導讀
這封信是2003年Amazon的第7封致股東信。
Jeff Bezos在第一封致股東信就說過，長期主義是Amazon的價值觀。這樣的價值觀，在Amazon並不是空泛的標語而已。在Amazon「客戶體驗」這個詞廣泛被使用，它的定義不是我們常以為的抽象感受，而是涵蓋具體的產品價格、品項、網站介面、包裝和商品運送等面向。
他們一手打造的客戶體驗，是Amazon業務增長最重要的驅動力，推動過許多影響深遠的決策，包含許多體現了顧客至上的具體政策。
最顯著的例子就是商品評論功能。Amazon允許顧客在頁面留下商品的評論，其中當然少不了不滿意的顧客留下的負面評論。對此，Amazon站上的第三方賣家表示不解，因為這影響到他們的商品銷量。然而，Amazon堅持這麼做。
Jeff Bezos給出的原因很簡單－評論有助於消費者進行購買決策，所以我們要提供評論功能。長期而言，顧客對Amazon會更加信賴，也會在Amazon上購買更多商品，有助於Amazon的業務增長。
以長期主義思考，以客戶體驗決策，可謂Amazon一直以來的堅持。
好了，導讀結束，以下致股東信正文開始。
正文
To our shareholders:
致我們的股東：
Long-term thinking is both a requirement and an outcome of true ownership. Owners are different from tenants. I know of a couple who rented out their house, and the family who moved in nailed their Christmas tree to the hardwood floors instead of using a tree stand. Expedient, I suppose, and admittedly these were particularly bad tenants, but no owner would be so short-sighted. Similarly, many investors are effectively short-term tenants, turning their portfolios so quickly they are really just renting the stocks that they temporarily “own.”
長期思考，既是作為主人的必要條件，也是身為主人的必然結果。主人和客人的心態是全然不同的。打個比方，若有一對夫婦把房子出租，那麼承租的家庭通常比較不愛惜房子。當他們要放置聖誕樹時，他們會傾向於使用權宜之計，直接把聖誕樹釘在地板上，而不是使用一個不傷害地板的架子。當然，這樣的比喻指的是那些特別糟糕的租客，但我想說的是，沒有一個主人會如此短視。同樣地，很多投資人就像是短期租戶，他們轉換投資組合的速度非常快，以至於他們只是在「承租」這些臨時擁有的股票，而非擁有。
We emphasized our long-term views in our 1997 letter to shareholders, our first as a public company, because that approach really does drive making many concrete, non-abstract decisions. I’d like to discuss a few of these non-abstract decisions in the context of customer experience. At Amazon.com, we use the term customer experience broadly. It includes every customer-facing aspect of our business — from our product prices to our selection, from our website’s user interface to how we package and ship items. The customer experience we create is by far the most important driver of our business.
我們在1997年的致股東信中，強調了我們的價值觀－長期主義。這樣的價值觀，實際推動了許多具體的決策。我想在客戶體驗的背景下，討論這些具體決策。在Amazon，我們廣泛使用「客戶體驗」這個詞。它涵蓋了我們業務的每個面向－從我們的產品價格到選項，從我們的網站介面到商品包裝和運送。至今為止，我們創造的客戶體驗，是業務增長最重要的驅動力。
As we design our customer experience, we do so with long-term owners in mind. We try to make all of our customer experience decisions — big and small — in that framework.
當我們設計我們的客戶體驗時，我們會以長期主義進行思考。無論決策的大小，我們都會在客戶體驗的框架下進行決策。
For instance, shortly after launching Amazon.com in 1995, we empowered customers to review products. While now a routine Amazon.com practice, at the time we received complaints from a few vendors, basically wondering if we understood our business: “You make money when you sell things — why would you allow negative reviews on your website?” Speaking as a focus group of one, I know I’ve sometimes changed my mind before making purchases on Amazon.com as a result of negative or lukewarm customer reviews. Though negative reviews cost us some sales in the short term, helping customers make better purchase decisions ultimately pays off for the company.
舉個例子，1995年Amazon上線之後，我們授權客戶對商品進行評論。雖然這樣的做法現在已經是Amazon的常態，但是當時可是受到不少商家的抱怨。這些抱怨基本上是質疑Amazon是否了解自己的業務：「你們透過銷售商品來賺錢，那你們為什麼要允許網站上出現負面評論？」我自己也是Amazon的高頻用戶，我也經常在看了負面評論之後，改變購買意願。儘管負面評論在短期內使我們損失了一些銷售額，但幫助客戶做出更好的購買決策，最終會為公司帶來回報。
Another example is our Instant Order Update feature, which reminds you that you’ve already bought a particular item. Customers lead busy lives and cannot always remember if they’ve already purchased a particular item, say a DVD or CD they bought a year earlier. When we launched Instant Order Update, we were able to measure with statistical significance that the feature slightly reduced sales. Good for customers? Definitely. Good for shareowners? Yes, in the long run.
另一個例子，是我們的即時訂單更新功能，它能在購買時提醒你，你已經買過這個商品。客戶過著忙碌的生活，以至於他們很難總是記得已經買過哪些商品，像是一年前買的DVD或CD。當我們發布即時訂單更新功能時，我們從數據中知道該功能使銷售額略降。對客戶有好處嗎？絕對有。對股東有好處嗎？長期來看，是的。
Among the most expensive customer experience improvements we’re focused on are our everyday free-shipping offers and our ongoing product price reductions. Eliminating defects, improving productivity, and passing the resulting cost savings back to customers in the form of lower prices is a long-term decision. Increased volumes take time to materialize, and price reductions almost always hurt current results. In the long term, however, relentlessly driving the “price-cost structure loop” will leave us with a stronger, more valuable business. Since many of our costs, such as software engineering, are relatively fixed and many of our variable costs can also be better managed at larger scale, driving more volume through our cost structure reduces those costs as a percentage of sales. To give one small example, engineering a feature like Instant Order Update for use by 40 million customers costs nowhere near 40 times what it would cost to do the same for 1 million customers.
在所有的客戶體驗改善手段中，我們最關注的是每天的免費運送優惠，以及持續的產品降價。減少缺陷、提升生產率，並以更低的價格把節省下的成本返還給客戶，是一項長期的決定。要提升銷量，需要時間，但降價的政策，卻會即刻帶來影響。然而，長期來看，持續推動「價格－成本結構循環」將會使我們的業務越來越強大、越來越有價值。我們有很多成本（例如軟體工程）是相對固定的，而我們的變動成本，則可以透過規模化有效改進。最終，我們的成本佔銷售額的比例會降低。舉個例子，設計一個即時訂單更新功能，提供給4000萬客戶使用和提供給100萬客戶使用的成本是一樣的。
Our pricing strategy does not attempt to maximize margin percentages, but instead seeks to drive maximum value for customers and thereby create a much larger bottom line — in the long term. For example, we’re targeting gross margins on our jewelry sales to be substantially lower than industry norms because we believe over time — customers figure these things out — this approach will produce more value for shareholders.
我們的訂價策略不是最大化邊際毛利率（margin percentages），而是為客戶創造最大價值。舉個例子，我們將珠寶銷售毛利率，設定的比行業水準還低，因為我們相信－隨著時間流逝（客戶將這些事情弄清楚了），這種方法將為股東帶來更多價值。
We have a strong team of hard-working, innovative folks building Amazon.com. They are focused on the customer and focused on the long term. On that time scale, the interests of shareowners and customers are aligned.
我們擁有一支強大團隊，由一群努力工作且富有創新精神的人組成。他們專注於客戶且著眼於長期。在這段時間內，股東和客戶的利益是保持一致的。
As always, I attach our 1997 letter and believe it is still worth a read. Here’s to not being a tenant!
和往常一樣，我會附上1997年的致股東信，它依然非常值得一讀。去看吧！一起著眼於長期！
Jeffrey P. Bezos
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Amazon.com, Inc.
傑夫·貝佐斯
Amazon創始人暨CEO
P.S. Again this year, the widely-followed American Customer Satisfaction Index gave Amazon.com a score of 88 — the highest customer satisfaction score ever recorded in any service industry, online or off. A representative of the ACSI was quoted as saying, “If they go any higher, they will get a nose bleed.” We’re working on that.
備註：今年，美國客戶滿意度指數再次給了Amazon服務行業有史以來的最高分－88分。美國客戶滿意度指數的一名代表說：「如果Amazon再往上走，他們會因為缺氧而流鼻血。」我們正往這個方向努力。
以上就是2003年Amazon致股東信。
想看隔年的Amazon致股東信，請至《2004年Amazon致股東信：最重要的是自由現金流，而非收益》。
想看全系列導讀目錄，請至《Amazon 1997–2019年致股東信導讀目錄》。
