Milestone after milestone, Amazon has grown from an online bookstore in Jeff Bezos’ garage to the world’s largest Internet company by revenue. It is also considered one of the most influential economic powers in the world. What predetermined your success and what steps should you take to reach the same heights?
Reasons for Amazon’s success
Strategy
From the beginning, Amazon has adhered to the principles that have become part of its strategy. That includes:
- Customers first; they put the customer experience at the center of everything they do, while the focus on the competition is secondary;
- Invest in technologies and enhance innovation;
- A commitment to operational excellence means always looking for areas of improvement;
- Ability to think about the future.
user friendly design
Despite an interface that may seem dated compared to modern web design trends, credit must be given to its user experience design. Easy to use and intuitive, it is designed to simplify the search and purchase process.
For customer confidence and convenience, Amazon focuses on providing complete and accurate product information. Details include informative descriptions, quality product photos (which also allow you to see the product from different angles), and reviews.
appropriate payments
Amazon pursues the goal of meeting the needs of all customers. For this reason, it not only provides all kinds of products to the audience, but also ensures that customers can purchase them using any convenient option. Amazon customers use various payment methods, including credit and debit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and others. Plus, they can request gift cards to use toward purchases.
Fast delivery
Speed is an essential factor in the success of an e-commerce platform, and Amazon has been able to achieve it. Technology and human prowess help process orders immediately after they are shipped. Thanks to the logistics algorithm and the global supply chain, Amazon employees ship packages incredibly fast. In addition, Amazon owns numerous delivery vehicles and planes. Thus, it enables same-day and next-day delivery, which are indisputable advantages of e-commerce.
How to build a platform like Amazon: key steps
If you have ambitions to replicate and surpass Amazon’s success, you need to start with a great business strategy. First, you need to build a minimum viable product. MVP is built for quickly launching a platform without a big budget, and then slowly improving it to implement new features and capabilities for the business and its customers. Read on for the basic steps you need to take to be successful.
discovery phase
The discovery phase connects the theoretical concept of the product and its technical realization. This phase should help to evaluate the product and determine the needs of the customer, end user and interested parties. Multiple discovery targets include:
- Market research
- Target Audience Research
- Defining a unique value proposition
- Creating a product plan
Other important topics to cover would be the definition of requirements, the identification of essential characteristics and the estimation of the scope, resources and the general budget of the project.
By the end of the discovery phase, you should be able to answer how to build an ecommerce platform and define how it will succeed.
Decide on the technical assembly
Choosing the right technology stack ensures the correct performance of your product. Once you have determined all the key features, your next step is to select a technology group to implement the required features. The technology set mainly depends on the requirements and budget.
Creating a design concept
Good design creates a positive experience for your user and, as a result, helps meet their needs.
Creating a UI/UX concept means determining how a future product will work and look with the customer’s convenience in mind. Please note that the design concept does not represent the final result of the appearance of your product. The design concept aims to clarify whether the chosen direction is suitable for all stakeholders: the client, the team and the users.
MVP development
Launching a minimum viable product means introducing the world to a product that supports minimal but necessary features that match your unique value proposition. Once the product is released, continue to maintain it to make sure everything works as intended and continue to continually develop and improve the product. There is no limit to perfection, right?
Challenges of e-commerce platforms like Amazon
Following the success of a world leading company like Amazon is no easy task. Difficulties can arise even at the staff recruitment stage. For example, there are step-by-step tips for hiring a software engineer. It is clear that hiring any specialist requires certain criteria if you want to surround yourself with quality personnel.
We advise you to think about possible future risks and be prepared to face many challenges.
Highly competitive market
Amazon is a global marketplace that sells all kinds of products to the entire world. In addition to Amazon, there are giants like eBay, Walmart or Alibaba that have a large and loyal audience. Entering this market means competing with global corporations.
logistics system
Logistics and supply chain are key factors in Amazon’s success. When deciding to build an e-commerce platform, first of all, you need to think about the logistics system and define how exactly the products will be delivered to avoid possible delays.
Prices
Lowering prices and motivating the customer to buy during the discount period is part of the market strategy to attract the audience. But then the dilemma arises, how to remain profitable with low prices. The answer to this question would be a dynamic pricing algorithm that aims to create an ideal price. The algorithm takes into account prices, supply, seasonality, and competitor demand. Consequently, both the market and customers will benefit from lower prices, although goods will not always be cheaper than in competing markets.
To end
We hope that you now understand how to start building an eCommerce platform like Amazon. For more detailed information, check out the blog article How much does it cost to build a platform like Amazon.
Also Read: Top Reasons Why You Should Invest In Ecommerce
Categories: How to
Source: HIS Education