Consumers Cautiously Optimistic Zappos Won't Become Amazonized

When Zappos announced last week that it was being acquired by Amazon, online shoppers around the country took a moment to pause and think about what they could potentially be losing -- a company that they love to do business with.

While Zappos offers great prices, consumers will tell you  if you are shopping strictly for the price, you can find less expensive shoes. What you can't find in other places is Zappos' relationship to their customers. The company vision is to make their customers happy and  the Zappos business culture encourages customer service personnel to make that happen.

Most famous is the Zaz Lamarr post  in 2007  when she share what Zappos did after they learned her mother had died. Note The link to the Lamarr post is currently getting a message that bandwidth limited has been exceeded.

Here is the crux of the story. Lamarr's mom was terminally ill and during her illness lost so much weight that none of her shoes fit. To cheer her mom up, Lamarr ordered seven pairs of shoes from Zappos. Only two fit but Lamarr didn't return them on time because her mother's illness took a turn for the worse.

During this time Zappos sent her an email inquiring about the unreturned shoes. Lamarr explained the situation and Zappos did two things: First, they sent a UPS driver to her home to pack up the shoes so Lamarr wouldn't have to do that task .If that wasn't enough...

"When I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I'm a sucker for kindness, and if that isn't one of the nicest things I've ever had happen to me, I don't know what is. So... IF YOU BUY SHOES ONLINE, GET THEM FROM ZAPPOS. With hearts like theirs, you know they're good to do business with."

The question customers are asking,"Will a Zaz LaMarr story ever occur after Amazon buys the company?" Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh says nothing is going to change. He has over a million twitter followers. Will Zappos still be Zappos? That is the question I tried to answer at BlogHer.