Nine Things Your E-Commerce Business Can Learn From Amazon's Success

In the mid-'90s, Amazon.com launched as an online bookseller. Today, it's arguably the largest e-commerce company in the world, offering everything from home goods and pet supplies to food and clothing, as well as an impressive suite of add-on services for its Prime members. Beyond that, Amazon has created a customer experience that's so recognizable and praised, nearly every online seller aspires to replicate it.

While we can't promise your online business will become the next Amazon by simply implementing the following tips, there are certainly elements of its approach that you can adapt for your own e-commerce business.

Below, nine members of the Forbes Agency Council share some best practices to borrow from the retail giant.

Members of the Forbes Agency Council weigh in.Images courtesy of FAC members.

1. Focus On Your Customer Instead Of Your Competition

Amazon’s success is directly derived from focusing on customer satisfaction. By focusing on customers and truly understanding their needs, wants and desires, Amazon has been able to catapult further than any competitor and consistently dominate the market. And this isn’t surface level -- Amazon has built a powerful culture around this from supply chain to corporate and every facet in-between. - Darryl Mascarenhas, LivelyGroup

2. Create A Comprehensive One-Stop-Shop Feel

Amazon has created a platform that covers many consumer product categories. They do an excellent job of providing reviews and multiple product options all from one search. Consumers can quickly glance at items to make a quick impulse buy or do further research by reviewing the Q&A section on each product. Other retailers should take note of how Amazon offers a comprehensive experience for everyone. - Jordan Edelson, Appetizer Mobile LLC

3. Make Your Customers Feel Involved And Important

Amazon’s Prime membership adds a level of "attachment" to its overall service and experience that keeps them top of mind for shopping decisions. Amazon is constantly improving Prime members' experience, helping customers feel respected, involved and important. As consumers, when we feel more invested, we're more likely to align ourselves with a brand. Just think of the iPhone. - Bernard May, National Positions

4. Provide A Subscription Option

Amazon gives users the option to buy products as a monthly subscription. This makes buying more convenient for users because they don't have to go back to the website to buy it again if it's a product they need frequently. Any way that you can make the buying experience easier for your users will help bring more customers to your e-commerce website. - Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

5. Give Customers Access To A Human Who Can Help

Recently, I had an instance where a package was shipped after the item was damaged. Less than two clicks later, I had a phone number for customer support that, when called, was answered by a real person who settled the matter in minutes. Even when the entire experience is digital, you can’t forget how essential personal contact is for when things go wrong. - Brian Sullivan, Sullivan Branding

6. Offer Detailed, Personalized Recommendations

With its intuitive recommendations based on past customer behavior, Amazon’s recommendation engine and underlying algorithms are impressive. Functionalities like its “frequently bought together” and “customers who bought this item also bought” features are incredible ways to personalize the experience to the individual user. - Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications

7. Provide Strong Incentives For Customers To Come Back

Amazon's huge success comes from a relentless focus on customer delight by learning customers' wants and desires. With this data, Amazon creates experiences with complimentary offers to enrich buyers' use of products. Adding other services, like Prime Video, incentivizes people to subscribe to Prime, which means more frequent visits to the website and, therefore, more sales. - Imran Tariq, WebMetrix Group LLC

8. Diversify Your Product And Service Offerings

What started as an online bookstore is now the largest online retailer. Amazon took groundbreaking risks in the products and services they offer. Too often businesses are afraid to rock the boat and lose their base customer. Amazon never stops diversifying -- they're often the first to introduce new products and services, leaving their competition playing a perpetual game of catch-up. - Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

9. Create A Frictionless Brand Experience

Amazon has become the (deserved) go-to for online shopping because the entire brand experience is frictionless. It stores your purchasing and delivery preferences, continuously innovates around ways to shop, leverages its vast data trove to suggest more and better products, and makes it easy to provide feedback or get refunds. That frictionless experience drives tremendous trust and loyalty. - Stephanie Rogers, MERGE Boston

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