Introduction
The Amazon Company operates in the online shopping industry and has been in existence for more than ten years. Through interviews with Jonathan White and Jeremy Kim, who are technical managers at the company, this reflective paper presents results of Amazon Company’s market function audit.
Products
From its inception, the Amazon Company’s product line objective has been to provide quality products at the convenience of the clients. The services offered by the company include online advertisement, online purchasing, and online consultancy. Mr. White stated that the Amazon has a product or service to anyone, from a toddler to an old man. The company has expanded from the US to all other continents due to its customer-centricity business model (Bert 2011). Mr. Kim noted that the company needs to improve on the multiple branding strategies to ensure that customers are in a position to distinguish each product segment to avoid confusing when purchasing online.
Price
From the revelations by Mr. Kim and Mr. White, I observed that the Amazon Company expanded due to the various online platforms its offers to different customers across the globe due to its ‘good, better, best’ pricing strategy. As a result, the demand for its products and survives has continued to grow since the objective of this pricing strategy is to attract and retain customers who want affordable goods and services. Specifically, Mr. White revealed that the company has experienced a metamorphosis from the loss leader pricing into the ‘good, better, best’ pricing due to the acceptance of its products by the satisfied customers (Bert 2011). Therefore, the Amazon Company has an unlimited potential for further growth as more people embrace their affordable prices and big discounts.
Distribution
The company’s distribution objectives and strategies are to meet the demand of customers across the globe and ensuring efficiency in the supply chain management. Mr. Kim was quick to state that the company’s supply chain management is stable to ensure that customer confidence is guaranteed (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Integrated Marketing Communication
The company has a flexible and proactive advertisements meant to appeal to each customer segment. Besides, the company has a series of after sales services such as discounts, coupons, and rewards through the annual global sales contest. The company uses direct, online and database marketing through its Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce model.
Strategy Audit
Business Mission
Amazon Company’s business mission is to be the global leader in the provision of affordable, convenient, and quality services within a sustainable business environment. Mr. Kim was categorical in confirming this by stating that the company’s mission has remained feasible since the mission aims at addressing the immediate and future needs of customers within friendly prices (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Marketing objective
The marketing objectives and goals are part of the supply long term market expansion strategy of the Amazon Company. Mr. White revealed that the short term and the long term marketing objectives and goals act as the blueprint for micromanaging the planning and product performance measurement. Mr. Kim added that these objectives function within the company’s customer-centricity approaches to ensure optimal performance of the products and services in the market. Optimal performance translates into an expansion of opportunities and competitive position (Kotler & Keller, 2012).
Strategy
Mr. Kim and Mr. White revealed that the Amazon Company’s management team has created and successfully implemented the marketing strategy to ensure customer loyalty and market expansion. The company’s product multi-branding as a positioning strategy has enabled it to survive the competition. Besides, the company has managed to balance the elements of intangibility, inseparability, and heterogeneity in the 4Ps of its market mix due to improved product visibility for each target segment.
References
Bert, R. (2011). Marketing channels: A management view. Sydney, Australia: Thompson South-Western.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2012). Marketing management (14th ed.). New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall