Amazon Acquires Zappos Brand

Amazon has acquired Zappos for $850 million.

To break the news, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh did what he always does, posted it on the Internet and Tweeted about it.

In an open letter to his employees Hsieh writes “Over the next few days, you will probably read headlines that say ‘Amazon acquires Zappos’ or ‘Zappos sells to Amazon’. While those headlines are technically correct, they don’t really properly convey the spirit of the transaction. (I personally would prefer the headline ‘Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree…’)”

Zappos, featured in numerous branding, social media + management case studies and who publishes an annual 300 page ‘culture book‘ outlining what it means to work there, has received much attention for its customer-centric approach.

Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos of Amazon is hoping the acquisition will allow both companies to ‘learn from each other and create even better experiences for our customers.’ What effects that will have on customer service and branding initiatives over at Amazon will most likely be seen in the coming months.

Zappos will continue to operate as a separate brand and according to Hsieh their ‘vision remains the same: delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors. We just want to get there faster.’

The folks over at Mashable have a great article up surmising the what and they why behind the deal.

However, it seems that the acquisition may already be effecting corporate culture as Hsieh starts of his letter apologizing ‘for the occasional use of formal-sounding language, as parts of it are written in a particular way for legal reasons.’

It will be interesting to see how this one shakes out.