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Growth Strategies Followed By E-commerce Operators Amazon, eBay And Walmart These strategies have helped the companies provide exceptional user experience on the website helping them outperform competitors

By Ankush Mahajan

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Around 15 years ago, a man started a small online bookseller company in the garage of his rented home in Bellevue, Washington. As per CNBC, this company reported its first-quarter of 2020 revenue at $75.45 billion. Yes, this is the story of Jeff Bezos and his company Amazon.

In 1995, an Iranian-American computer programmer Pierre Omidyar founded The AuctionWeb as part of a larger personal site. Today, The Autionweb is known as eBay and its operating cash flow is $702 million while free cash flow is $604 million as at the end of Q1 of 2020.

Six decades ago, an American businessman, Sam Walton, purchased a store in Bentonville, Arkansas and a few years later founded a departmental store chain known as Walmart. And do you know its total Q1 revenue of 2020? Well, it is $134.6 billion.

Ever wondered why these small companies have seen tremendous business growth? Undeniably, they have followed effective growth strategies that are driving them. Now the question that arises is what were these strategies that helped them to maintain relatively high growth?

Started at the right time with the right business model

The most critical factor behind their success is starting at the right time, at the right place. Yes, it is no luck but they are a business model is based on the changing dynamics of the market, technology, and customer behavior. They followed the simple market approach, to resolve the customer-problem at higher urgency with the most effective solution, product, or service. Besides, they targeted the right audience and sold to the right customers with access to the right distribution channels. Not only this, but also a business model following a clear vision, robust margins, and adequate risk management is the reason behind the growing success of these companies.

Successful acquisitions to grow fast

These brands don't believe in innovation but also successful acquisition. A ready-to-acquire strategy with a rigorous, systematic approach has helped these companies to accelerate their growth rate. Every acquisition initiative by these companies was well-thought, well-targeted, and purposeful. Following the crystal-clear definition of value creation logic and profound analytical approach, they have strived for acquisition done right. For instance, Walmart has acquired Flipkart to gain a competitive edge and Amazon acquired Alexa and Echo Dot to enhance digital forensic approaches. So, the successful acquisition has driven business growth for these e-commerce giants.

Diversification

Do you know that diversification and business performance has a close connection? Well, Amazon, eBay, and Walmart do. Therefore, these companies have embraced optimal diversification and expanded products and services, operational divisions, workforce, and geographical regions. This is the only reason why these brands are worldwide known for their products and services and can serve a global client base. Hence, diversification tends to improve efficiency, enhance business growth, and boost market value. So, diversification has helped businesses to succeed with growth at pace.

Right marketing strategies

Since the online marketplace is saturated, adopting and executing the right marketing strategies is what makes these e-commerce giants stand out among competitors. The reason behind the success of these marketing tactics is the strategic marketing process aligning the company's mission and vision and execution under situational market assessment. Besides, the right marketing approach across digital platforms and social media channels leads to a bigger audience reach, build brand reputation, and exhibit the unique selling proposition. In 2017, Amazon created an influencer marketing programme in which it rewards people who were promoting their products on social media channels. Implementing well-planned influencer marketing tactics is the key to unlock business growth. Online Platforms such as SocialBook can help businesses to start with Influencer marketing with ease. Hence, choosing the right marketing channels is important to maximize the growth of your business.

Outstanding user experience on the website

In this technology-driven world, what would increase business growth better than delivering a compelling user experience? The e-commerce giants like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart have propelled a user-centric approach by creating consistent customer value across websites and other channels. They deeply analyze changing user needs and experience and act accordingly to update their website. According to an Avendus report, around 94 per cent of customers who have the ultimate service experience purchase from the same company again. Therefore, exceptional user experience on the website has profited these companies to outperform their competitors.

Ankush Mahajan

Digital marketer & e-commerce consultant at FATbit Technologies

Ankush works as a senior digital marketer and e-commerce consultant at FATbit Technologies, one of India’s leading custom web design/development & start-up friendly e-commerce solutions company. His expertise lies in branding and formulating marketing strategies for business of a number of industries. He has been active in online marketing services for past 5 years.

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