazon Australia

The report gives an overview of marketing strategy and plan for Amazon Australia. It discusses the marketing strategies of Amazon since its beginning and puts forward marketing options for Amazon for remaining successful through the next decade.

MOHD RAFIQUE
SOUTHERN CROSS UNIVERSITY
Student Name: MOHD RAFIQUE
Student ID No.: 23026788
Unit Name: MARKETING
Unit Code: MKT00720
Tutor’s name: Jordi Datzira-Masip
Assignment No.: AISSIGNMENT 2
Assignment Title: FINAL REPORT
Due date: 23 SEPTEMBER 2018
Date submitted: 23 SEPTEMBER 2018
Declaration:I have read and understand the Rules Relating to Awards (Rule 3 Section 18 – Academic
Misconduct Including Plagiarism) as contained in the SCU Policy Library. I understand the penalties
that apply for plagiarism & agree to be bound by these rules. The work I am submitting electronically
is entirely my own work.
Signed: MOHD RAFIQUE
Date: 23 SEPTEMBER 2018

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Marketing Strategy and Plan
Executive Summary:
The report gives an overview of marketing strategy and plan for Amazon Australia. It is one
of the largest online retailers in terms of revenue and market capitalization. The report
commences with the background information of Amazon. The report further discusses about
the marketing strategies of Amazon since its beginning. The report also puts forward
marketing options for Amazon for remaining successful through the next decade. The
strategies are considered based on the circumstances and the future factors of the industry.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Background to the Company......................................................................................................3
Marketing Analysis....................................................................................................................4
The Nature of Amazon Australia’s Marketing Strategy or Strategies since it began................4
Strategic Marketing Options for Amazon Australia moving forward.......................................6
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................9
References:...............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The report aims at providing an overview of marketing strategy and plan of Amazon
Australia (amazon.com.au 2018).Amazon as a tech giant represents one of the largest internet
retailer of the world measured in terms of market capitalization and revenue. ThisInternet
retailer began as online bookstore that later on diversified into video streaming/downloads,
MP3 streaming / download, video games, software, electronics, food, apparel, jewellery and
toys (amazon.com.au 2018). Besides, Amazon also produces items related to consumer
electronics that includes fire tablets, fire television and Kindle e-readers. It is one of the
largest providers of the cloud services. The online retailer also sells various low-end products
under its brand nameAmazon Basics. The report commences with background information of
Amazon. The report also undertakes a market analysis with focus on marketing strategy or
strategies adopted by Amazon its inception. The report also provides an insight on how the
described marketing options would be successful throughout the next decade.
Background to the Company
Amazons represents the e-commerce giant found by Jeff Bezos in the year 1994. It
initially started as bookstore. Presently, Amazon is the fourth ranking public traded company
across the world (Mejia 2018). Amazon launched the online retail service in Australia thereby
enabling customers in buying everything from the food to the electronics without payment of
excessive international prices for shipping.
The Mega Corporation based in United States dominated each market in which it
made an entry thereby making the CEO Jeff Bezos richer and satisfying the massive customer
base (Pisani and Jay 2018). Australians were able to shop via Amazon.com and the year 2017
witnessed a massive expansion of the retailer’s Australian presence. The retailer has

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undergone an expansion in its range that now included baby items, clothing, beauty products,
music, home wares, books, fitness/sports goods, toys, stationary, video games and
electronics. Amazon managed all the customer sales with the help of an account that ensured
free set up with no further ongoing charges. This implied that an account was necessary to
make a purchase from the site. Initially an Amazon account holder in US or UK could use the
same login details from anywhere. However, with the initiation of the newer laws governing
the GST on the overseas purchases on July, 2018, there was a change in the policy in regard
to the Aussies accessing the international versions of Amazon which is Amazon US.
Therefore, since the year July 2018, the Australians making an attempt in accessing the
international stores of Amazon has been redirected to the Amazon Australia
The mission statement of Amazon focuses on the effective and the higher quality
service. For instance, the company emphasizes on the convenience of the target customers in
determining the best selection of the product in e-commerce market. In other words, the
corporate mission guarantees attractive services for satisfying the needs of the target
customers. Amazon focuses on the variables that include the lowest price, best selection and
the maximum convenience.
Marketing Analysis
The Nature of Amazon Australia’s Marketing Strategy or Strategies since it began
According to Piercy (2016), an effective marketing strategy refers to the combination
of 4Ps of marketing mix. It is basically designed for meeting the marketing objectives of the
company there providing value to the customers. The four Ps of marketing mix possess a

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relation and combines for establishing the position of the product with target market. The
four Ps of the marketing includes:
 Product: This refers to the quality, design, variety, packaging and brand name
 Price: This refers to the discounts, list price, allowance, credit terms and the
payment period
 Promotion: This refers to the advertising, sales promotion, public relations and
personal selling.
 Place: This refers to the personal selling, advertising, public relations and sales
promotion (Schwarzl and Grabowska 2015)
However, the report now discusses the nature of marketing strategies of Amazon
since it began in terms of 4Ps that are product, price, place and promotion. The elaboration of
each of the marketing mix is as follows:
Product:
Ritala, Golnamand Wegmann (2014) stated that Amazon represents an ecommerce
company with a global presence. With the help of internet connections from the various
gadgets including tablets and phone, it allows the customers in purchasing and browsing the
products on an immediate basis. The products then get delivered to customers via the service
delivery companies. The company however has a vast product base and it sells everything
The online retailer started initially with only the books and until today is known as the
highest booksellers across the world that also first brought kindle into the market.
Price:
On the other hand, Borsenberger (2015) said that Amazon puts forward competitive
prices. This helped in keeping the company ahead of the contemporaries of the market. For

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instance, if one is looking forward to buying a book from Amazon, then retailer puts forward
options of the new copy as well as the used copy completed with the pricing and the
condition. However, to ensure faster deliverables, Amazon puts forward an initiative of a
premium account. The prices of Amazon also kept competitive due to the usage of its staffs
who are minimum in number but possess good training (Mejia 2018). Amazon also ensures
that the customers benefits from lack of overheads through reflection of the online prices.
In fact, the pricing strategy of Amazon is that the prices are fluctuated in a manner in
a manner which even the competitors cannot battle. Amazon can undertake a massive
alteration in the product prices that keeps it ahead of the competitors. The company is
primarily focused on keeping the prices low and also offer a huge collection. The loyal
customer base of the company results in Amazon earning huge benefits. Thus, Amazon is
innovative and thereby sets their bar higher enough for excelling above its competitors.
. Place:
Davis (2016) said that Amazon had a brand image that enabled it in having its
presence everywhere. The company’s bottom line however serves sufficient in enabling
massive research and development efforts thereby securing the website. The company has its
customer bases in various countries across the world. Here Amazon has an online presence
with the bases located in different states of the Australia.
Promotion:
According to Kantor and Streitfeld (2015), Amazon undertakes promotion primarily
by targeting the Australian market. To begin with the company undertakes promotion through
television commercials. Besides, the company also undertakes web based advertising and
advertising through billboards for highlighting its products and services. Amazon also makes

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use of the online advertising networks through the social media so that whenever a product is
checked, its advertisement is visible somewhere in some different website. Amazon also
undertakes search engine optimization so that the name of the company remains higher up in
the results of search engine. This also acts as smart promotional strategy on part of Amazon.
Strategic Marketing Options for Amazon Australia moving forward
To remain successful throughout the decade, Amazon can adopt certain advanced
marketing strategies.
1. By Adopting Content Marketing: This refers to the process of creation of videos,
photos, blog articles, infographics and various other forms of the content by Amazon to
attract visitors to its website (Hollimanand Rowley2014). For instance, if Amazon is offering
a discount on the handbags then place its offer through a blog post stating ‘The ideal outfit
for any party’. To make the post more attractive, it should include photos of the handbag on
offer. The end of the blog post should also contain a link that would directly connect to the
product page where the customers can opt for the product. Therefore, possessing a content
marketing strategy would really be helpful for the company.
However, the key aspect of the strategy remained in the understanding of the target
audience based on segmentation that includes geographic, demographic, psychographic and
behavioural. Once known, the next steps involved in planning the posts and thereby keeping a
list of the potential headlines ready for posting. The structure of the content should also be
predetermined. However, it is important in measuring the content that generated the
maximum traffic and leads that ensured maximum amount of sales. This is would ultimately
help Amazon Australia in gaining a competitive advantage.

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2. Preparation of Mailing List: Email marketing refers to a powerful tool in
marketing (Sahni, Wheeler and Chintagunta 2018) that would determine Amazon in having a
sustainable business. If not carried effectively then it leads to missing out on the sales. For
instance, if there is a visitor on the website who does not purchase from Amazon then the best
thing lies in capturing the email address. One of the best methods for ensuring this lies in
using a box with sign up form in exchange of the email address that offers a 10 percent
discount on the next orders. Another technique involves incorporating a sign up field at the
end of blog post. The email marketing must have a proper plan. However, the charges are
affordable ranging from $10 to $150. Email marketing should however align with the
federal Privacy Act of 1988. It puts forward a framework for protection of the personal
information in Australia’s online context.
3. Promotion via Social Media: Social media creates a bigger impact on the sales
figures (Okazakiand Taylor2013) thereby making Amazon Australia the most sought after
company in future. The focus of the game lies in getting the customers to be the brand
advocates while ensuring the promotion of the company. The first things lie in choosing the
platforms. The commonly used amongst them are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and
Instagram. It is however useful in focusing on specific platform when there is a limitation on
the amount of time and resources. The strategy for social media remains closely tied to the
strategy of content marketing. To create an appeal the posts should be split where only 20
percent remains promotional and the rest includes the content that creates an appeal for the
audience (Okazaki and Taylor 2013). This is because, the followers in addition to be
entertained also expects to be informed. In this case, it is also important to engage into
interactive conversations with the followers. The cost involved here depends on the budget.
4. Reliance on Payper Click Advertising: Paid advertising is a great means for
generating sales (King, Abrahams and Ragsdale 2015).The adverts of pay-per-click mostly

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representtargeted ads for audience specifically shown in the social media websites and the
search listings. When an ad isclicked,it gets redirected to the company website against a
charge. Pay-per-click marketing is however difficult due to its dependency on Google
AdWords that operates a complicated and time-consuming process (King, Abrahamsand
Ragsdale2015).. This style of marketing leads to the loss of money provided the company is
unaware of its whereabouts. Google AdWords allows a company is defining its worth based
on the advert (Iveroth et al. 2013)
6. Increased Reliance on Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing takes place when
other people are allowed to market the products in return of charge based on the sales
percentage that a company generates due to their efforts (Schwarzland Grabowska2015).
Affiliate marketing depends on the ability of tracking the source of a sale. In this case, the
company might provide a specific URL that the marketers use for advertising the products.
The blogger then posts the URL on the website with an accompanying article about the
company. On clicking the URL, they will be redirected to the company’s website where they
can make a purchase. The affiliate tracking software however attributes the sale to the
blogger (Edelman and Brandi 2015).Affiliate network represents a readymade network of the
marketers looking in search of the affiliate schemes (Edelmanand Brandi2015). An
alternative to affiliate network lies in self-promotion of the affiliate scheme. This involves
contacting the affiliate marketers and selling the scheme. Although this approach involves
more effort but it proves to be cost effective. This is because it involves the security of paying
the affiliates only with a percentage commission from each of the guaranteed sales. The
percentage of commission varies between five percent and fifty percent depending on the
type of the product. Therefore, adoption of this approach can prove to be advantageous for
Amazon Australia and thereby help it becoming a sustainable business in future.

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Thus, Amazon Australia should follow these strategic tools as it would help the
company in enhancing their customer base by aiding them in their purchase decisions. The
usage of the strategic tools will also help the company in improving their search function. In
addition it also helps the company on deciding on the shipping policies and provides
estimations for the checkout processes.
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it can be said that Amazon developed an unparalleled support
spanning over last fifteen years with the distinctive business model of its online business.
This allows the company in having revolutionary advantages over its competitors along with
becoming a cost leader in the business. It surpasses all supply chains in reaching the
consumers via an innovative e-commerce method. This helps the company in having control
over distribution channels and thereby cut down the product prices. Amazon also has their
own brands known as the Amazon Basics and Amazon Elements. Amazon however needs to
focus on the development and research for adopting better and enhanced innovative means
for serving the customers. The report helps in focusing on some of the advanced marketing
strategies for capitalization.

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References:
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Sep. 2018].
Borsenberger, C., 2015. The concentration phenomenon in e-commerce. In Postal and
delivery innovation in the digital economy, pp.31-41. Springer, Cham.
Davis, S., 2016. How Amazon's Brand And Customer Experience Became Synonymous.
[online] Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottdavis/2016/07/14/how-amazons-
brand-and-customer-experience-became-synonymous/#6af458493cd5> [Accessed 23 Sep.
2018].
Edelman, B. and Brandi, W., 2015. Risk, information, and incentives in online affiliate
marketing. Journal of Marketing Research, 52(1), pp.1-12.
Edelman, B. and Brandi, W., 2018. Risk, information, and incentives in online affiliate
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Holliman, G. and Rowley, J., 2014. Business to business digital content marketing:
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Iveroth, E., Westelius, A., Petri, C.J., Olve, N.G., Cöster, M. and Nilsson, F., 2013. How to
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Kantor, J. and Streitfeld, D., 2015. Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising
workplace. New York Times, 15, pp.74-80.

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King, M.A., Abrahams, A.S. and Ragsdale, C.T., 2015. Ensemble learning methods for pay-
per-click campaign management. Expert Systems with Applications, 42(10), pp.4818-4829.
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Mejia, Z., 2018. Jeff Bezos finally got Amazon into the top tier of the Fortune 500. [online]
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Piercy, N.F, 2016. Market-led strategic change: Transforming the process of going to market.
Routledge.
Pisani, J. and Jay, M., 2018. Amazon Just Became the Second Publicly Traded U.S. Company
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market-value/> [Accessed 23 Sep. 2018].
Ritala, P., Golnam, A. and Wegmann, A., 2014. Coopetition-based business models: The case
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Sahni, N.S., Wheeler, S.C. and Chintagunta, P., 2018. Personalization in Email Marketing:
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Schwarzl, S. and Grabowska, M., 2015. Online marketing strategies: the future is
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