Strategic Marketing

This essay discusses the importance of customer centricity in the current business scenario and explores the customer-centric approach of Amazon. It examines the factors important in initiating customer orientation and evaluates how Amazon aligns with these factors. The essay also highlights the role of innovation, leadership, and customer empowerment in Amazon's customer-centric approach.

Running head: STRATEGIC MARKETING
Strategic marketing
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1STRATEGIC MARKETING
Introduction
In the current business scenario, customers are being considered as the most important
stakeholders for the business organizations and in their decision making process. This is due to
the reason that after the end of manufacturer era, the current period is the customer’s era and thus
are one of the major influential factors in the decision making process. On the other hand, the
contemporary business organizations are becoming more customers centric in order to stay
competitive in the highly competitive market (Fels, Faik and Schmitt 2017). In the current time,
almost each of the business sectors especially the retail segments are highly competitive in nature
and entities are bringing on newer tactics to stay competitive in the market. One of these major
tactics is becoming customer centric due to the reason that it is helpful for them to offer products
according to the market needs and meet the expectations of the customers effectively.
At one point of time, marketing strategies were being introduced based on the types of
the products and organizational objectives but in the recent time, these are being replaced by the
expectations of the customers. Thus, in the current state of affairs, best marketing strategies are
not having top down approach rather they are coming from external sources including customers.
However, on the other hand, there are number of elements or factors that should be considered in
becoming the customer centric organization and it should also be noted that these factors are
variable in nature and will keep change with time. Thus, apart from the opportunities to be
gained from becoming a customer centric organization, there are few challenges or issues also to
be faced by them.
As discussed earlier, global retail scenario is one of the most competitive sectors in the
current time. Introduction of Amazon in this market changed the existing scenario and created a

2STRATEGIC MARKETING
new space of leveraging online mediums for catering the customer demand. However, even
though Amazon got huge foothold in the retail segment, customer centric approach will be the
key for achieving the business sustainability. There are number of instances can be identified
based on which, it can be concluded that Amazon is an ideal customer centric organization. This
essay will discuss about the extent to which, the strategic marketing decisions of Amazon are
being influenced by the requirements of the customers. In addition, the current approach of
Amazon towards becoming the customer centric entity will be also discussed.
Importance of customer centricities
The current business scenario demands customer centricities from the business
organizations in order to have the effective and better alignment with market trends and patterns.
According to Verhoef and Lemon (2013), successful value management is one of the key factors
for gaining competitive advantages in the market. This is due to the reason that if the products of
services of the organizations cannot meet the demand of the customers then the business viability
will get reduced. Moreover, it is also being stated by the authors that introduction of the
customer centric approach of the organizations will help to effectively determine the needs and
expectations of the target customers and design the offerings accordingly. Thus, in the case of
Amazon, customer centricity will help them to ensure that their product offerings are in line of
the current market trends. On the other hand, it is stated by Heinonen (2014) that customer
relationships are also important to consider in the case of initiating customer centric business
approach. This is due to the reason that the more effective will be the relationships with the
customers, the more efficient will be the process of determination of the needs and trends of the
target customers. Hence, it can be concluded that initiation of the relationship based marketing

3STRATEGIC MARKETING
will also help the business organizations in gaining the trust among the target customers and this
will enable them to have the idea about what are being expected by the customers.
On the other hand, Price and Wrigley (2016) compared the concept of customer based
approach to that of the innovation. This is due to the reason that with the help of the customer
based approach; organizations will have to flexible enough in coping up with the change in the
market. In this case, innovation and development will be effective in gaining competitiveness by
fulfilling the needs of the customers. Thus, as per the authors, the organizations will also witness
development and improvement along with the change in the market trends and preference
patterns. If being reviewed from the perspective of competitive scenario, customer centricities
will help the business organizations to stay competitive by means of meeting the customer
demand accurately.
Factors important in initiating customer orientation
Even though the business entities can gain different opportunities by becoming customer
centricities, there are number of factors also should be considered to have the maximum
effectiveness. One of the most important factors will be the segmentation of the market.
According to Bruhn and Schnebelen (2017), segmentation of the customers is important due to
the reason that different customer segments are having different sets of requirements and
demands and according to these respective segments, product strategy should be designed. The
authors have also stated that with the help of the effective process of segmentation, target
segments can be selected and the product strategy should be designed. For instance, in the case
of Amazon, the first step in becoming customer centric is selecting the target market. Target
customers for Amazon are majority the younger generations comfortable with the online

4STRATEGIC MARKETING
marketing concept. Thus, the products and services being offered by them are also based on the
taste and preference pattern of this customer segment. Organizations will become more
customers centric only when the particular target segment will be selected.
However, there are few counter arguments also being raised by some authors such as
Srisamran and Ractham (2014) who stated that segmentation of the business organizations
should be done in accordance to the nature of the products and market scenario and effectiveness
of it will ensure that they can be a customer centric organization in the long term. According to
the authors, segmentation of the customers is being done based on different variables and it is
particular nature of the products, which determines the variables to be used. For instance, in the
case of Amazon, they are selling customer goods and in competitive pricing. Thus,
psychographic and behavioral segmentation processes should be used in targeting the customers
comfortable in online shopping. This is also being stated that with the help of the proper
segmentation, the exact target segment can be selected and based on that the customer centric
approach can be further initiated.
Another important factor being identified in initiating customer centricities is flexible
supply chain and production process. As per Bruhn and Schnebelen (2017), supply chain and
manufacturing process should be flexible enough in order to cope up with the change. This is due
to the reason that in order to be the customer centric organization, it is important to change the
business process in accordance to the trends in the market and to introduce the innovative
products in the market ahead of the competitors. On the other hand, it should also be noted that if
the production and organizational processes are not flexible enough in coping up with the change
in the market, then it will be difficult for the business entities to stay customer centric. Thus, as

5STRATEGIC MARKETING
per the authors, it can be concluded that in order to be the customer centric organization, it is
important to have flexible organizational processes.
Competition is another factor that should also be considered as the determinant of
customer centric approach of the organization. This is due to the reason that level of competition
determines the urgency of getting the customer centric approaches in place. According to Hemel
and Rademakers (2016), if the competition in the particular segment is low with lower presence
of competitors, then importance of becoming a customer centric organization will be less. This is
due to the reason that the less will be the competition; the lower will be the options for buyers to
bargain. On the other hand, if the competition in the market is high, then it is more important for
the particular business to be customer centric in order to stay competitive over others. For
instance, the segment where Amazon is operating is highly competitive market scenario with the
presence of number of online retail giants and the level of competition is rapidly increasing.
Thus, it is more important for Amazon to become a customer centric brand and value the
feedback of the customers in their decision making process.
Customer centric approach of Amazon
In the earlier sections, the different elements and factors relevant in the concept of
customer centricity are being evaluated. However, it is also important to have the understanding
about the extent to which Amazon is aligning with these factors and to the degree to which they
can be termed as a customer centric brand. One of the major business characteristics of the
business model of Amazon is innovation. This is due to the reason that innovation is what made
Amazon stay unique over their traditional competitors. It is reported that they entered the retail
segment through online mediums when the concept was new and traditional and offline based

6STRATEGIC MARKETING
retailers are only operating in the market. However, the convenience being served by Amazon
through their innovative approach helped in getting ahead of the competition. According to
Ritala, Golnam and Wegmann (2014), innovation is the major characteristic of the business
model of Amazon. They have stated that innovation process of Amazon is continuous and they
kept on evolving along with the change in the market trends and demands. Thus, it is evident
from the business approach of Amazon that newer products and services are being introduced
with time and obsolete processes are being dissolved. This is further helping Amazon in getting
the maximum benefits from aligning their innovations with that of the customer taste and
preference patterns. For instance, Amazon first started their online services with the delivery of
books and currently they are offering a host of products ranging across different segments along
with offering online media streaming services.
According to Mukerjee (2013), innovation is the key to the organizational successes for
the contemporary business organizations. This is due to the reason that with the help of
innovation, entities will be able to offer one of the kind products and services to the customers,
which will be in the line of the current expectations and requirements of the customers. It is
stated by the authors that there are certain steps that should be followed in getting the maximum
benefits from innovation in becoming a customer centric firm. The first step is empowerment of
the employees. In this case, innovation should be used in equipping the employees to have the
better understanding of the feedback from the customers. In the case of Amazon, the customer
relationship management process is effective enough and there are number of mediums, which
act as the touch points between the customer representatives and customers. The next step
involves tracking of the changes in the preference pattern of the customers. This is important in
the current time due to the reason that business strategy will be changed in accordance to it.

7STRATEGIC MARKETING
Amazon being the online based service is having the advantage of tracking the customer trends
from their feedbacks and search history. One of the prime examples of effective tracking
logarithm of Amazon is their list of suggested items offered to individual customers.
The next step is determining the factors that influence the satisfaction level of the
customers. In this case, it is important to identify the exact needs of the target customers and
meet their expectations only to retain them by enhancing their level of satisfaction. Moreover,
innovation in rewarding the customers can also be beneficial in managing their retention and
loyalty rate. In the case of Amazon, offering convenience to the customers is one of the major
innovative factors due to the reason that with the help of the online based services, customers are
having the access to wide array of products and can have them delivered at their convenient
locations. In addition, the other elements such as loyalty benefits and promo codes are further
helping in enhancing the loyalty and retention rate of the customers. Thus, it can be concluded
that Amazon is following holistic approach of innovation in each of the steps and major
approach of these innovations is oriented towards the customers.
Leadership is another important factor in initiating the customer centric approach of the
organizations. This is due to the reason that leadership approach of the organization will
determine the extent to which the customer centricity is being followed in the workplace.
According to Batra (2017), it is the leadership of the organizations, which create differences
among the internal stakeholders. In the case of Amazon, the leadership approach of their CEO,
Jeff Bezos is the major reason for becoming customer centric organization. It is reported that
customers are being considered as the major stakeholders in the decision making process and
providing the richer experience to them is the key objective. Thus, the entire business processes
of Amazon are oriented towards the needs and requirements of the target customers.

8STRATEGIC MARKETING
Customer empowerment is another element of becoming customer centric organization
and Amazon has mastered the process of empowering their customers. According to Lemon and
Verhoef (2016), empowering the customers by means of enhancing their experiences can be
determining customer trends and design the service delivery process accordingly. It is noted that
Amazon is having the most effective form of customer involvement with the inclusion of
feedback process and access to have reviews. The key differentiating factor for Amazon over
their competitors is not only selling the exact products to the customers but also helping them in
making the purchase decision. This is by means of giving the access to the customers to look for
the reviews of different products and on the basis of their feedbacks. Thus, in the case of each of
the customers of Amazon, customized approach is being maintained. This is also a prime
example of how Amazon is integrating the views of the customers in becoming the customer
centric organization.
In the current business scenario, managing the retention and loyalty is more important
compared to acquisition of the new customers due to the high saturation point. Thus, from each
of the customer centric organization, it is important to have the effective mechanism for
managing the loyalty level of the customers. According to Leavy (2017), mechanism of
managing customer loyalty by Amazon is effective and efficient with the involvement of
different elements. It is reported that the approach and objective of customer service process of
Amazon is to managing the relationship with the customers apart from solving the customer
queries. They are also following analytics and big data to determine the queries of the customers
along with reviewing the relationships with them. This includes offering of survey forms to the
customers for generating feedbacks. This is helping Amazon to design their service approach
according to the needs of the customers and maintaining the higher level of loyalty.

9STRATEGIC MARKETING
Steps in building a customer centric organization
According to Donovan and Samler (2019), there are ten major steps that should be
followed in order to build a customer driven organization. These steps cover different
organizational aspects, which should be maintained in from the perspective of the customers.
The first step is setting up the vision, which according to Amazon is to become the most
customer centric organization in the world. It is stated by Rao (2016) that Amazon is different
from their core competitors in terms of their visionary approach. This is due to the reason that
majority of the business entities stated their vision based on the brand value and business nature
while vision of Amazon is based on the expectation of the customers. In accordance to this
concept, the vision statement of Amazon states about the importance of involving the views of
the customers in their business process. The next step is gaining commitment, which refers to the
fact that organizations should identify the potential gaps between the existing practices and their
vision. As per Weber and Prodromou (2015), Amazon is one of the major multinationals in the
world with having huge access to capitals and infrastructure. This will enable them to enhance
their organizational capability to meet their vision.
The third steps talks about the decision process, which refers to the fact that if the
organization is serious enough in maintaining their customer centricity, then only the business
process should be initiated accordingly. However, it is also being stated that a number of risks
are being evident in this case. In the case of Amazon, these risks will be less due to the fact that
they are offering wide array of products and services to different customer segments. Moreover,
it can be concluded that with the given infrastructure, technologies and capital with Amazon,
they can be able to enhance their customer centric activities (Bach 2014). Furthermore, it can be
stated that the infrastructural advantages of Amazon along with their vision will be beneficial in

10STRATEGIC MARKETING
becoming the customer centric entity. As discussed in the earlier sections, segmentation variables
for Amazon are vast due to the fact that they are offering different products across different price
range. Moreover, the continuous development of the products and services of Amazon is the
proof of effective segmentation process and determination of their key trends and preference
pattern.
The next step is to ensure that the business is having satisfied customers and the
satisfaction level of the customers is being maintained at the same rate. This is important due to
the reason that customer centricity of the firm will be considered as successful only when the
customer’s view will be given importance. In the case of Amazon, the high level of customer
retention is denoting that they are managing customer views in their business processes.
Moreover, it should also be noted that the success criteria of Amazon in terms of their customer
service can be determined by the retention level of the existing customers. It is stated by Nash,
Armstrong and Robertson (2013) that in the current business scenario, usage of data, technology
and advanced analytics is helping the business firms to provide the more effective and
personalized services to their customers. The next step refers to the customer feedback system,
which further denotes the process which the particular entity follows in generating feedback
from the customers and maintain the confidentiality of the customer data. In the case of Amazon,
there is no evidence of getting the private data of the customers leaked. This proves the
effectiveness of their data management and security system. On the other hand, in the earlier
section, it is discussed that Amazon is having different online mediums and portals for the
customer engagement. Initiation of number of touch points with the customers is helping
Amazon to generate feedback from different sources (Afeche, Araghi and Baron 2017).

11STRATEGIC MARKETING
The next step is one of the major steps to be followed in the customer centric
organization, which is the analysis of the feedback of the customers. The more effective will be
the analysis of the feedback of the customers, the more will be the valuation of the customer’s
views in the decision making process. According to Pousttchi and Hufenbach (2014), changes
and evolution in the product and service offerings of Amazon are the proof of valuing the
feedback of the customers. In addition, the suggested shopping list for the customers also prove
that preference pattern of each of the customers are being taken in to considerations. Hence, it
can be concluded that Amazon is having effective mechanism of analyzing the customer
feedback. The next step is initiating the change in accordance to the change in the market
scenario. Amazon is flexible enough in coping up with the change in the market and business
state of affairs. This is evident in their business, which ranges to offering express delivery to the
goods to offering online streaming services. These services are being initiated in accordance to
the change in preference pattern of the customers.
The next step states about the communication strategy to be initiated by the business
entity in connecting with the customers regarding the change happening in the service process.
Being a global brand, Amazon is initiating extensive communication strategy involving different
mediums such as traditional mediums, social media marketing and search engine optimization.
This is helping the potential customers to be aware about the newer offerings of Amazon at any
point of time (Shamma and Hassan 2013). The last step being stated is the importance of
choosing the next strategy for the company. This refers to effectiveness of the company in the
dealing with the future challenges and opportunities. In the case of Amazon, periodical
development of the product and service strategy is helping them to stay ahead in the competition.
For instance, with the increase in competition in the e-commerce sector, Amazon entered in the

12STRATEGIC MARKETING
online streaming services. Furthermore, they are also initiating innovative forms of delivering
goods by means of drone to meet the faster delivery expectations of the customers. Therefore, it
can be concluded that according to the major 10 steps of initiating customer centricities in the
organization, Amazon is aligning with all of them and they can be considered as one of the major
customer centric organization in the current scenario.
Limitations of customer centricities of Amazon
Even though it is proved that Amazon is a customer centric organization but there are still
few limitations also identified. One of the major limitations is the diverse product portfolio. This
is due to the reason that Amazon is having diverse market presence across the world with having
different sets of products to offer. However, in this case, it is difficult for Amazon to determine
the taste and preference pattern of the customers across the world and offer products accordingly.
Moreover, the global trend is not applicable in every location, which is further challenging
Amazon in changing their processes along with the market trend. For example, Amazon is
initiating drone delivery system for faster and safer delivery. However, this service cannot be
applicable in all locations and will be based on the available infrastructure. Thus, even though
Amazon is determining the views of the customers in offering their products services but it is
covering all the markets they are operating.
Another major limitation for Amazon is representing the customers to the internal
stakeholders. This refers to the fact that customers are given the most importance and focus in
the decision making process and in accordance to that, the employees are being trained.
However, in this case, Amazon is facing the challenges in effectively managing the employees.
The current market scenario is changing much rapidly and it is difficult for Amazon to manage

13STRATEGIC MARKETING
their employees accordingly. There are number of reports stated about the demoralization of the
employees in Amazon and this is further affecting the service portfolio of the brand in the long
term. Thus, it can be concluded that even though Amazon is trying to gain competitiveness by
leveraging on views of the customers but it is also affecting the effectiveness of their employees.
Initiation of the different activities in relation to the customer loyalty and retention is affecting
the viability and profitability of the company. For instance, the discounts and promo codes being
offered by Amazon to attract more customers are reducing the capital for them and even loss in
some cases. Thus, even though these strategies are helping Amazon in enhancing their customer
retention and loyalty rate, but it is affecting their financial viability.
In the above sections, it is identified that Amazon is having access to huge financial
resources and they are also capable enough in terms of organizational capability to cope up with
the change in the market. However, it should also be noted that there are some areas where
Amazon is still not capable enough to get hold of the entire market situation. One of these areas
is the change in the shopping preferences of the customers. In the early 2000, online shopping
concept got over the offline scenario and caused huge challenges for the offline retailers. In the
same sense, if the current trend of online shopping of the customers get changed then it will be
difficult for Amazon to cope up with. This is due to the reason that Amazon is not having offline
presence and it will be difficult to face the challenge. Hence, it can be concluded that
organizational capability of them is not effective and efficient enough in coping up different
elements of a customer centric entity.

14STRATEGIC MARKETING
Recommended steps
From the above section, it can be concluded that Amazon is facing a number of
challenges in managing their customer centric approach. This section will discuss about a few
recommended steps based on these challenges. It is recommended that Amazon should have the
equal representation of both the employees and customers. This is due to the reason that
customer centric organizations will be effective only when their employees will be well aligned
with the business objectives. Thus, in the case of Amazon, it is important to ensure that their
employees are comfortable with the customer centric approach only to have effective and proper
customer service process. It should also be noted that employees should have autonomy to
change the service process in accordance to the views and feedback generated from the
customers. This will help Amazon in having customized services in different regions and in
accordance to the different customer segments.
It is also recommended that Amazon should increase their offline presence also apart
from their existing online approaches. This will help them to be more customers centric due to
the fact that touch points will get increased in case of the offline presence. Moreover, Amazon
will be able to cater to larger section of customers along with generating diverse sets feedbacks
from them. Thus, the entire feedback generating mechanism of Amazon will get enhanced and
with the help of more touch points, the customer awareness program will also be more effective.
Diversification is one of the most effective business strategies for the contemporary business
organizations and for Amazon, it will also be beneficial. This is due to the fact that Amazon has
already gained by diversifying in online streaming sector. Hence, they can further diversify their
business in other sectors such as private label electronic brand. Even though they failed with the
launch of their Fire Phone smartphone but still they have the expertise such as Echo and Kindle.

15STRATEGIC MARKETING
This will help Amazon to further diversify their business along with catering to more customer
segments and generating more business revenue.
Amazon is also recommended that they should initiate relationship and local culture
based marketing activities over the standardized marketing activities. This is due to the reason
that Amazon is having the presence in different regions across the world with facing different
sets of cultural factors. Thus, the effectiveness of the standardized marketing activities will be
the less effective. In this case, it is recommended that they should follow relationship marketing
to enhance the connection with different external stakeholders. On the other hand, initiation of
the local culture based marketing will help to effectively penetrate in the target market. It should
also be noted that initiation of different culture based marketing activities in different regions
will prove the customer centricity of Amazon. Therefore, it can be concluded that long term
effectiveness from the perspective of customer centricity for Amazon will get succeed with the
help of the market adaptable strategy.
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that Amazon can be considered as one of most of customer
centric organizations in the world with their major decisions being taken on the basis of market
feedbacks. In this essay, the different elements of the concept of customer centricity are being
discussed and evaluated from the basis of different authors. Moreover, it is also identified that
based on the ten steps of becoming a customer centric organization, Amazon is aligning with all
of them and a few major activities in relation to this are also being identified and analyzed.
However, on the other hand, it is also identified that Amazon is facing a few limitations in
managing their customer centricity. These issues may have long term impact on their business

16STRATEGIC MARKETING
process. Thus, a few recommended steps are also discussed on these issues, which will further
help Amazon to become an effective customer centric brand.

17STRATEGIC MARKETING
Reference
Afèche, P., Araghi, M. and Baron, O., 2017. Customer Acquisition, Retention, and Service
Access Quality: Optimal Advertising, Capacity Level, and Capacity Allocation. Manufacturing
& Service Operations Management, 19(4), pp.674-691.
Bach, C., 2014. Loyalty program factors and how do they affect customer
behavior. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(6).
Batra, M.M., 2017. Customer experience-an emerging frontier in customer service excellence.
In Competition Forum (Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 198-207). American Society for Competitiveness.
Bruhn, M. and Schnebelen, S., 2017. Integrated marketing communication–from an instrumental
to a customer-centric perspective. European Journal of Marketing, 51(3), pp.464-489.
Donovan, P. and Samler, T. (2019). Delighting Customers. [online] Available at:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000003940 [Accessed 22 Feb. 2019].
Fels, A., Falk, B. and Schmitt, R., 2017. User-driven customization and customer loyalty: a
survey. Procedia CIRP, 60, pp.410-415.
Heinonen, K., 2014. Multiple perspectives on customer relationships. International Journal of
Bank Marketing, 32(6), pp.450-456.
Hemel, C.V.D. and Rademakers, M.F., 2016. Building customer-centric organizations: Shaping
factors and barriers. Journal of Creating Value, 2(2), pp.211-230.
Leavy, B., 2017. Customer-centered innovation: improving the odds for success. Strategy &
Leadership, 45(2), pp.3-11.

18STRATEGIC MARKETING
Lemon, K.N. and Verhoef, P.C., 2016. Understanding customer experience throughout the
customer journey. Journal of marketing, 80(6), pp.69-96.
Mukerjee, K., 2013. Customer-oriented organizations: a framework for innovation. Journal of
Business Strategy, 34(3), pp.49-56.
Nash, D., Armstrong, D. and Robertson, M., 2013. Customer experience 2.0: how data,
technology, and advanced analytics are taking an integrated, seamless customer experience to the
next frontier. Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, 1(1), pp.32-39.
Pousttchi, K. and Hufenbach, Y., 2014. Engineering the value network of the customer interface
and marketing in the data-rich retail environment. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce, 18(4), pp.17-42.
Price, R. and Wrigley, C., 2016. Design and a deep customer insight approach to
innovation. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 28(2), pp.92-105.
Rao, A., 2016. From brand to customer. Journal of Creating Value, 2(1), pp.18-30.
Ritala, P., Golnam, A. and Wegmann, A., 2014. Coopetition-based business models: The case of
Amazon. com. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(2), pp.236-249.
Shamma, H. and Hassan, S., 2013. Customer-driven benchmarking: A strategic approach toward
a sustainable marketing performance. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 20(3), pp.377-
395.
Srisamran, P. and Ractham, V.V., 2014. Customer-centric knowledge creation for customer
relationship management. Journal of Applied Business Research, 30(2), p.397.

19STRATEGIC MARKETING
Verhoef, P.C. and Lemon, K.N., 2013. Successful customer value management: Key lessons and
emerging trends. European Management Journal, 31(1), pp.1-15.
Weber, L. and Prodromou, P., 2015. The digital consumer: Building attractive digital
environments to increase engagement, views, shares and sales. Journal of Digital & Social
Media Marketing, 3(2), pp.103-113.