Say what you will about Amazon, its founder and its Prime program; we’d like to focus on two things regarding this latest story about the unconventional retailer that people love…and hate.
- Bezos understands shoppers, and
- Amazon understands how to productize services.
Productizing services is a marketing tool we often use to help our clients market both goods and services.
Contact us about productizing a service to help you sell more to new and existing customers
What Amazon Understands About Marketing Services and Adapting Marketing Tactics
Prime proves that customers value service “extras,” and are, in fact, willing to pay extra for them. The marketing of Prime also illustrates how Amazon is willing to try new tactics to see how they work (as it is confident those tactics can be adjusted or fixed if necessary).
For example, as Prime has expanded (and increased in price) over the past year, it’s also gotten just a little bit cheeky, teasing non-Prime Amazon shoppers.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that some items appearing in Amazon searches are available ONLY to Prime members. You cannot put the item in your shopping cart unless you’re a Prime member. But of course – you can always become one. It’s essentially a carrot-and-stick marketing ploy. (Want that item, so nicely priced? You gotta go Prime!) Or maybe it’s a classic case of building a little snob appeal into a brand. Is it working? We don’t know; Amazon just released the number of Prime members.
Will Amazon change that particular Prime marketing tactic? We don’t know about that, either.
What we know for sure: Amazon is worth waching. The company clearly understands consumer behavior and is great at getting our attention with innovative operations. (Hello, drone delivery and local pick-up.) It’s also proven adept at marketing its services and differentiating its brand. While we will continue to watch with interest, we will also continue to encourage our clients to think outside the box about ways to productize their service offerings.
Productizing or “packaging” a service better defines the offering in the prospect’s mind, and can become a competitive differentiator for your company and your brand. Think about it – Wal*Mart doesn’t offer Prime. … Yet.
Could you do a better job productizing your company’s services, using existing offerings to differentiate your company from its competitors? Contact SalesRenewal and find out.
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