Amazon has over 300 million active customers. How do you think we can attract an even larger customer base?
Jeff Bezos wrote a shareholder letter in 1999 where he stated, "I constantly remind our employees to be afraid, to wake up every morning terrified. Our customers have made our business what it is, and we consider them to be loyal to us, right up until the second that someone else offers them a better service." That's why Jeff Bezos says everyone needs to come to work seeing every day as day one. He shares his philosophy of fighting complacency, and committing to "constant improvement, experimentation and innovation in every initiative." Therefore, your interviewer is curious about what kind of attitude you'll bring with you to work and how you will contribute to creating a better service.
"I recently read that of Amazon's 300 million active customers, about 100 million are Amazon Prime members. I think the fastest, most effective way to gain a larger customer base is to create a fun marketing plan that encourages people to subscribe and then connect it to a reward when they refer a friend who has never subscribed. The 'send a coupon to a friend' method is often quite effective for gaining new leads and subscribers."
"The cost of shipping is a common objection for those opposed to shopping online. Offering free shipping to customers is a great way to entice people to try Amazon for the first time. I know that Amazon has done this in the past, but I imagine its effect makes it worth doing often. Also, gifting Amazon Prime memberships for a short time could be highly effective."
"People work from home, shop from home, watch movies from home. Amazon delivers groceries and household goods; they've even partnered with Grubhub. Amazon finds new ways of delivering it all to your door, all while reducing global impact. I think it takes moving along the lines of finding better ways to serve your customers, such as prescription delivery. The more Amazon can do that, the more customers they'll attract."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
I recently read that of Amazon's 310 million active customers, about 100 million of those are Amazon Prime members. While The cost of shipping (internationally) is a common objection for those opposed to shopping online, I think offering free shipping to customers is a great way to entice people to try Amazon for the first time. I know that Amazon is doing this now. However, in South Africa, the cost of shipping combined with the nightmare customs clearance process ruins the whole Amazon experience. I imagine there is an opportunity to explore how Amazon can get products to its customers in Africa without getting stuck in the inefficient customs process. Also, gifting Amazon Prime memberships (for international customers) for a short time could be highly effective.
Chad's Feedback
It is great to see that you found the Mock Questions answer examples useful yet could add location-specific details to highlight an area of potential growth. Good start! I suggest rewriting the response in your own words to personalize it to you.
Anonymous Answer
There aren't many people who don't know what Amazon is. We joined for the free shipping. If they haven't joined yet they weren't getting value out of it.
There can be other benefits as well. Personally, I use the Twitch subscription. More benefits along those lines.
Amanda's Feedback
You're right. Amazon is a well-known company, especially for those who appreciate the online shopping option, but your answer illustrates that there are other benefits that may be less well-known such as gaming subscriptions. You can enhance your answer by explaining what kind of benefits would be attractive to you outside of shipping, such as additional gaming subscriptions.
Anonymous Answer
Loyalty. If you honestly earn the trust of your active customers, they'll bring more.
Stephanie's Feedback
This is a great start. After all, customer loyalty is a huge asset to any company. However, your response should be more specific and detailed. How exactly would Amazon increase customer loyalty? If you could contribute to decision-making in this area, what strategies would you suggest?
Anonymous Answer
Amazon has a huge consumer base, so I think the opportunities for growth lie with expanding business customers, especially outside of the USA. For example, the Amazon store in Singapore often imports products from the USA. I think there's an opportunity to create a simple-to-use automated store-front and logistics package for locally-based suppliers and promote these suppliers on the website to encourage partisan loyalty from Singaporean consumers.
Marcie's Feedback
Excellent! Your response is logical and you've provided a great idea for growth. Any interviewer will undoubtedly be impressed by this response.
Anonymous Answer
Educational institutions are very cost-sensitive customers, but also provide a great platform to influence future generations to adopt AWS. Get AWS to be an easy choice for educational institutions. I think Microsoft's market infiltration into education with student discounts makes Azure a default choice for expansion into the cloud. A potential opportunity would be to offer Amazon Outpost at a discount to universities in order to win over University IT operations to the Amazon way of doing things. With an AWS infrastructure embedded in the university, students will have more opportunities to be exposed to AWS.
Marcie's Feedback
Awesome! This is an excellent suggestion in terms of how the company can attract even more customers. Any interviewer would be impressed by this smart, logical, and thoughtful response. Nice!
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