Customer service at Zappos.com is well-known. It has happened to order pizzas for customers, take special pictures of products for customers, and help customers match colors and items.   When a consumer asks for a product that Zappos doesn't sell, it sends them to a competitor.   It doesn't make sense to send customers to your competitors. But look at it from the point of view of the customer. Imagine going into a traditional store and asking for a product, only to be told that the store doesn't sell it. Then, though, the salesperson sends you to a different store, which is a direct competitor, that might have it. You probably like how willing the salesperson is to help you and how much the store cares about customer service. You'll probably go back to that store.    

Customer Service is what Matters Most to Customers

  That method, referring customers to direct competitors, works for e-commerce stores like Zappos that put a high value on customer service. It works for a lot of reasons, such as the ones below.  

• People who want to know the truth. Even if prices are a little higher, they usually stick with brands and companies they like.
• Shoppers who get what they need are more likely to buy something else right away or soon after. This is true even if they don't buy that item from the store.
• When shoppers are helped to find what they need, they are more likely to share. A simple tweet or post can lead to an instant sale from a third party.

  Source: Zappos.com   Zappos' customer service is famous. It puts the customer service number in a prominent place on its website and makes it available 24/7.   Think about the following situation.   A shopper goes to an online store to buy a number of things. There is one thing that the store doesn't sell. After that, the shopper does one of the following:   1. He buys everything he needs that the store has, and then he goes to the other store to get the one thing they don't have. 2. He decides to buy everything at a different store, but he will go back to the first one later. 3. He doesn't buy anything at the first store and never comes back.   If a store is helpful, a customer is more likely to do 1 or 2. If the customer service rep ignores his needs, action 3 is more likely to happen.   Source: Crutchfield   The customer service department of the electronics store Crutchfield can be reached in a number of ways.   Good customer service isn't just about sending people somewhere else. In fact, the first step is to listen and figure out if someone really needs a certain product.   By making it easy for visitors to talk to customer service — usually by putting phone numbers and "live chat" icons in obvious places — the process can be very similar to what happens in stores. For many years, Zappos has been sending customers straight to the source. You can talk to a representative in real time, and if Zappos doesn't have what you need, the representative will send a product page from another store straight to your browser.  

Summary

  The main goal is not only to make as much money as possible but also to give the customer exactly what they want. It is also "not like a corporation" to focus so much on the customer that instead of trying to sell them something similar that is in stock, they are sent to a competitor to get the exact product they want.   The biggest thing that keeps people from buying is the worry factor. Most people who work at online stores just shrug their shoulders instead of offering help, because store owners are afraid that this will hurt sales. In fact, the opposite is true. Not only can people not find what they are looking for, but no one is there to ask, "Can I help you?"