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Zappos Case Study

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Submitted By bmac2014
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Discussion Questions:
1. What is the business of Zappos and what are its critical success factors (CSF’s)? [lists]
• Business: Largest Online Shoe Retailer with fast efficient order fulfillment.

• CSF’s: o Operational Excellence. Primary focus is selling a wide variety of shoes, but also sell other goods such as handbags, clothes and accessories o Focus on customer satisfaction o 4 week Employee training, will full pay o Employee retention, Zappos offered the employees “the offer” after first week of training, which was a 3,000K payout if they chose to quit. o Stocking of a vast inventory of all makes, styles, colors, and sizes, displayed and sold through the enabling power of Web 2.0 o Focused on fast and accurate order processing and speedy delivery to the customer. Website orders are fulfilled fast and efficiently o Zappos owns warehouses and fulfillment centers with an excess or 3+ million shoes, handbags, clothing and accessories, offering the best selection of shoes available anywhere (one stop shop) o Uses eCommerce for the transaction between business to consumer

o Best customer service experience, employing approximately 1,600 workers o Offers free delivery and returns as well as a guaranteed 4-day delivery window and a 365-day return guarantee. o Innovated Company that kept culture and work environment ‘fun’ and relaxed.
2. Please complete the following table. Identify the key information systems and the related IT infrastructure investments that enable Zappos’ core business processes:
Core Business Process Information Systems IT Infrastructure supplier management
[an example response is attached; feel free to add to, modify or delete this example and create your own response] • customer orders processing system
• customer returns processing system
• procurement system
• SCM system
• CRM system
• PRM system • online,

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