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Subject:	Re: UKNM: Three cheers Amazon UK
From:	Stefan Magdalinski
Date:	Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:56:13 GMT

Ray Taylor wrote:
>
> This follows previous threads on automation, customer service and
> venture capital funding.
>
> I ordered a book on Wednesday from amazon.co.uk and was heartily
> impressed by the quality of service imported by the best known bookshop
> in the world.
>
> a.. Order system simple and took no time to complete
> b.. Courteous acknowledgement by email
> c.. Dispatch notification, again polite and friendly, the next day
> d.. Delivery within 48 hours
> e.. Book arrived in pristine condition. Unlike the grubby objects
> you get from high-street stores it was obvious this book had never been
> thumbed by a bearded intellectual.

I doubt you read the same books anyway.

> But I think the thing that impressed me most was the integrated invoice
> and address label, printed on a single sheet of A4 so that the label,
> complete with barcode, could be peeled off and stuck on the package.
> Online commerce is all about the back end logistics.

Re: VC stuff
If I remember rightly, this was all there when it was plucky UK-startup
BookPages. As was the vastly superior(to amazon US) search capabilities.
But would anyone invest in them in the UK?

> Congrats to Amazon for getting the customer service right. Be
> interesting to see how the other bookshops perform.
>
> The point of this?
>
> Well as an exercise in building brand equity, the customer service
> aspects of the transaction were far more influential than the last
> banner (button) ad I saw for Amazon which said: "Books about +UK +rail
> +e...."

You're learning...

> If you need any help with your online advertising activities guys
> (believe me, you do) you know where to find me.

but drawing the wrong conclusion...

I suspect they're doing just fine without you. As a previous bookpages
customer, I got a silly (but good) package through the post with an
amazon keyring and bookmark. I got an email voucher for a discount
against my first amazon.co.uk purchase. I've seen clever (if not
particularly inspired) ads in other media. Amazon's co-branding,
co-marketing initiatives (everything from the virgin.net deal to the
little link sites you can build to them) have been ground-breaking.

All these things work 100 times better than poxy banners.

> Ray Taylor
> NMC/Adplan - www.nmcadplan.com

> Others talk about internet advertising - we just do it
> +44 181 639 0015

I'd be curious to see some samples of your work. Nothing on your
website.

--
/**
Stefan Magdalinski m 0370 67 70 58
stefan