November 16: Where’s my stuff?
November 16: Where’s my stuff?
Amazon invents self-service customer service tools in the early 2000s.
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Update on November 17th: Bill Price was the first VP of Customer Service at Amazon. The article originally stated that David Jaffe (Bill’s co-author) help this position.
Source: The Amazon Way and The Best Service is No Service
Published: June 2021 and June 2008
Where’s my stuff?
The Problems
98% of all customer questions at a retailer like Amazon boil down to, “Where’s my stuff?”
Jeff Bezos believes that customers would prefer to solve a problem themselves instead of interacting with a customer service agent.
The Solution
In the early 2000s, Amazon invented a self-service tool called “Where’s my stuff?” that allows a customer to track their order from the fulfillment center to their front door. They can take similar actions that a customer service agent would have taken, but do it on their own time and access it 24/7.
The Impact
“Amazon has enjoyed a 90% reduction in its contacts per order (CPO), meaning it could keep customer care costs flat with a 9x increase in orders (revenue). This was a driver to the company’s profitability beginning in 2002.” - Bill Price, Amazon’s first VP of Customer Service
A screenshot of the current “help with an order” self-service experience.
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