Amazon.com Inc.’s vision and mission statements have pushed the company to become the largest online retailer in the world. This success is attributed to stringent measures to ensure that the mission and vision statements are fulfilled. The corporate vision statement provides organizational direction toward a desired future condition of the business. The corporate mission statement presents business goals and guides strategic formulation in the company. Amazon’s vision statement shows a future of global dominance in the online retail industry. On the other hand, Amazon’s mission statement focuses on effective and high-quality service. The fulfillment of these official statements facilitates further enhancement of the e-commerce business for long-term success in the global market.
Amazon.com’s mission statement is responsible for the attractiveness of the company’s online retail offerings. The vision statement also creates a strong motivational force to push Amazon’s e-commerce business to be the best in the world.
Amazon.com’s Vision Statement
Amazon’s vision statement is “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” This vision statement underscores the organization’s main aim of becoming the best e-commerce company in the world. The following components or characteristics are emphasized in Amazon’s vision statement:
- Global reach
- Customer prioritization
- Widest selection of products
The “global reach” component in Amazon.com Inc.’s vision statement is all about international leadership in the e-commerce market. For example, in stating the “Earth” as the market, the company shows that it aims to continue expanding globally. Thus, a corresponding strategic objective is global expansion, especially through market penetration and market development [Read: Amazon.com Inc.’s Generic & Intensive Growth Strategies]. The “customer prioritization” component of Amazon’s vision statement shows that the firm considers customers as the most important stakeholder group in the online retail business. Moreover, the vision statement indicates continuing efforts to broaden the product mix, under Amazon.com Inc.’s marketing mix approach.
Amazon.com’s Mission Statement
Amazon’s mission statement is as follows: “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.” This mission statement promises an attractive e-commerce service to satisfy customers’ needs. The following components or features are identifiable in Amazon’s mission statement:
- Lowest prices
- Best selection
- Utmost convenience
The “lowest prices” component of the mission statement guides Amazon.com Inc.’s pricing strategy. Such low prices are a selling point that makes the company’s e-commerce website and service attractive. A corresponding strategic objective is to reduce operational costs. Amazon’s mission statement also points to having the best selection. The availability of a wide variety of products on the company’s website is a major factor that attracts customers. Moreover, Amazon.com Inc.’s mission statement emphasizes convenience. Convenience is a common criterion that consumers use in evaluating the quality of the online retail service.
Amazon’s Mission and Vision Statements – Analysis & Recommendations
Amazon.com’s vision statement possesses strong characteristics, such as the specification of the company’s target market and an aspect of its marketing mix approach. However, a recommendation to improve this vision statement is to broaden the scope of the business. This is so because the company already has a physical bookstore, known as Amazon Books, located in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
Amazon.com’s mission statement is also satisfactory, based on best practices in developing mission statements. For example, the inclusion of pricing, product selection and service quality helps define the strategic direction of the e-commerce business. However, it is recommended that a characterization of the nature of the business, such as its e-commerce nature, must be included in Amazon.com Inc.’s mission statement. Such characterization helps in specifications of strategies for the online retail business.
References
- Amazon Jobs – Retail.
- Amazon.com, Inc. Form 10-K.
- Holland, K. (2007). In Mission Statements, Bizspeak and Bromides. The New York Times.
- Kirkpatrick, S. A., Wofford, J. C., & Baum, J. R. (2002). Measuring motive imagery contained in the vision statement. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(2), 139-150.