Re: UKNM: Three cheers Amazon UK

[Stefan Magdalinski]

Ray Taylor wrote:

> 

> This follows previous threads on automation, customer service and

> venture capital funding.

> 

> I ordered a book on Wednesday from amazon.co.uk and was heartily

> impressed by the quality of service imported by the best known bookshop

> in the world.

> 

>     a.. Order system simple and took no time to complete

>     b.. Courteous acknowledgement by email

>     c.. Dispatch notification, again polite and friendly, the next day

>     d.. Delivery within 48 hours

>     e.. Book arrived in pristine condition. Unlike the grubby objects

> you get from high-street stores it was obvious this book had never been

> thumbed by a bearded intellectual.


I doubt you read the same books anyway.


> But I think the thing that impressed me most was the integrated invoice

> and address label, printed on a single sheet of A4 so that the label,

> complete with barcode, could be peeled off and stuck on the package.

> Online commerce is all about the back end logistics.


Re: VC stuff

If I remember rightly, this was all there when it was plucky UK-startup

BookPages. As was the vastly superior(to amazon US) search capabilities.

But would anyone invest in them in the UK? 


> Congrats to Amazon for getting the customer service right. Be

> interesting to see how the other bookshops perform.

> 

> The point of this?

> 

> Well as an exercise in building brand equity, the customer service

> aspects of the transaction were far more influential than the last

> banner (button) ad I saw for Amazon which said: "Books about +UK +rail

> +e...."


You're learning...


> If you need any help with your online advertising activities guys

> (believe me, you do) you know where to find me.


but drawing the wrong conclusion...


I suspect they're doing just fine without you. As a previous bookpages

customer, I got a silly (but good) package through the post with an

amazon keyring and bookmark. I got an email voucher for a discount

against my first amazon.co.uk purchase. I've seen clever (if not

particularly inspired) ads in other media. Amazon's co-branding,

co-marketing initiatives (everything from the virgin.net deal to the

little link sites you can build to them) have been ground-breaking.


All these things work 100 times better than poxy banners. 


> Ray Taylor

> NMC/Adplan - www.nmcadplan.com


> Others talk about internet advertising - we just do it

> +44 181 639 0015


I'd be curious to see some samples of your work. Nothing on your

website.


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