起底亚马逊金牌服务

    亚马逊还在其它方面给Prime的用户提供了优惠，比如会员可以免费阅读60多万册电子书，可以享受无限的照片存储空间，还可以享受一项堪比瑞典Spotify公司水准的音乐流服务。去年11月，亚马逊还在Prime上推出了它的首张原创唱片——一张由43首假日歌曲组成的合集。

    除此以外，亚马逊还于去年12月推出了一系列家居用品。目前用户能够选择的只有婴儿湿巾。原本亚马逊还推出了一款纸尿裤产品，不过上架后不久，由于不少顾客吐槽它的设计，它最终又被撤了下来。亚马逊之所以推出这些人们需要重复购买的产品，就是要让它的免费快递服务看起来更有吸引力。

    亚马逊消费品业务部的副总裁道格•赫林顿指出：“‘妈妈会员’最大的特点，就是她们是最活跃的Prime用户之一，参与度非常高。”亚马逊的消费品业务部主要经营食品杂货、保健美容、宠物和婴儿用品。

    由于亚马逊一般不透露与Prime有关的数据，我们无法确切地知道用户使用该服务的频率究竟有多高。不过有一点是明显的：加拿大皇家资本市场公司指出，Prime会员花在亚马逊网站上的时间要明显多于非Prime会员。Prime会员表示，他们在亚马逊的年均购物花费为538美元，远远高于非Prime会员的320美元。

    此外，几乎可以肯定的是，Prime也让亚马逊花了不少钱。格里利没有披露任何细节，不过他在一次采访中说过这样一番话：“如果你回溯一下，2005年这项服务推出时，它的年费是79美元。现在算上通胀、交通和油费成本，哪怕用2005年的汇率计算，怎么着也应该在100美元以上了。”言外之意就是Prime不赚钱。

    Forrester公司分析师苏查里塔•穆尔普鲁预测称，与Prime相关的递送费用每年至少让亚马逊损失10亿美元。正是由于这一惊人成本，迫使亚马逊于去年4月将Prime的年费上调至99美元。

    “另一方面，Prime对亚马逊的业绩是有贡献的，但它也像水蛭一样吸着亚马逊的血。”穆尔普鲁说：“电子书库和流媒体服务等项目的注入，使Prime的成本变得越来越高。”

    自从大约20年前，贝佐斯在华盛顿州贝尔维尤市的一间车库里创建亚马逊以来，如果说这家公司有一项持续坚持的策略，那就是为了快速增长，它愿意接受极其稀薄的利润率——或者说愿意接受一些业务的持续亏损。不过一直到去年，很多投资者似乎还是非常满意亚马逊的战略。

    但事实证明，2014年是很有挑战的一年。亚马逊的网络服务和数据中心业务出现了2006年推出以来的首次放缓。此外，亚马逊的首款智能手机Fire Phone也由于定价过高和市场过于拥挤而迅速失败。在推出Fire Phone不久之后，亚马逊就损失了1.7亿美元，其中近半亏损来自于那些卖不出去的Fire Phone手机。造成的结果就是，亚马逊的股价在去年大跌23%。

    也有人质疑究竟有多少人愿意为Prime付费。Forrester Research公司针对Prime用户的一项调查显示，约有三分之一的受访者表示，他们正在利用Prime服务的30天的免费试用期。基于这项研究结果，一些人批评Prime的用户数据存在注水之嫌。不过格里利并不认可这种看法，只是表示他希望亚马逊更早地为购物者提供免费试用Prime的机会。

    他表示：“我们了解到的情况是，给予用户30天的免费试用机会，让他们体验Prime的全套服务，一直是让顾客了解Prime的好办法。”

    除了亚马逊，其他零售商为了提高客户忠诚度，也在争先恐后地围绕快递业务下工夫。比如，初创公司ShopRunner已经开始为布鲁克斯兄弟和玩具反斗城等零售商合作伙伴提供2天到货的速递服务，月费仅为8.95美元。

    还有一些服务，比如Google Express和Postmates，也在积极推动当日送达业务。只需要缴纳一小笔费用，就会有送货员从实体店取走你订购的货物，送到你的家门口，从下单到收货最快只需要一个小时。（Google Express也提供类似于Prime的年会员服务。）

    亚马逊的回应方式，是为Prime也添加同日送达服务。只需要多缴纳一些费用，会员就可以在美国的12个城市收到当日递送的快递，在纽约市甚至可以享受到“一小时取货”（更多的城市将于今年纳入规划）。假如贝佐斯所言不虚，未来的快递可能还要不了一天——如果亚马逊的无人机计划扫清了监管障碍，从你下单到取货或许将用不了30分钟。希望它能实现吧。

    格里利也不太在意外界对Prime的盈利能力和亚马逊股价波动问题的担忧。他说比起这些问题，他更关注如何通过独特的Prime周边产品和服务（如电视剧《透明家庭》、无限存储空间的图片存储服务Prime Photo等）来满足顾客的需求。和贝佐斯一样，格里利也在寻找让快递变得更快的方法。

    当然，如此大手笔的投资（原创内容、快递体验、亚马逊自有品牌商品等）意味着Prime短期内将不可能盈利。但它的收益的确在增长：在亚马逊公司最近的收益报告上，贝佐斯称Prime的付费会员人数去年增长了53%。

    为了解释这些投资，格里利提到了贝佐斯在1997年亚马逊IPO前写给股东的信。贝佐斯在信中称，他将通过“巨大的赌注”和创新来打造长期的股东价值。

    格里利表示：“亚马逊的战略之美并没变，围绕Prime的战略也没变。为了顾客，我们一直都在创新。”的确，正如格里利所说，它是一个“能为股东带来长期价值”的战略。

    有些股东可能会有些牢骚，但贝佐斯已经说得再明确不过了。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    Amazon sweetened the pot for Prime users in other areas, too. Members get access to a digital library of over 600,000 e-books for no additional cost, unlimited photo storage and a music streaming service that rivals the Swedish startup Spotify. In November, Amazon released its first original album on the service, a 43-track digital compilation of holiday songs.

    In another new twist for Prime, Amazon introduced a line of household products in December. For now, the options are limited to just baby wipes. A line of diapers was recently pulled from sale after customers complained about their design. The idea is to push products that people buy repeatedly and are therefore all the more attractive with free shipping.

    “What distinguishes Mom members is that they are amongst the most active Prime customers — they are very engaged,” said Doug Herrington, vice president of Amazon Consumables, a business group that encompasses the groceries, health & beauty, pets and baby product areas.

    Because Amazon does not typically disclose data about Prime, it’s unclear how frequently shoppers use the service. But what is clear is that Prime members spend significantly more than more casual Amazon shoppers, according to RBC Capital Markets. Prime members said they spent an average of $538 annually with Amazon, far more than the $320 by non-Prime members.

    Also nearly certain: Prime costs Amazon dearly. Greeley declined to disclose specifics, but he suggested as much in an interview. “When you look back, the program was launched in 2005 at $79,” he said. “You factor in just simple inflation, transportation and fuel costs, the price would be over $100 today, in just 2005 dollars.” Translation: Prime doesn’t pay for itself.

    Indeed, Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru estimates that Amazon loses at least $1 billion annually on Prime-related shipping expenses. It’s a staggering cost that pushed Amazon to hike the price for Prime by $20 to $99 in April.

    “On the one hand, Prime adds to their bottom line, but it’s like a leech that sucks their blood,” says Mulpuru. “When they throw in things like lending library and streaming, it just gets more and more expensive for them.”

    If Amazon has been consistent in the two decades or so since Bezos founded it in his Bellevue, Wash. garage, it’s that the company is ready to accept razor-thin profit margins — or outright losses, in some cases — to fuel rapid growth. And until last year, many investors seemed perfectly happy with that strategy.

    But 2014 proved to be challenging for Amazon. Growth of Web Services, Amazon’s data center business, slowed for the first time since it opened in 2006. And the company’s first smartphone, the Fire Phone, quickly flopped because of its high price and a crowded market. Shortly after introducing the phone, Amazon wrote off $170 million in losses, of which nearly half came from unsold phones collecting dust somewhere. Amazon shares tumbled over 23% for the year, as a result.

    There are also questions about just how many people pay for Prime. According to a Forrester Research survey of Prime users, about one-third of respondents reported they were currently using Prime via 30-day free trials. The findings open the door to criticism that the numbers are inflated. But Greeley dismisses any such suggestion, and says, if anything, he wished Amazon had offered free trials to shoppers sooner.

    “One of our learnings, giving access to our customers to a 30-day free trial and basically letting them sample the buffet before they pay for it, has been a really good way for customers to learn about Prime,” he said.

    Competition among retailers to build customer loyalty through shipping programs is intense. For example, ShopRunner, a startup that offers two-day delivery from partner retailers like Brooks Brothers and Toys R Us, charges $8.95 a month.

    Then there are services like Google Express and Postmates, which aggressively push same-day delivery. For a small fee, couriers pick up your orders from bricks and mortar stores and deliver them to your doorstep in as little as one hour. (Google Express also offers a Prime-like annual membership.)

    Amazon has responded by adding same-day shipping to Prime. For an additional fee, members can request same-day shipping in 12 U.S. markets and one-hour delivery in New York City (more cities are planned later this year). And if Bezos is to be believed, orders could one day arrive even sooner — 30 minutes or less — via drone if they clear regulatory hurdles. Good luck with that.

    Greeley dismissed concerns over Prime’s profitability and Amazon’s fluctuating stock price. Believe it or not, he says he’s more focused on satisfying customers with unique Prime offerings like the digital series Transparent and adding features to services, including the unlimited photo storage service, Prime Photo. And like Bezos, he’s looking for ways to make the shipping speedier.

    Of course, such investments — the original content, the shipping experiments, the foray into Amazon-branded goods — means Prime won’t become profitable any time soon. But it is growing: in Amazon’s most recent earnings report, Bezos said the number of paying Prime members spiked 53% last year.

    In explaining, Greeley refers back to the letter Bezos wrote to shareholders in prelude to Amazon’s initial public offering in 1997. In it, Bezos said he would work on building long-term shareholder value through big bets and innovation.

    “The beauty of Amazon’s strategy is it hasn’t changed,” Greeley. “The strategy around Prime hasn’t changed. We’re constantly innovating on behalf of our customers.” Indeed, it’s a strategy Greeley maintains will “bring long-term shareholder value.”

    Some shareholders might grumble otherwise, but Bezos himself couldn’t have said it better.