Chances are, you've bought something on Amazon. But have you heard of the Amazon Effect?
According to Techtarget:
The Amazon effect is the ongoing evolution and disruption of the retail market, both online and in physical outlets, resulting from increased e-commerce. The name is an acknowledgement of Amazon’s early and continuing domination in online sales, which has driven much of the disruption.
The major manifestation of the Amazon effect is the ongoing consumer shift to shopping online. E-commerce makes it possible for people to shop from home or anywhere else with an internet connection, which means just about everywhere these days. Frequently, they can find the exact items they’re looking for without having to look very hard and can purchase them and arrange to have them delivered with just a few clicks.
Today’s customers are much more demanding than they used to be. Now, thanks to e-commerce sites like Amazon, consumers can buy whatever they want, at any time of day or night, from anywhere, and have it shipped to their door in record time. That means more competition in the market, more pressure to cut lead times and less potential profits for you—whether you’re selling products B2B or B2C.
But how does this affect manufacturers, you might ask? Well, according to Industry Today:
“Customers are expecting, or soon will expect, visibility into the manufacturing process at every step. While they won’t want to watch each individual unit be made, they will want to know, at a high level, when each step of the process is complete. ”
Both B2C and B2B customers are demanding this increased transparency. And if you can’t provide them with the level of customer service they’re demanding, they’ll buy from someone who will.
The Amazon Effect means that manufacturers now have to provide retail-level customer service to their clients, regardless of what they produce. And if your service isn’t up to par, the customer will buy from someone else.
So, how do you keep the shop floor running smoothly in the wake of the Amazon Effect?
Find out in our free guide, The Three Biggest Issues on the Shop Floor—and How to Fix Them.
This free guide has a variety of solutions, big and small, to help tackle some of the biggest problems you’re facing on the shop floor today, including:
- workforce
- changing technology
- increasing customer demands
The guide is 100% free, so download your copy now!
