Amazon Company Case Study: Marketing Strategies for E-commerce Success

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MARKETING ESSENTIALS
A CASE STUDY OF AMAZON COMPANY
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................................... 3
LO1................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
P1 & M1..................................................................................................................................................................... 4
P2 & M2..................................................................................................................................................................... 8
LO2................................................................................................................................................................................ 10
P3 & M3.................................................................................................................................................................. 10
LO3................................................................................................................................................................................ 16
P4 & M4.................................................................................................................................................................. 16
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................................. 21
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................................ 22
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INTRODUCTION
The assignment presents the learning knowledge of marketing and its importance for the
business organization. It is the process that focuses on building effective relationships with
customers, understanding their needs and satisfies them effectively. The ultimate aims of
the marketing are to provide products and services according to the demand of customers
and increase the sales of the business organization that results to profit maximization
(Amiri, 2016). The assignment presents roles and responsibilities of marketing functions,
marketing strategy, and marketing plan to increase business coverage and profit for
Amazon Company.
Amazon is a multinational American technological company located in Seattle, Washington,
U. S. The company deals in e-commerce, consumer electronics, digital distribution, artificial
intelligence, and cloud computing. The company considers as one of the top four
technology companies in the world along with Google, Facebook, and Apple. The company
is the leading e-commerce business organization, AI assistant provider and cloud
computing platform measured by market capitalization and revenue generation. The
company covers a market area of almost the entire world in which approx. 650,000
employees working for it.
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LO1
P1 & M1
Marketing refers to one of the main business of the business organization as it is directly
linked with business sales and profit. It is the promotion of business services and products
to consumers. Marketing is also one of the premier components of the management of the
business organization as it helps leaders of the business in decision-making, planning,
devising strategy, etc. The managers of the Amazon Company effectively use various roles
and responsibilities of marketing functions in order to increase business sales and profit as
well as help the business to achieve its goals and objectives (Kotler et al., 2015). Following
are the roles and responsibilities of marketing functions:
Figure 1: Functions of Marketing
Source: Goworek et al., 2015
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Market Information
Market information is one of the key functions of marketing in which information are
collected through various sources in order to assess the demand of the consumers and
manufacture products according to it. The managers of Amazon effectively use market
information for their business activity as it helps in decision-making with respect to market
demand and supply in order to satisfy customers and increase business sales (Eagle et al.,
2014).
Market Planning
Market planning refers to the process by which managers creates strategies to achieve
their business goals. Market planning generally includes the activity of attracting
customers and expanding the reach of the business organization through effective
advertisement techniques.
Exchange Functions
Exchange functions of marketing refer to sales and purchase activity of the business
organization. Sales and purchase is the most common function of the marketing which is
required for a business organization in order to generate profit.
Product Designing & Development
It is the function in which Business organization such as Amazon Company design or
develops products or services for the customers that meet with their demand and needs
and effectively satisfy them which results in an increase in business sales and profit for the
company. The more effective product development and design the more effective business
can attract its target customers (Armstrong et al., 2015). Product development and
designing consider as one of the key function of marketing.
Product Distribution
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It is the function in which business organization likes of Amazon Company decides the
mode through which customer can reach to the business organization for business
purpose. As Amazon Company is an e-commerce business industry they provide various
modes through which customer can reach to business and enjoy their shopping experience
such as through a website, phone app, etc. it is important for a business organization to
decide best distribution channel to provide goods and service to the customers.
Standardization & Grading
Business organizations have two ultimate aim for their business which is profit
maximization and providing the utmost level of customers satisfaction in order to that
business organization try to make their products of good quality that satisfy their needs.
Standardization and grading is the process in which business organization ensures that
their product quality is good and meets with the customers’ expectations (Baker, 2016).
This can be done through various quality check process adopted by the business
organization.
Financing
Financing in marketing is the process in which business provides various modes through
which customers can purchase products and services from the business organization. For
example, Amazon provides various payment options such as cash on delivery, online
payment, etc. which attracts customers and helps the business organization to increase its
sales and profit (Branch, 2014).
Risk Taking
Risk taking is referred to as the very important function of marketing as risk can either
provide benefits to the business or cause harm. In marketing, risks involve the process in
which business organization manufactures new products and services according to the
market trend expecting customers to buy their products and services without assessing
customer’s preferences (Butscher, 2017).
Packaging, Labeling, and Branding
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Packaging and brand make significantly impacts the mindset of customers and puts a
positive or negative image of the business organization in the customer's mind. Packaging
and brand are the processes which ensure that the products are well packed and avoid any
kind of leaking, etc. the name, nature, quantity, and safety tips are easily mentioned in the
product as well as clearly visible the brand of the company (Christopher and Peck, 2012).
Customer Support
Customer support is also one of the very important functions of the marketing that works
very effectively in order to make customers loyal to the business organization. The
business organization needs to make sure that query and doubts of the customers are
effectively answered and customers get support even after the sale of the product (Daoud,
2016).
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P2 & M2
The roles and responsibilities of the various marketing functions are directly linked with
the other organization's function which is very helpful for the business organization in
order to achieve business goals and objectives effectively. The coordination and
communication between marketing functions with other organizational functions make the
business activity more effective and productive and managers of the business organization
such as Amazon Company gets help in decision-making for the business activity (De Jong et
al., 2015). The relation between various marketing roles and responsibilities with other
functions of Amazon Company are presented below:
Finance Department
The finance department creates a budget, managing expenses for the various roles of the
marketing functions. Roles like an advertisement etc. requires a budget and financial
support to initiate and complete. Interrelationship of marketing roles with finance
department helps in order to avoid unnecessary expenses which ultimately increase
business profit.
Inventory Department
The sale & purchase role of marketing functions directly linked with the inventory
functions of the Amazon Company as the inventory is managed with the help of it. The
information about the sale effectively benefits the inventory department in order to
maintain the stock level.
Research & Development Department
The market information like market trends, demand, and needs of the customers, etc.
significantly helps R&D function of the Amazon company in order to introduce new
services or products that met with the expectations of customers (De Mooij, 2018).
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Human Resource Department
Human resource department of the Amazon responsible for the employee training which
includes employees of the marketing department as well as they are responsible for the
hiring new employees if required in the marketing department of the Amazon Company.
Significance of Interrelationship between Other Functions of Amazon Company with
Marketing
Interrelationship significantly increases the coordination between the marketing and other
functions of the Amazon Company as the market information helps the activities of other
functions as well which increase the productivity of the Amazon Company and benefits in
achieving business objectives and goals (Eagle et al., 2014). The interrelationship
significantly helps other functions in decision-making for their respected activity that very
much helpful in obtaining team goals and ultimately increase the business sales and profit.
The interrelation of marketing with other functions leads Amazon Company towards
success and growth as the interrelationship benefits in achieving business objectives
effectively, increase the performance of the employees as well as for the company, helps in
decision-making that ultimately helps Amazon company in its growth. The interrelation
between departments creates a healthy relationship between them as well as build healthy
environment within Amazon Company (Fotiadis and Folinas, 2017). Interrelationship also
helps the business to gain a competitive advantage over business rivals as the information
provided by the marketing functions to other functions of Amazon Company helps in order
to create an effective strategy for the products and services which helps in gain competitive
advantage.
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LO2
P3 & M3
It is very important to choose a suitable and effective marketing strategy for planning as it
helps significantly in increasing sales and profit for the business organization as well as
effectively satisfy business customers. The Amazon Company adopted 7P's of the
marketing mix for their marketing strategy which is very effective as it helps in business
activity in order to achieve business goals and objectives. The 7P's of the marketing mix is
very operative marketing strategy which covers almost every aspect of marketing and
helps the business to increase sales and revenue as well as meet with the expectations of
customers (Gillespie and Riddle, 2015). The marketing mix also helps Amazon Company to
increase its brand value and brand image amongst the customers. It can be said that the
marketing mix is a very effective strategy in order to understand and covers various
aspects of the target market. Following are the marketing mix for Amazon Company:
Figure 2: 7P’s of Marketing Mix
Source: Gillespie and Riddle, 2015
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Tools of Marketing Mix Amazon Company eBay Company
Product Product or service is the
ultimate link that connects
the buyer and seller and
creates a bond between
them. According to the needs
and desire of the buyer, the
seller provides products or
services that satisfy the
buyer's needs. It is necessary
for the Amazon Company to
provide good quality
products to its customers.
The unique and latest
technology products attract
customers more often than
not which ultimately
increase business sales
(Goworek et al., 2015). The
sales of the products and
services are the ultimate key
through which business can
gain a competitive
advantage and increase
sales. A key product of
Amazon is Kindle, Amazon
Echo, etc.
eBay is an online business
organization such as
Amazon. eBay does not
manufacture products on its
own but instead, the eBay
site lists products of
different brands. The key
service provided by eBay is
Used products, Tickets
exchange service, etc.
Place The business organization eBay doesn't have any
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must ensure that customers
can easily reach to them and
buy products or services
according to their need and
desire. Amazon is an online
business organization in
which products are available
to buy online for customers.
Customers can reach a
business website or through
a mobile app to buy
products as per their needs.
physical store just like
Amazon Company. The
customers can reach to eBay
through mobile apps, their
websites, etc. eBay is one of
the major online shopping
sites in the world and people
don't have to face any
problem to reach them
(Kotler et al., 2015).
Price Price is very essential along
with the product or services
as price decide the value of a
product. As per the
marketing mix, it is
important to decide the
price that attracts
customers. Amazon uses
various price strategies
according to their product or
service variety. It is
important to decide the
competitive price for the
products and services that
helps to gain competitive
advantage (Molthan-Hill,
2017). Amazon uses price
discrimination price strategy
The eBay company does not
manufacture any products
or services instead they help
various brands to list their
product on eBay. As the eBay
is a very popular online
shopping site it charges a fee
to list items an overall cost
paid by the customers
includes the cost of eBay too.
The price strategy eBay does
not consider the quality of
the products or services.
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