Visiting the headquarters of Zappos.com in Henderson, near Las Vegas, is like entering a time warp that whisks you back ten years to the heyday of the internet boom. There are the outlandish decorations adorning walls and cubicles, including jungle creepers that hang from the ceiling and a menagerie of toy monkeys and other creatures. There are the boisterous employees, some of whom rattle cowbells, shake pompoms and bellow greetings as visitors pass their desks. And there are the accoutrements of a typical dotcom start-up, including a visiting masseuse and generous helpings of free food for "Zapponians".rnBut this is no exercise in nostalgia. Instead, Zappos is the site of an ambitious business experiment led by Tony Hsieh, the firm's 35-year-old boss. His goal is to create a corporate culture that allows Zappos to prosper by providing world-beating customer service, no matter what business it is involved in. From its origins as an online shoe-retailer founded in 1999, the company has expanded into selling clothes, consumer electronics and other items. Last year it rang up a record $1 billion in sales even as other retailers were struggling. Mr Hsieh muses out loud about the possibility that Zappos might one day enter the hotel or airline industries, perhaps in the offline world.
展开▼
