Final Paper- 3 Pages

How Amazon.com Inc Uses Technology for Customer Service

Allyson M. Rush

Rasmussen College- Customer Service Online Class

Amazon.com Inc started in 1996 as an online seller of books, videos, compact discs, and computer hardware and software. Over time, the firm expanded to offer international deliveries, a wide selection of household and commercial goods, and customer-friendly online support. Amazon.com is famous for timely delivery, achieved through collaborations with courier and postal services all over the world. With this service, clients buying from Amazon can select the delivery company they want (at a cost) and the specified courier will handle that customer’s Amazon orders. As an online platform, Amazon.com benefits from strategic partnerships with product and service providers, so it finds ways to incorporate them into its website for higher levels of customer satisfaction.

The success of any platform-based market relies on its ability to offer access to multiple groups of participants so that they can interact with one another and improve the business (Zhu and Liu, 2015). According to Zhu and Liu, the value created by entrepreneurs who operate as complementors for online platforms increases the rate at which a firm like Amazon.com meets customers’ needs (2015). For instance, Amazon.com allows young businesses with high-value goods to list their products on the Amazon site and rely on the company to link them with their target customers. Amazon.com gains from these complementors when it imitates their successful products and starts selling independently on its platform (Zhu and Liu, 2015). Amazon.com users also benefit from these collaborations since they give the company access to low-cost shipping.

In 2015, Amazom.com launched a fully managed service, the Amazon API Gateway, that makes it simple for AWS (Amazon Web Services) clients to create, publish, secure, monitor, and maintain APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) at any scale (Tele-Services News, 2015). The Gateway does not have minimum start-up costs or fees, and developers only cater for the expense of the data they transfer out and the API calls they receive. Tele-Services News reported that Amazon.com runs some of the most heavily used APIs in the world and has a decade’s practice in ensuring high-level security for users (2015). AWS now helps millions of customers globally to innovate at low costs, and the constant focus they place on meeting client’s needs made this firm the pioneer of services and products like Kindle, 1-Click shopping, and Prime.

The company’s response time on its Facebook page is between 10 minutes and 1 hour, and its representatives always ensure they provide customers with links they can use to get more assistance from Amazon. Many of the clients who responded to company posts and customer complaints stated that they always received timely deliveries on their orders. Those who had problems confirmed that the customer service agents at Amazon helped them in the best ways possible (Amazon.com Facebook Page, 2017). On the Amazon.com website, “customer reviews” and “customers’ questions & answers” are the best services that offer client-client interactions so that users can choose the best products or prices based on people’s experiences (Amazon.com, Inc, 2017). Customers can also get an Amazon.com store card to pay in 12-month installments.

Users are encouraged to use Amazon.com services and products because they are easy to access and operate at a low cost. The firm collaborates with many manufacturers, product and service providers, and sellers so that buyers can get almost anything they want. Amazon.com has made itself indispensable in the market for its customers and partners by its extensive use of technology to achieve seamless operations and high-level security. However, to achieve these goals, the company spends a lot on developers and IT experts who ensure that the firm stays ahead of competitors while keeping its attention on satisfying customers.

References

Amazon.com, Inc. (2017). Official Website. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/

Amazon.com Facebook Page. (2017). Retail Company – Shopping & Retail. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/Amazon/?ref=br_rs

Tele-Services News. (2015). Amazon Web Services launches Amazon API Gateway. Worldwide Videotex, Vol.27(8), p.1-4.

Zhu, F., & Liu, Q. (2016). Competing with complementors: An empirical look at Amazon. com. Harvard Business School. Retrieved from https://mackinstitute.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Zhu-Feng-Liu-Qihong_Competing-with-Complementors.-An-Empirical-Look-at-Amazon.com_.pdf