Why Did Zappos Sell to Amazon?
When news broke recently that Zappos.com was being acquired by Amazon for nearly a billion dollars, I was shocked. CEO Tony Hsieh gave no 
indicators that this could ever be a possibility when we met this “Cool Runnings” company back in February He seemed to pride himself on Zappos’ independence and not having to answer to “the street.” Now, the world’s largest online retailer is acquiring the world’s largest online shoe retailer. For many, this was blasphemy. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Amazingly enough, it will allow the company to grow faster than it already has.
My first thoughts as I read the tweets and headlines on blogs and news sites went to Zappos’ employees. This is a loyal staff that loves what it does and whose members are empowered to totally be themselves. Working at Zappos is unlike working anywhere else. They actually have a nap room! It’s all about delivering “wow” customer service, and their unique corporate culture has organically spawned from the bottom up. To faithful Zapposites, CEO Hsieh is more than their boss; he’s their leader. So, naturally, I was curious if they felt betrayed at the big announcement.
During all of my interviews with Tony and his employees, I must have heard the word “transparency” over a hundred times. I had to smile when I re-read a couple of sentences from my previous blog posting on Zappos.
Transparency, as witnessed by hundreds of employees’ (and Tony’s) twittering, was at the forefront of conversations. People actually said what was on their minds without looking to a press aide for approval.
Unlike many businesses, Zappos seemed to have nothing to hide. But now employees were finding out about this game-changing acquisition last minute via this tweet from Tony:
Big day! Email I just sent to Zappos employees today about the Amazon acquisition.
In his letter, Tony did his best to allay any fears this major announcement
First, I want to apologize for the suddenness of this announcement. As you know, one of our core values is to Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication, and if I could have it my way, I would have shared much earlier that we were in discussions with Amazon so that all employees could be involved in the decision process that we went through along the way. Unfortunately, because Amazon is a public company, there are securities laws that prevented us from talking about this to most of our employees until today.
He also made clear that Zappos’ vision is still the same: “delivering happiness to customers, employees, and vendors.” Further, he went on to communicate that Zappos will be run as a wholly owned subsidiary to Amazon and an independent entity. As only Tony can, he waxed poetic on how instead of viewing this as an acquisition he prefers to look at it as, “Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree.” Lastly, and in what I’m sure many were searching the letter to find, he was direct in writing that he and COO Alfred Lin weren’t leaving the company.
Tony’s blog posting and e-mail to his employees reminded me why Zappos is a “Cool Runnings” company. Like a true leader should, Tony made clear that it’s not about him; it’s all about the employees. This acquisition is a byproduct of the dedication and success over the years that took Zappos from the simple idea of selling shoes online to a ubiquitous online destination. I remember when Giovanna, one of Zappos’ customer loyalty representatives, told me, “I don’t like my job. I love my job.” Without the love that she and her co-workers share, Zappos could have easily went bust when the dot.com bubble burst. Instead, they’ve created value in their company to the tune of nearly a billion dollars.
Antonio Neves is the host of Business on Main’s Web series, Cool Runnings, and a correspondent for NBC NextMedia Productions.
Original Article Source: businessonmain.msn
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