It’s the burning question for anyone doing business today: How to beat Amazon?
As many retailers across all sectors are scrambling to initiate e-commerce platforms and subscription services in a furious game of catch-up, Amazon continues to innovate and change the goal line.
But rather than competing with Amazon, there is a strong case for retailers to instead focus on their customers and what they want.
We’ve compiled our best posts on how to compete in a 24/7 world.
Experiential retail: Why you don’t have to beat Amazon to win
Success in retail is largely about emotional connection and retailers that want to win will hone their own version of this. This is more easily said than done for legacy retailers that are set in their ways. But smaller, nimbler retailers are leading the pack on this front.
Keeping up in Amazon Go’s era of in-store customer experience
Retailers realize that they must rethink their strategies to stay competitive. One of those methods includes allowing customers to check out anywhere in the store. This isn’t exactly “just walk out tech,” but it’s on the right track. Shoppers want a unified experience, whether they research online, buy offline or complete the entire process on one channel.
Surviving Amazon and Whole Foods: Focus on the customer
Though the first response of grocer retailers might be to race to get some sort of minimally viable online service in place, that move could end up being very costly. Grocers must recognize that any investment must be made with the consumer experience in mind, or their online retail will be for naught.
It’s not enough to use a third-party delivery partner to assist with the online purchase process. You need a customer engagement and commerce strategy that will allow you to own and provide outstanding, individualized customer experiences, every single time, no matter where they are interacting with you.
Amazon and Whole Foods: How grocery retailers can beat Amazon
“Cutting prices isn’t the answer. You need to deliver an outstanding customer experience and maximize operational efficiencies.”
The shoppers of tomorrow: Subscription in the age of Amazon
Many retailers are adding subscriptions as a necessity in order to stay afloat with their competition. When they view subscriptions through this singularly focused lens, they are missing the panoramic view of the opportunity to differentiate themselves.
If you’re only seeking to be like your competition, there really isn’t a reason for consumers not to check out your competition. Subscriptions can be used to clarify your unique services and products to shoppers.
Don’t lose your e-commerce customers to Amazon
In order to compete with Amazon, you need to have the right e-commerce infrastructure in place. Your platform must create seamless links between the products on your site and the content related to your products, be it a rating, review, how-to article, blog, or FAQ.
Educating your buyers is imperative to your e-commerce success. Fortunately for your business, the technology now exists for you to achieve this.
“Alexa, what will be your impact on e-commerce?”
Alexa represents more than simplicity. It’s a new consumer channel. Once again, commerce faces disruption – this time from voice assistants. Already marking $2 billion in sales today, voice shopping is expected to increase to $40 billion by 2022.
This channel, and its growing traction, poses threats and opportunities for brands. Specifically, when we look at the Amazon conglomerate, Alexa is a tool that businesses must simultaneously utilize and compete against.
