{"id":1529,"date":"2015-12-05T23:30:40","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T04:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/zappos-best-in-class-customer-service\/"},"modified":"2015-12-08T22:08:13","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T03:08:13","slug":"zappos-best-in-class-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/zappos-best-in-class-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Zappos: Best in Class Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Zappos is a company that has a strong alignment between its business and operating models. Zappos is an online shoe and clothing retailer that has over $2 billion in annual revenue. After reading <em>Delivering Happiness <\/em>by Zappos\u2019s CEO, Tony Hsieh, it is clear to me that the decisions that Zappos makes about how it operates are in full support of the overall strategy of the firm.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Business Model<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zappos started off with a strategy of having the best online selection of shoes.\u00a0 However, over time, Zappos\u2019s strategy has changed, and it now strives to be the company with the best customer service.\u00a0 This has allowed Zappos to solve the issue of customers not being able to try on products before buying products online, and Zappos has made the customer shopping experience easy and painless.\u00a0 Zappos offers its customers many different features that have helped Zappos become best in class in customer service:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Free Shipping &#8211;<\/strong> Customers are not charged for shipping when they buy or return a product.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Excellent Call Center Service &#8211; <\/strong>Zappos\u2019s customer service representatives are not compensated on their call volume or how quickly they complete calls. Instead, their goal is to create a personal emotional connection with the customers, and they take time to listen to the customers\u2019 problems and give them recommendations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>365-Day Return Policy &#8211; <\/strong>Customers can order multiple shoes at a time and return the pairs of shoes that they do not want free of charge. Returns account for a third of the firm\u2019s revenues.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Special Moments &#8211; <\/strong>Customer service representatives do things like sending flowers to a customer because the customer had a death in the family.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While all of these features are additional costs, Zappos views these as expenses that the firm incurs in place of advertising and maintaining physical store locations.\u00a0 Additionally, all of these build Zappos\u2019s brand of superior customer service, and this drives additional sales volume.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Operating Model<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zappos has set up its operations to fully support its strategy of being the company that provides the best customer service through a variety of ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Supply Chain \u2013<\/strong> Zappos has intentionally made the decision to insource all operations.\u00a0 By doing this, Zappos is able to ensure the best customer experience.\u00a0 Early on, when Zappos was unprofitable as a company, some of its only profitable items were items fulfilled with drop shipments (manufacturers shipping directly to customers).\u00a0 However, these items usually had a lot of late shipments and unfulfilled orders, so Zappos made the decision to purchase inventory from the manufacturers.\u00a0 They continued to outsource warehousing, but this again resulted in bad customer experiences with incorrect orders and late shipments.\u00a0 Therefore, Zappos decided to operate its own warehouse because Zappos workers will ensure customers are satisfied with their experience.\u00a0 Even within the warehouse, Zappos intentionally operates inefficiently in some areas so that it can provide better customers service.\u00a0 Zappos\u2019s warehouse workers will work orders immediately to get orders out to customers as soon as possible instead of letting orders pile up to increase pick density.\u00a0 Additionally, they will work return shipments from customers and upgrade customers to overnight delivery, and the warehouse is open 24 hours a day, which is extremely costly.\u00a0 Zappos will take on all of these additional expenses in order to improve customer satisfaction.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Customer Loyalty Team \u2013<\/strong> The call center (later named Customer Loyalty Team) is extremely important to Zappos\u2019s business model because it directly works with customers. However, it was tough to find the right people to work in the call center out of their San Francisco location because of the cost of living.\u00a0 Zappos again thought about outsourcing the call center or opening a second office.\u00a0 Ultimately, Zappos decided that it needed to move its entire headquarters to Las Vegas because that is a city that would be a good fit for its call center.\u00a0 Zappos did this because this move showed that customer service is a priority for the entire company, and it is not just a priority for one department.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Culture \u2013<\/strong> Zappos has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zappos.com\/d\/about-zappos-culture\">core values<\/a> that have shaped its culture.\u00a0 Zappos believes that its culture allows the superior customer service to happen because happier workers will deliver superior service.\u00a0 Zappos only hires people that it believes will fit in with the company, and culture is a part of yearly performance reviews and monthly surveys.\u00a0 Additionally, all employees go through culture training in the first four weeks of working at Zappos.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Holacracy \u2013<\/strong> Zappos is at a point where it believes that it needs to innovate in order to continue to grow.\u00a0 In order to do this, it is changing its internal operating model.\u00a0 Now, when a problem arises, a new team is formed to develop a solution.\u00a0 Once a problem has repeatedly come up, multiple different teams have developed solutions to this problem for different customers.\u00a0 At this point, \u00a0executives analyze the different solutions to determine what makes the most sense from a customer experience and financial standpoint.\u00a0 This is not the most efficient way to solve problems, but it should generate solutions that please customers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Zappos\u2019s business and operating models are closely aligned, and this has allowed Zappos to thrive.\u00a0 From its warehouse to headquarter operations, everything that Zappos does is with the intention of providing the best possible customer service and improving customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Tony-Hsieh.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1515\" src=\"https:\/\/i4tsk12in2b2y7uts14c528g-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/12\/Tony-Hsieh-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"Tony Hsieh\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hsieh, Tony. <em>Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose<\/em>. New York: Business Plus, 2010. Print.<\/p>\n<p>Hsieh, Tony. \u201cHow I Did It: Zappos\u2019s CEO on Going to Extremes for Customers.\u201d <em>性视界 Business Review<\/em>. 1 Aug. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2015. &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2010\/07\/how-i-did-it-zapposs-ceo-on-going-to-extremes-for-customers\">https:\/\/hbr.org\/2010\/07\/how-i-did-it-zapposs-ceo-on-going-to-extremes-for-customers<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n<p>Richards, Dick. \u201cAt Zappos, Culture Pays.\u201d <em>Strategy + Business<\/em>. 24 Aug. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2015. &lt;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.strategy-business.com\/article\/10311?gko=c784e\">http:\/\/www.strategy-business.com\/article\/10311?gko=c784e<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n<p>Vazquez Sampere, Juan Pablo. \u201cZappos and the Connection Between Structure and Strategy.\u201d <em>性视界 Business Review.<\/em>\u00a0 3 June 2015. Web. 5 Dec. 2015. &lt;<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2015\/06\/zappos-and-the-connection-between-structure-and-strategy\">https:\/\/hbr.org\/2015\/06\/zappos-and-the-connection-between-structure-and-strategy<\/a>&gt;.<\/p>\n<p>Zappos.com. 5 Dec 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zappos&#039;s operating model supports its mission to provide superior customer service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":999,"featured_media":1530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[156,146,240,127,250],"class_list":["post-1529","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-service","category-online","category-retailer","category-winners","category-zappos"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/the-tom-challenge-tom-winners-and-losers-assignment\/","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zappos: Best in Class Customer Service - 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