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Jeff Bezos: It Doesn't Matter If We're a Pure Internet Company. It Matters If We Obsess Over Customers.

By Jeff Bezos · Leadership · 1 min read

A reporter told Bezos Amazon isn't a 'pure internet company' anymore. Bezos: it doesn't matter to me whether we're a pure internet play. What matters is — do we provide the best customer service?

Key Points

Amazon had 3,000+ employees and 4 million square feet of distribution centers — and Bezos was proud of it
It doesn't matter whether you're a 'pure internet play' — what matters is customer obsession
In the long term, there is never any misalignment between customer interests and shareholder interests

In the long term, there is never any misalignment between customer interests and shareholder interests.

Not a Pure Internet Company

Reporter: You're not really a pure internet company anymore. You've got millions of square feet of real estate, a huge and growing inventory, thousands of employees.

Bezos: We have over 3,000 employees and over 4 million square feet of distribution center space. And those are things I'm very, very proud of. With half a dozen distribution centers around the country, we can get product close to customers and ship it in a very timely way. That's what we're about.

4 million square feet of distribution centers. I'm very, very proud of that.

Customer Obsession Is the Only Thing

Bezos: If there's one thing Amazon is about, it's obsessive attention to the customer experience, end to end. It doesn't matter to me whether we're a pure internet play. What matters is — do we provide the best customer service?

Reporter: But it matters to your investors. Bezos: No — they should be investing in a company that obsesses over customer experience. In the long term, there is never any misalignment between customer interests and shareholder interests.

It doesn't matter if we're a pure internet play. What matters is customer obsession.

Bad Math

Bezos: We'll open as many square feet, hire as many employees as we have to, to service customers. Absolutely. And we'll do it as rapidly as we can.

That's a costly proposition? Not compared to opening a network of retail stores. We pay 30 cents a square foot instead of $7 in a high-traffic retail area. You can't compare a chain of retail stores to half a dozen distribution centers. It's just bad math.

There's only one side — obsess over customers.

We pay 30 cents a square foot. Retail pays $7. You can't compare. It's bad math.