zappos online customer journey

Presented by Bilal Abdallaoui25/01/2017

E-commerce website initially specialized in shoes and which now offers several product categories

Acquired by Amazon in 2009 but autonomy kept

Value proposition: Focuses customer satisfaction through free returns and “WoW” moments

“Holacracy”: Innovative organizational structureaimed at agility and collaboration

In order to meet its objectives, Zappos has defined 10 values mostly aimed at guaranteeing customer satisfaction, employee happiness and risk taking

Example of family spirit:> Funny activities – Frequent Trips

organized> Help encouraged – Each employee

received a 50$ voucher that they can give to the person that helped them the most

Zappos call centers are considered as a marketing investment and play an essential role in terms of customer satisfaction strategy

Employees are encouraged to take their time. Longest conversation: 10 hours

Anecdote of the Lady who could not return a pair of shoes1)

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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

1) A lady was supposed to return a pair of shoes that she no longer needed. She did not do it on time and therefore received a reminder from Zappos. She explained that she will not be able to do it now because a member of her family had passed away. Zappos sent her a bunch of flower and arranged for a UPS pick-up for free

Zappos, which started selling shoes, has progressively launched new product lines with a growing diversification after 2009

Competitors’ Customer Journey

Using Mozilla browser on a 15 inch screen

Pleasant and simple layout with the main menu and one big picture at a time highlighting the main message: discounts

Dynamic images: Currently 2 images are displayed in sequence and the images can easily be selected (the arrows or 2 circles at the bottom)

Efficient search bar with the number of available items for each of the key words (even difficult to understand the meaning of the number the first time)

Customer Journey - Focus on key pages

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Products directly displayed for quick purchase Sorting option visible and filters proposed on the left

hand side including category, shoe size and budget Possibility to quickly set aside the shoes that we like

by clicking on the heart Once we mouse over the shoe, the available shoe

sizes appear

Shoe sizes not available displayed in a different font with the option to create an alert

Hierarchy of pages displayed on the top to facilitate navigation


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Simple interface and simple font and color used for the menu to guide the attention towards the images

2 level menu with Gender at the top and category below (an “inspiration” tab present)

2 main images (which can be selected by clicking on one of the 2 buttons) and additional offers at the bottom

Only one result returned (when the user looks for a particular brand) in the search bar


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Directly directed towards the space managed by the brand (no items displayed)

Can discover the categories of products sold by the brand and its positioning

Filters displayed at the top (left and center) and presented in the form of drop-down menus

Left hand side dedicated to the brand positioning Number of items specified Hierarchy of pages present at the top below the main

menu


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Similar to Sarenza, unavailable shoe sizes are displayed in a different color with an alert system

Once you add the item to your basket, you are not automatically redirected to the basket page to finalize payment or continue to shop (but visible since the basket occupies a strategic place location and a count appears next to basket)

Additional purchases displayed at the bottom of the product image “ You might also like” and cross-selling opportunities displayed below the reviews (which are below the “You might also like” section)

Navigation bar present with the steps of the check-out process


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Zappos Customer Journey

Using Mozilla browser on a 15 inch screen

Pleasant layout with search bar and main menu visible, and login button present on the top right

Big dynamic images (displayed one by one with a navigation tool at the bottom right of the image) and smaller ones (right)

Complex home page/a lot of information (brand index, rewards program, snow boots, help and live help etc.).

Duplication of menu (top and left side) Product hierarchy by type and gender at the same level

(unlike Zalando). First Type then Gender would be preferable

Intuitive search bar with two sections and several options proposed

First options and total number of items displayed Filters available on the left side and selected ones appear

on the top and can easily be removed “Sort by” option on the top right corner

Accuracy of first results is not good The meaning of the “Shop ALL SALE ITEMS” section is no

obvious while it is very visible

User Journey: Persona 1

Yassine ; 23 year old Used to e-commerce websites Specific pair of shoes in mind

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Number of items not displayed next to each key work (unlike Sarenza)

Filters available and hierarchy of filters display Shoe size only appears once you select your gender Sorting option also available and visible

Minimalistic page containing the main information In line with industry best practice (different angles on the

left, colors at the bottom) and page hierarchy Efficient zoom-in feature (a window opens)

Video available (with comments and poses with other cloths)

3D modeling with customer’s model or just a particular type of pants

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No option to set aside shoes that the user is interested in (unlike Sarenza with the heart icon)

Customer Reviews available and highlighted Cross-selling and upselling opportunities

Ability to receive a notification when the shoe size is available

Recap available and clear Option to continue shopping if the user is not done

Duplications of cross-selling opportunities (this section appears 3 times on this page under different names ) => better to have 2 sections (complementary products like pants and another type of shoes)

“Don’t see your size” could directly be included in the dropdown menu for shoe size like for Zalando and Sarenza with an alert system

Can be frustrating if the customer is not notified before that his shoe size is not available (see Sarenza)

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The user’s basket does not display the number of items that it contains (unlike Zalando)

Layout problem on the right side “Zappos Reward” appears twice. Maybe only keep it at this

page and remove the banner appearing on top all pages

Possibility to use Amazon account Option to use the same address for payment section (no navigation bar for checkout)

Once again recap of the order and final step

Obligation to log in in order to make a purchase (trade-off loyalty V.S Convenience

All the steps on one page: overwhelming Why not retrieve the information from Amazon account

(especially delivery address)

Not sure if currently offered but follow-up (newsletter, notifications with new models etc.)

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User Journey: Persona 2 Claire ; 35 year old Used to e-commerce websites Plans to buy a gift (budget of 100$) for a

friend and does not which dress to buy yet

Similar observation as for persona 1 Dynamic menu with a drill-down (the screenshot appeared after the user clicked on Women Clothing)

Possibility to shop by style (useful when looking for inspiration

Similar observation as for persona 1 Filter related to the budget that you have can be selected

at the bottom left corner

Similar observation as for persona 1 Make the categories, on the left-hand side, more visible (e.g. Shop by Style, Women’s clothing) by for example using a different color

A “looking for inspiration” button with suggestions could be added (similar Zalando)

Similar observation as for persona 1 Budget filter not continuous (the budget ranges are

predetermined => cannot define my own range unlike Sarenza)

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Customer Journey - Focus on first steps of the journey

Recommendations

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Develop tools for novice users who lack inspiration: Image recognition tool if a user found somebody with nice shoes, option to ask friends’ feedbackUSER INSPIRATION - 1

In the product description page, offer visualization of shoes with a pants and other accessories and if possible 3D modelling of the foot of repeat customersCROSS-SELLING

Offer a “Looking for Inspiration” button in the home page with 3 options: Trending cloths, Matching mechanism1) to discover their preferences and phone call with expertsUSER INSPIRATION - 2

Covered in Zappos customer journey slides (areas for improvements)INTERFACE DESIGN

1) Similar to a matching app, Zappos could show the user a certain number of items and the user could swipe right if he is interested. These data would fuel the recommendation engine and Zappos would suggest a list of items based on the preferences of the customer

Example:

“Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes.”DIVERSIFICATION

> Zappos could continue to develop the scope of its 3 current product categories by launching product lines related to body well-being (through treatments), BtoB activities (outsourcing) and comfort (grocery delivery)

> As the description of the company shows, the identity of Zappos lies in the excellence of its customer service. This positioning could allow the company to target new industries where customer service could play a big role and where a frustration currently present (see graph). It is the case among others of Telecommunications (as an MVNO) and airlines (more capital intensive).

Thank you

zappos online customer journey

Business