Zappos is an online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It was founded in the year 1999 by Nick Swinmurn and was initially launched under the domain name Shoesite.com. Amazon acquired it in July 2009 in an all-stock deal of around $1.2 billion. Amazon purchased the shares and warrants from Zappos for 10 million shares of the common stock of Amazon and offered $40 million in cash and restricted stock for its employees.
Since 2010, shoes accounted for around 80% of Zappos’ business. Since 2007, it has expanded the inventory to include clothing, handbags and other accessories which accounted for 20% of annual revenues. The executives of Zappos said that they were expecting that clothing and accessories would bring an additional $1 billion worth of revenue since clothing market is four times the size of footwear market. Zappos sells various types of footwear and it also includes vegan shoes. Zappos has also launched a second line of shoes named Zappos Couture in the year 2004.
Zappos has been ranked in the 23rd position on the Fortune magazine’s list of ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ in 2009, 15th in 2010, 6th in 2011 and it has slightly dropped to 11th in 2012.
Now the question is whether Zappos is legit or not. Let me tell you that most of the reviews have been positive towards the site. There has been less number of complaints related to the price, quality and delivery timing of the products. The reason is that the site is owned by popular e-commerce site Amazon. Amazon has been one of the most trusted e-commerce site particularly for maintaining its commitment of offering 100% original products at best prices to its customers. Talking about Zappos, you will not be dissatisfied with the shopping experience.
A user said that since he remains busy for the whole day and is unable to manage some time to visit the nearby mall, he decided to order his favorite shoes from Zappos. He had a word with a customer service executive on the live chat and he was told that he can order a bunch of various pairs of shoes at once, keep the favorites and then return the ones he doesn’t want to keep at no cost. He further mentioned that you pay only for the ones that you keep. Another user said that the site has various types of products from the best of the best brands.
Overall, I can say that if you love online shopping, you must choose Zappos. There have been hardly any negative reviews and it is a proof that the site maintains its commitment to offer you the best products of the best quality. So go ahead and try it.
