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Can Zappos Compete With Owner Amazon?

More than a decade after it was acquired by the e-commerce giant, the online shoe purveyor faces stiff competition not only from the brands it offers but from its parent company, with those efforts backlit by the complicated legacy of its former leader, Tony Hsieh.
Zappos has launched new sub-brands, like female-focused footwear channel The Ones, in order to appeal to more specific audiences. Zappos.
Zappos has launched new sub-brands, like female-focused footwear channel The Ones, in order to appeal to more specific audiences.

Zappos chief executive Kedar Deshpande has a theory about online shopping. He thinks the reason so many multi-brand e-tailers struggle after they hit a certain size is because they’ve ignored a key element of what made physical department stores unique: price segmentation.

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