Zappos Reports 40% growth in 2007...WITHOUT adding cool web features!

According to Internet Retailer, Zappos (the web-only retailer of shoes, apparel, bags, and accessories) saw 40% growth in 2007, hitting $840 million in gross merchandise sales.

http://tinyurl.com/ytpev3

40% growth by any means is a pretty staggering accomplishment. What makes this feat much more interesting, though, is WHAT drove the growth. According to CEO Tony Hsieh, this was "largely based on its emphasis on customer service, including its free shipping on all orders and returns and a contact center open 24/7."

What I find interesting is that statement is relatively devoid of any technology.

I'm sure it's safe to assume that there are technologies enabling the systems and processes that support customer service and returns processing operations. It's very possible that some of these systems and their supporting infrastructure were built out to support the business operation. But the fact remains that this growth is NOT tied to some of the more routine, front-end web improvements that typically get a lot of press (examples: adding features like ratings and reviews, offering multimedia elements to your products, improving cross-sell/up-sell merchandising capabilities, upgrading search, etc).

These results make for a great case study addressing a common misconception that a company's web sales are not where they need to be because of a lack of features. The better, more sustainable view is ensuring that the mechanics and processes BEHIND the website (customer service, pricing, billing, returns processing, etc) are firmly established and are there for the long haul.

Your website is a giant magnifying glass. It looks in and highlights the processes your organization provides (and also what it DOESN'T provide). Just because you can click and zoom in on a product image on your website doesn't mean that your business' web capabilities are top notch. Then again, NOT having this feature also does not mean that your capabilities are grossly lacking (though depending on the nature of your business, it's still a great idea!) and are the root cause for disappointing web sales.

Generally speaking, it's having the operations in place BEHIND the scenes that make or break your business, and it's these factors (which some may argue are not the most glamorous-sounding) that you need to have firmly in place if you're looking for similar, sustained growth!