Why I Buy My Coffee From Amazon (and other good business strategies)

09 Oct Why I Buy My Coffee From Amazon (and other good business strategies)

Posted at 08:48h in Business Growth by

Yes, it’s true that I buy my coffee from Amazon. But why should you care if I’m a bit weird like this?

After all, you probably buy your coffee in the supermarket. And what on earth does this have to do with business strategy?

Let me explain.

I’m pretty fussy when it comes to my coffee. I can’t drink instant (yuck!). I’ve had coffee machines in the past, but really can’t be bothered with all the fuss and cleaning up involved for a solitary cup of coffee.

Even when I go to the big coffee chains, I’m really fussy about what I have, and have different choices in each chain. (No consistency in a flat white from brand to brand, and is it just me that can’t stand drinking coffee from a glass?)

But, even though I’m hard to please in the coffee stakes, I LOVE a decent coffee. Two decent cups a day are my treat.

So, where does Amazon come in? Well I shop LOTS on Amazon, Last Christmas, I reckon around 80% of my Christmas shopping was done on Amazon.

I’m also now an Amazon Prime member, so I get free next day delivery on most things. Bonus!

Basically, they’ve tied me in. Not literally. But what they have done is make it so convenient for me to buy from them, it’s now become my first port of call for most things, including my coffee.

It’s fast, it’s easy, they have pretty much everything I need. And if I’m out when they deliver, it goes to my local post office to collect from. No messing about re-arranging a new delivery time.

In terms of business strategies, I think I’m pretty much in love with Amazon.

Okay – they’ve developed and built this up over a number of years, and in fact spent most of their early years being an unprofitable company.

But what they’ve done to set themselves apart is this: they’ve built the company around their customers.

They understand really well who their customers are and what’s important to them, and then go and deliver this. (Quite literally)

This week, take 5 minutes and think about what you can learn from Amazon and how you can relate this to improve your own business.

  • How well do you offer your customers up-sell and cross-sell? (Customers who bought this also bought…)
  • How easy are your processes for customers to buy from you? (Buy now with 1-click) 
  • Do you offer a premium / VIP service? (Prime membership for free and fast delivery)
  • Are you offering different formats for essentially the same thing? (paperback, Kindle, Audible books)

And so on and so on. If you don’t use Amazon regularly, go take a look around and see what you can learn.

And even if you do, next time you’re there, pay close attention.

Oh – and if you’re interested, I buy the Douwe Egberts Arabica Blend One Cup Filters, strength 4. And guess what? Once they saw I buy them regularly, they offered me a ‘subscribe and save’ where I have 4 boxes delivered every month automatically and save 5% – you gotta love them 🙂

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Alison Bradford

Alison Bradford is a business coach who works with smart, ambitious business owners to get clarity about how they can grow their business and increase profit. Sign up here to learn 6 easy ways you can boost profit in your business today.
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