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Zappos’ 10 Principles

September 23rd, 2008 Posted in Business Strategy, Doing It Right

I heart Zappos.com

Have you heard of Zappos.com? If not, you need to start paying attention. Zappos is a rising (well, risen) star in the ecommerce space. They’re selling an insane amount of shoes and clothing, and it’s due in no small part to their fantastic outlook on customer service, employee training and support, and word of mouth referrals. I bought my first pair of sneakers through them recently (Nike AirMax 360, of course) and was quite impressed with the service. They emailed me shortly after I placed my order to inform me that they had upgraded my shipping to be overnight. Very cool.

At BlogWorld Expo this past weekend, I stumbled across a Zappos bookmark giveaway that included 10 principles they they live their corporate lives by. Nice and simple, and #6 is one of my own personal mantras too.

  1. Deliver WOW Through Service
  2. Embrace and Drive Change
  3. Create Fun and a Little Weirdness
  4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
  5. Pursue Growth and Learning
  6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
  7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
  8. Do More With Less
  9. Be Passionate & Determined
  10. Be Humble

Interestingly, the Zappos.com site is… less than impressive. The design leaves a great deal to be desired and much of the usability was marginal at best. Where are they spending their money? On their people.


  • I LOVE Zappos. I ordered climbing shoes from them, got them the next day free shipping. They were too small so I called them up, they replaced my shoes and shipped out the new shoes to me the next day. They said I could return the other pair when I had time to (which was also free shipping) A few days later I got a personalized greeting card form the saleswoman I spoke with on the phone thanking me for my business and asking if my new pair of shoes fit better.
  • I've ordered from them a few times and was always impressed by the great service. I'm even more impressed now that I've seen their 10 principles. Sounds like a nice company to work for.
  • Have you seen their new beta design? It's quite an improvement on their current site :).
  • Haven't seen it, but I will certainly check it out. Thanks for the heads up!
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