Is it a good idea to try and copy Amazon?

BNET offers a look at 6 e-commerce strategies to steal from Amazon today. Which is great in principle, but is it practical?

For instance, many businesses would love to personalize their customers’ experience, but assume they lack the tools and/or funding to match Amazon’s years of development into such practices. The article, though, does offer some excellent tips on how to emulate the experience for little to no cost, so don’t fall into the “we can’t do that/we’re too small” trap. And their tips on how to get more control over your listings in Google

are excellent.

And, of course, one area where anyone can learn/steal from Amazon quite easily and successfully is in answering customers’ questions:

“Even if you have live customer service support via telephone, customers should be able to easily find the answer to the most common questions on your website. In this respect, Amazon has mastered the customer experience.”

Sure, there’s risk in “best practices.” But, in this case, you’re not just following a best practice. You’re learning from the best.

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