Brilliance in Book-Selling

Leave it to Amazon.

The giant bookseller is always finding ways to outdo itself. In my inbox this afternoon I found an e-mail message addressed personally to me. Rather than promoting any old book, it was pitching one that, based on my purchase history and Wish List contents, Amazon was reasonably certain that I'd be interested in.

What's especially interesting about this particular e-mail is that it wasn't just a pitch for the book. It was a notification that the book had just been reduced in price. This takes Amazon's already-strong recommendations function one giant step further. Specifically: it adds a call to action and sense of urgency. Who knows how long the book will remain available at this low, low price?

Anyhow, the e-mail I received is copied below. How can you use this idea in your business?
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Subject: Your Price Drop Notification


Dear Robin,

We track items that you may be interested in for price reductions so that you don't have to. These additional savings on top of our everyday low price may only be available for a limited time, so act now to take advantage of this alert. Prices can go back up at any time and may never be this low again.

You can improve your recommendations and increase the number of products we watch for price reductions by rating items or adding them to your wish list on Amazon.com. We hope you like these timely price notifications and would love to hear your feedback on them at pd-feedback@amazon.com.

Price reduced from $19.99 to $13.59 (32% reduction).


Primal Branding: Create Zealots for Your Brand, Your Company, and Your Future by Patrick Hanlon
List price: $19.99
Our previous price: $19.99
Our new price: $13.59

Suggested because you expressed an interest in Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant.