In brick and mortar stores, about 1 in 3 sales are lost due to the customer’s size not being in stock. Brick and mortar stores are limited in how much inventory they can carry, and therefore they are limited in the number of brands, number of styles per brand, and number of sizes and widths they can carry.
Zappos.com currently stocks more than 3 million shoes, handbags, clothing items and accessories from over 1,100 brands. We offer the absolute best selection of shoes available anywhere, but much more important to us is offering the absolute best service.
We staff our call center 24/7, and currently have a staff of over 1,300 people. The vast majority of our employees work on the front lines taking care of our customers or shipping shoes out of our warehouse. We believe that the most important key to our success will be our service-oriented culture, and we spend a lot of time and effort working on ways to constantly improve our culture.
(Source: Zappos.com)
Financials
| Date | Type | Amount | Investors | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03/01/00 | Series A | 0.5M | Ontario Teachers Pension Plan | Unknown |
| 05/01/02 | Series B | 5.7M | Applied Materials, Silverton Partners | Unknown |
| 10/01/04 | Series C | 20M | Zap Ventures | Unknown |