Repeat customers walk all over Zappos.com

Online shoe retailer Zappos Inc. has reached a milestone: six million paying customers.

Zappos, which is expecting online sales to total about $800 million in 2007, also says that three-fourths of shoppers who make a purchase each day on Zappos.com are repeat customers. “We continue to grow sales in all of our categories, especially our non-footwear categories of apparel, handbags, sunglasses, watches and other accessories, which are growing even faster than footwear,” says Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

Zappos, No. 31 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, has spent the last six months diversifying its operations, says Hsieh. Zappos recently acquired 6pm.com, a specialty shoes site, from eBags.com, No. 92 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. The company has also launched a Canadian web site and four outlet stores.

“We expanded our outlet stores to four stores in Las Vegas and Louisville,” says Hsieh. “Our outlet stores allow us to maintain higher prices on Zappos.com so that we can continue building our brand to be about service and selection and not about price.”

Zappos now carries more than 1,200 brands and stocks an online inventory that includes more than 3.5 million items and 150,000 styles. “We continue to grow primarily through repeat customers and word-of-mouth,” says Hsieh. “We will continue to focus on building our brand and our culture around providing the best service.”