Amazon’s Growth and Product Diversification

The strategy based on marketing in an organization is related to ways by which the company is able to plan for its forward looking and long term operations. The competitive advantage which is thereby gained by the company in the industry is totally based on the strategy related to marketing which has been developed. The strategic plan that has been developed by the company is based on the initial operations. The strategy which is thereby market oriented in nature is based on the competitive position that has been developed in the industry in an effective way (Aghazadeh 2015).

The analysis that will be done in the report will thereby be related to the marketing based strategy that is implemented by an organization so that it can function in a profitable manner. The company that has been taken into consideration in the analysis is Amazon Australia. The strategy related to marketing that has been used by Amazon in the country from the start of its operations will be examined in the discussion.

Amazon.com is an organization which operates in the online ecommerce related industry and is thereby able to provide the services related to cloud computing. The organization has its headquarters in Seattle, Washington and the founder of the company is Jeff Bezos. The organization has been established in the year 1994. The growth of Amazon has thereby been based on types of services and products that are offered to the consumers. The company has shown huge amounts of growth in its revenues in the years of its operations (Amazon.com.au 2018).

The diversification of the product line of the company can be considered to be an important factor behind the growth that has been depicted by Amazon in the technology based industry. The company has expanded its product offerings from only books to various other products which include, groceries, jewellery toys, video games and electronics as well. The organization has thereby aimed at different levels of consumers by providing the required types of products which are lower priced in nature (Amazon.com.au 2018).

Amazon has further expanded its physical operations and warehouses in many other countries of the world. The range of products and services which are offered by the company are considered to be an important part of the operations of Amazon in Australia. The strategies which have been applied by Amazon in Australia are thereby considered to be a major part of the revenues which have been earned (Amazon.com.au 2018).

Marketing Mix of Amazon Australia

The entry based strategy which is applied by Amazon in Australia is considered to be two pronged in nature. The strategy is thereby based on the ways by which Amazon is able to affect the profitability and revenues of the other companies which operate in Australia. The competition which is faced by the retailers who operate in the Australian retail industry from global organizations is high. Amazon has been providing effective levels of competition to the physical retailers with the help of its online operations all over the world (Abc.net.au 2018).

The entry strategy which has been used by Amazon in different countries of the world has been an important of the success which has been enjoyed by the company in the retail based industry. The services and the products which have been offered to the various customers all over the world are able to reach them through its website. The establishment of physical stores of Amazon can thereby reduce the profitability levels of the retailers in Australia. The marketing based strategy that is applied by Amazon in the different countries is related to the process of differentiation (Cacciolatti and Lee 2016).

The customers are provided with highest levels of importance by Amazon which is mainly based on the vision of the CEO, Jeff Bezos. The various offerings of Amazon can be helpful for the company so that the prices of services and products are kept low. The approach of the company has been customer centric in nature is implemented by Amazon in its operations in different areas of the world. The presence and reach of the company can thereby increase in the Australian retail industry with help of this policy which is an important part of the vis8ion of Amazon (Coyne and Coyne 2018). The strategy related to distribution which is used by the organization in the retail industry has played a major role in the development of its position.

Amazon has developed a marketing mix which is developed according to the choice and the preferences of customers in specific countries. The marketing mix of the company is as follows,

• Product –The ecommerce related organization has been offering wide range of products to the customers in different countries of the world. The different products that are offered by the company are useful in fulfilling the demands and needs of the consumers. The products which are provided to the consumers by Amazon mainly include, DVDs, books, Kindle, clothing based items and the gaming consoles (Gummesson, Kuusela and Närvänen 2014).
• Place – The organization is able to form an effective presence in different areas of the world and the country as well. The image of the brand that has been developed by Amazon in the industry is able to create a loyal customer base. The online presence of the organization has been able to develop the position in the retail industry. The physical stores of the company have further played an important role in increasing the awareness of its products (Macarthy 2018).
• Promotion – The activities that are a part of the advertising and promotion based strategies of Amazon have provided the company with a profitable position. Search engine marketing of the company has been implemented in such a manner which helps in increasing the revenues. This is an important strategy which can increase the customer base in an effective way (Key and Czaplewski 2017). Another major promotional strategy that is implemented by the company is based on word of mouth.
• Price – The price related policy which has been developed and further implemented by the company is related to the ways by which customers can be attracted towards Amazon. The various premium customers of the company are also provided with effective facilities that further increases their loyalty levels (Olson et al. 2018).

The first store of Amazon was thereby opened in Melbourne and the organization has started taking major steps so that the physical presence can be increased. A major part of the strategy behind development of the physical stores is thereby based on the ways by which Amazon is able to increase its presence in the market. The distribution based strategy that has been applied by the company in the areas outside Melbourne is based on the ways by which the profitability based levels can be increased (Solomon et al. 2014).

Entry Strategy of Amazon Australia

The number of jobs and levels of employment have also been increased by Amazon in the country. This has been able to play a major role in the ways by which the company and its operations has contributed to the Australian economy. The operations that have been conducted by Amazon in the retail industry are however still in its early stages and the company still needs to develop itself in an effective manner. The consumers of the company in Australia are also not quite happy with the products that have been offered to them in the country (Song et al. 2018).

The operations of Amazon Australia have not been provided a positive response by the consumers and the retail organizations as well. The negative and adverse response which have been provided to the company is an important part of the operations. The different shoppers have started complaining about the products and the services that are thereby offered by Amazon in the country. The retailers and other physical organizations are also not happy with strategies and the operating processes of Amazon (Taoketao et al. 2018). The pricing based strategies and selection of products have also been able to impress the customers.

The retailers have also not provided effective levels of importance to Amazon and the promotional activities which have been conducted by the company. The operations and profitability of different local retailers have not been affected in a huge manner by Amazon. The different physical stores of the company are not able to affect the services and products that are offered by its competitors. The major competitors of Amazon in the Australian retail industry are mainly, JB HiFi and Harvey Norman (Webalive.com.au 2018).

The company has also implemented many promotional approaches and marketing strategies so that the revenues can be increased effectively. The strategy related to marketing which can thereby be applied by Amazon is based on the ways by which the products and operations can be differentiated. The product prices can be decided in a manner that can thereby help the company in order to compete with different retailers. The effective strategy related to distribution can also be applied by the company (Wensley 2016).

The number of warehouses of the company need to be increased in order to improve the distribution process. The strategy can affect the services and products that are provided by the company to its customers in the industry. The promotional strategies of the company can thereby be able to increase the levels of awareness of the company in Australia. This can thereby be helpful for the company so that high levels of competition can be provided to the competitors (Wensley 2016).

Customer-centric approach of Amazon Australia

Conclusion

The analysis in the report can be settled by affirming that Amazon is not successful in developing its position in the retail based industry. The position that is developed by the company in the industry is related to the marketing and promotional activities. The organization can thereby improve its strategies in an effective way in order to compete with the physical stores. The companies that are already operating in the industry need to be provided with effective competition by Amazon just the way the organization has been able to operate in other parts of the world. The distribution strategies of the company further need to be improved in order to improve the position of Amazon in Australia. The strategy related to distribution is thereby able to play a major role in the ways by which the company is able to reach the customers.

References

Abc.net.au 2018. Amazon unveils next phase of Australian push. [online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-27/amazon-rolls-out-next-phase-of-australian-launch/9489078 [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].

Aghazadeh, H., 2015. Strategic marketing management: Achieving superior business performance through intelligent marketing strategy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 207, pp.125-134.

Amazon.com.au 2018. Amazon.com.au: Shop online for Electronics, Apparel, Toys, Books, DVDs & more. [online] Amazon.com.au. Available at: https://www.amazon.com.au/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].

Cacciolatti, L. and Lee, S.H., 2016. Revisiting the relationship between marketing capabilities and firm performance: The moderating role of market orientation, marketing strategy and organisational power. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), pp.5597-5610.

Coyne, A. and Coyne, A. 2018. Amazon launches online store in Australia. [online] iTnews. Available at: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/amazon-launches-online-store-in-australia-479134 [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].

Gummesson, E., Kuusela, H. and Närvänen, E., 2014. Reinventing marketing strategy by recasting supplier/customer roles. Journal of Service Management, 25(2), pp.228-240.

Key, T.M. and Czaplewski, A.J., 2017. Upstream social marketing strategy: An integrated marketing communications approach. Business horizons, 60(3), pp.325-333.

Macarthy, A., 2018. 500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More!. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F., Hult, G.T.M. and Olson, K.M., 2018. The application of human resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, pp.62-73.

Solomon, M.R., Dahl, D.W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J.L. and Polegato, R., 2014. Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). London: Pearson.

Song, R., Moon, S., Chen, H.A. and Houston, M.B., 2018. When marketing strategy meets culture: the role of culture in product evaluations. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(3), pp.384-402.

Taoketao, E., Feng, T., Song, Y. and Nie, Y., 2018. Does sustainability marketing strategy achieve payback profits? A signaling theory perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.

Webalive.com.au 2018. Australia’s Ecommerce in 2018: How Amazon Challenges the Retail Industry. [online] WebAlive. Available at: https://www.webalive.com.au/ecommerce-australia-2018/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2018].

Wensley, R., 2016. The basics of marketing strategy. In The marketing book (pp. 75-107). Routledge.