Zentos is an $800 million a year online retailer of shoes and handbags. Zentos prides itself on its superior customer service and views this as a way of becoming an online store selling just about anything. Most online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores say they focus on their customers. What makes Zentos so special is that they really do. Cecelia bought several pairs of shoes from Zentos for her ailing mother. She was unsure about the size as her mother had lost a lot of weight and her shoe size had changed. Zentos has free return shipping with UPS, so Cecelia was not worried about the cost to return those shoes that did not fit her mother. Only two pairs of shoes fit. Cecelia had intended to return the others, but her mother died, and
returning the shoes slipped her mind. She got an email from Zentos asking her about the shoes. Cecelia replied that her mother had just died and that she would send the shoes back soon. Zentos emailed Cecelia back saying UPS would pick up the shoes for return so she would not have to make the trip to UPS. This was not Zentos' general policy. The next day, Zentos sent Cecelia a big, beautiful flower arrangement. This was definitely not Zentos' policy! This was something one compassionate person (who happened to work at Zentos) did for another person. The amazing part was that Zentos was flexible enough to allow this extraordinary gesture to happen. Spreading the news Cecelia was so moved by Zentos' show of compassion that she posted on the Great Customer Service blog telling the world about what Zentos had done for her. Her post was viewed by millions ofpeople, many of whom responded with blog postings of their own saying how they would be making their next shoe purchase at Zentos. The company delivered on its superior customer service promise - look where it got them.

 1) When Cecelia posted her experiences with Zentos on the blog, what e-marketing method was
she utilizing, and how does the method work? 

 2) Cecelia's positive experience with Zentos and her subsequent posting on the Great Customer
Service blog were obviously good press for Zentos. Despite the good press of positive blog
postings, what might Zentos have to fear from this method of e-marketing?

 3) The Zentos employee who responded to Cecelia's email and sent her flowers was employing
one aspect of customer relationship management (CRM). How can CRM help create a
sustainable competitive advantage for online retailers like Zentos?

 4) What is your recommendation for Zentos?