Amazon has announced yesterday that they will be acquiring Zappos and the deal will be expected to close this fall.
Amazon has been offering shoes in their main site, and has even introduced a separate site in 2007, Endless.com, to sell shoes and handbags but they still couldn’t compete with Zappos.com. According to comScore, Zappos received 4.5 million visitors in June, while Endless.com only got 777,000.
Now for you guys who don’t know what Zappos is, it’s a decade-old private company who has become the largest player in the online shoe market.
This acquisition is by far, the largest in Amazon’s history, offering Zappos 10 million shares of Amazon stock worth nearly $900 million at its current level.
Amazon also said it would give Zappos employees an additional $40 million (whew!) in cash and stock to keep them on board and preserve the Zappos culture which has endeared it to many consumers.
Zappos has been known for its personalized service, free overnight shipping and a policy to allow buyers to return any pair of shoes free.
“We plan to continue to run Zappos the way we have always run Zappos — continuing to do what we believe is best for our brand, our culture, and our business,” Mr. Tony Hsieh, Zappos chief executive wrote in a blog.
Well, what can say? If you can’t beat em’, buy ‘em!
That might not be your usual saying or proverb or whatever it is, but it sure does work for Amazon. 🙂
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/technology/companies/23amazon.html?_r=1
