Amazon Opportunities & Challenges

 Discuss the challenges and opportunities for Amazon

Alfiansyah Max Bannatyne Clark - TP075566  

& Abdulhadi Muhammad - TP077039

Figure 1: Amazon Packaging (McCormick, 2014)

Amazon is a massive e-commerce giant that has revolutionized how people shop in the 21^st century, providing a great level of convenience, however with this, amazon has faced many environmental challenges.

Plastic Pollution is a major issue in the world with many plastics being toxic and non-biodegradable. Amazon uses plastic extensively in packaging in order to protect items being transported. In 2021, according to Oceana, amazon generated 456 million pounds of plastic packaging waste, with them highlighting that plastic packaging and waste generated by Amazons packaging being most likely destined for the sea or landfills as opposed to recycling plants. (Baxter, 2020). There are two key factors that are under Amazon’s control.

-          Excessive plastic packaging

o   There is a clear over reliance on plastic film packaging by Amazon, the reason this is highlighted is that plastic file is “rarely accepted by municipal recycling programs” (Calma, 2022) hence making recycling this plastic into another useful item is challenging emphasizing its lack of sustainability.

-          Lack of Action to Recycle plastic waste.

o   Despite recycling pledges, Amazon’s plastic footprint remains substantial. Alternative recycling drop-off points for Amazon plastic are often ineffective and this plastic film is often downcycled as opposed to upcycled. (Carey, 2021)

 

 It is clear that this is not only the fault of Amazon, but also the people who receive the deliveries and availability to recycling plants, however Amazon has the opportunity to earn praise from environmental organizations and people around the world by reducing their plastic footprint. Introducing plastic free packaging as an option when checking out encourages sustainable alternatives.  (Lai, 2022) The use and implementation of reusable containers that customers can return for a commission could also be another potential solution. Additionally, the implementation of bio-degradable plastic into their operations is also another factor that can be used to tackle this issue. By tackling their plastic usage, Amazon has the ability to garner positive support and increase their environmental reputation to the public, helping them enhance their image as an environmentally conscious company, helping boost more sales whilst reducing their environmental impacts.

 

References

Baxter, A. (15 December, 2020). Amazon’s Big Role in Ocean Plastic Pollution. Retrieved from Oceana: https://oceana.org/press-releases/amazons-big-role-ocean-plastic-pollution/

Calma, J. (2 August, 2022). Amazon's climate pollution is getting way worse. Retrieved from The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/1/23287351/amazon-climate-change-carbon-emissions-worse-2021

Lai, O. (9 July, 2022). 5 Plastic Alternatives for Packaging. Retrieved from Earth.org: https://earth.org/5-plastic-alternatives-for-packaging/

McCormick, R. (18 June, 2014). This is why Amazon is a retail superpower. Retrieved from The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/18/5820282/12-things-that-turned-amazon-into-a-superpower

Carey, R. (15 December, 2021). Amazon’s Enormous And Rapidly Growing Plastic Pollution Problem. Retrieved from Oceana: https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/Exposed-Amazons-enormous-and-rapidly-growing-plastic-pollution-problem-2021.pdf

 

Badr Abduldaim - TP074644 & Ahmed Jinan Ali- TP075798

Customer service:

Amazon customer service is a bit slow paced, one of the challenges that faces most companies is having efficient, fast, and smooth customer help centers. Helping customers when getting problems regarding coupons, delivery, clarifications, and scams reporting. Will make the application’s reputation skyrocket and gain customers’ loyalty.

Introducing this challenge, we can have various methods of customer service types to make sure that customers are comfortable with the way they interact with the employees.

·        AI-Powered support: Using AI chatbots and virtual assistants to provide 24/7 customer support, handle inquiries efficiently, and resolve issues quickly.

·        Email support: using email would be suitable for some scenarios about huge inquiries and matters that are big and need time to read and process them.

·        Self-Service support: Self-service support primarily exists in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs) published on a company's website. This tool works well for customers who typically do their own research before contacting customer support through more direct channels.

Interactive voice support: The fundamental challenge of using interactive voice systems is that customers aren't interacting with an actual human, which means they will sometimes be redirected or put on hold many times. Companies can avoid this if they strategically and purposefully design their interactive voice systems to allow customers to request help from a live agent when necessary.

These types of customer service help center are critical, implementing these opportunities will certainly improve providing a smooth and helpful environment for the customer to engage with the employees. The customer’s picture of the service company’s employees, their experience, knowledge and competence combined with their commitment and willingness to serve, affects customer‐perceived quality. It is a matter of both ability and willingness to serve ‐ the latter not least important.(Edvardsson,1998)

References:

Edvardsson, B. (1998), "Service quality improvement", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 142-149. https://doi-org.ezproxy.apu.edu.my/10.1108/09604529810206972

Abdirahman Warsame - TP077730

Challenges with Amazon

Retailers globally lose more than $1.8 trillion per year due to inefficient supply chain and inventory management practices. Even while offline retail accounts for most of this figure, e-commerce losses nevertheless total billions of dollars (Riaz, 2021).

Running a business on Amazon presents both general and inventory management issues. While a strong supply chain is crucial in any traditional organization, identifying and managing platform-specific difficulties is equally critical (Riaz, 2021).

This is one of many challenges faced by Amazon when it comes to Amazon Inventory Management.

Poor Supply Chain Management

Your supply chain begins with your suppliers. Suppliers, despite being outside of your direct control, are critical to the success of your firm. After all, your business is dependent on the quality of your items. If you fail to conduct sufficient research when selecting suppliers, you may end up with subpar items, delayed delivery, or both (Riaz, 2021).

How might we fix this?

Create an effective and transparent communication channel with your suppliers and partners to enlist their assistance in detecting existing holes in the process. To avoid delivery delays, establish realistic lead times after considering all factors affecting the manufacturing and shipping operations. When creating deadlines, you may want to consider using an AI-powered automated solution to reduce uncertainty and human mistake (Riaz, 2021).

 

References

Riaz, O. (15 November, 2021). Amazon Inventory Management: Solutions To Common Problems. Retrieved from forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/11/15/amazon-inventory-management-solutions-to-common-problems/?sh=e854ac939257