Emma Ann HughesSep 21 2018

The threat Amazon poses to your business

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The threat Amazon poses to your business
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Amazon can stack it high, sell it cheap and deliver goods quickly in a way that has decimated the nation's shopping precincts.

So, should financial advisers just shut up shop and admit defeat if Amazon decides to start shifting products such as life insurance?

To understand whether financial advisers should throw in the towel right now you need to know what made Amazon move from a website selling books in the late 1990s to one where you can buy every good you can think of today.

If you think Amazon is close to being a trillion dollar success because it is a one-stop-shop for a vast array of goods and delivers swiftly then you truly don’t understand the threat you are facing at all.

No matter what you think of Amazon, the primary focus of the business is ease of use. 

The more trust you gain from consumers and the easier you make the money-taking process – with Amazon it is just one-click – then the more likely you are to be given cash. 

But when it comes to managing money, ironically it isn't Amazon’s ability to make the user experience easy that should concern those that currently advise on protection.

Amazon has thrived because when something goes wrong – the parcel doesn't arrive or doesn’t live up to expectations – it doesn’t just shrug and tell you to make a complaint.

Amazon has a range of helpful, easy-to-use tools to track packages and quickly return or exchange ordered items, bringing simplicity and convenience to its online shopping experiences. 

Amazon's Customer Service team has won multiple awards for its dedication to preventing and swiftly addressing problems for customers. 

I once bought my young son a Paw Patrol duvet. When it arrived, it was ripped.

Rather than expecting me to trudge down to the post office to send it back, Amazon's customer service team said I should just throw it in the bin and another duvet cover would arrive the next day.

As a result, I would use Amazon again and again.

You shouldn't fear Amazon because of its tech know-how or the speed of its product delivery.

You should only fear Amazon if you don't deliver a great experience for your client.

This is why it is banks that sell protection – rather than advisers who carefully pick through policies to get the life insurance, etc, best suited to your needs - that should be quaking in their boots.

Amazon isn't a leader because it always gets things right – it has decimated the high street because it knows what to do when things go wrong.

The UK's banking giants should be afraid.

Advisers who engage and care about their clients have nothing to fear.

emma.hughes@ft.com