E-Commerce Express : ebay

GoECart Glues Together Fragmented E-Commerce Channels

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:55:00 GMT

Sixty-five percent of shoppers in the U.S. currently shop across at least two channels, while 21 percent of U.S. respondents are using four or five channels to shop, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report . What does this mean for retailers? It...(read more)

Should E-commerce Merchants Accept Bitcoin?

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:12:00 GMT

The Peer-to-peer electronic payment system known as Bitcoin has certainly garnered its fair share of attention over the past few months. While I won't delve into the details of how it works or what I think of the currency system in general, recent...(read more)

Say Hello to the New eBay

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 16:43:00 GMT

eBay has released a series of design and general experience updates intended to improve user engagement and also compete with the popular daily deal site, Groupon. The changes include a site redesign, a new daily deal section and a tool that will help...(read more)

Where the Shopping Cart Left Off

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 13:40:00 GMT

Ecommerce solution provider Ordoro, which provides a Web-based software for order and inventory management, has partnered with Ebay and will now make its solution available to Internet retailers using that marketplace. "We like to say we pick up...(read more)

Ebay Now for Local Retailers

'Net Features : wm-ecommerce — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:07:00 GMT

eBay is beta-testing same-day delivery for shoppers purchasing products from local brick and mortar retailers through its new mobile app eBay Now . Local users (San Francisco only for the time being) began receiving beta invites over the weekend for the...(read more)

Ubokia & Consumer Control of the Buying Experience

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:17:00 GMT

Consumers are seeking increasingly greater control over their online buying experiences but do merchants have the necessary tools and platforms at their disposal to make it happen?

The trend toward consumer empowerment in ecommerce is expected to accelerate in the coming years and one of the companies positioned to immediately benefit from the shift is Ubokia, an online marketplace where users post what they want to buy and sellers respond. The company recently announced the availability of uMatch, a technology which makes it possible to match sellers with qualified buyers.

Ubokia's Want-based model has already found widespread adoption among users of traditional ecommerce sites, including Craigslist and eBay. "Many of our members have come from eBay and Craigslist, because they like the idea of posting what they want and having sellers respond,” said Ubokia CEO Mark Pine. “uMatch will make it much easier for sellers to connect with qualified buyers, and vice versa."

Hunch Product Recommendations Go to eBay

Website Magazine : ecommerce — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:36:00 GMT

Ebay has acquired product recomendation and personalization service Hunch for a reported $80 million. Hunch , introduced in 2009, delivers customized suggestions to users based on the information they share on social networks and their activity on other...(read more)

Super Sunday: Busiest shopping day of 2012 - December 4th

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:19:00 GMT

Mark your calendars Internet retailers; December 4th will be the busiest shopping day of the year according to Ebay UK.

The global online auction/marketplace is forecasting that nearly 6 million people will log into its UK site during the day, using both desktop computers and through their mobile applications. That represents an almost 15% increase over 2010.

"This will be another record-breaking 'Super Sunday' for eBay UK with sales volumes around six times as high as on an average Sunday in September,” said Angus McCarey, retail director for eBay UK. "This is explained by the general shift in retail spending to online, and the popularity of shopping on smartphones which is accelerating that trend. Many people will have less to spend overall this Christmas, so they will do all they can to ensure they are getting a bargain."

A Bundle of eBay Announcements

Website Magazine : ecommerce — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:30:00 GMT

New announcements from eBay about ecommerce, Facebook and PayPal have been filtering through the news over the last couple of days, so let’s take a look at some of these new and interesting developments: X.commerce X.commerce is an open commerce...(read more)

eBay Releases Online Index for Small Businesses

Linc Wonham — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 14:15:00 GMT

A day after strengthening its foothold on local commerce with the acquisition of shopping search engine Milo, eBay has released a new report intended to help small businesses and entrepreneurs thrive on the world’s largest online marketplace.

The first-ever U.S. Online Business Index (OBI) was compiled from survey results of more than 400 eBay sellers on topics ranging from mobile commerce to Internet sales taxes to 2010 holiday sales and projections for 2011 growth. Key findings included the following:

Mobile Matters
• 73 percent of respondents said it was important that shoppers have the ability to browse and buy items on eBay using mobile devices
• 60 percent said they are willing to adjust their eBay listings for easier viewing on mobile devices

Tax Talk
•    88 percent of respondents said they would not support an Internet sales tax, which is currently under proposal
•    81 percent said they would support a small-business tax exemption if the proposal should be put into law
•    74 percent said they feared a sales tax would reduce the number of online transactions; 69 percent said they feared it would reduce out-of-state sales; 69 percent said it would make it difficult for them to maintain profitability, and 68 percent said it would hurt the U.S. economy

Optimistic Outlook
•    60 percent said they are considerably optimistic about the future of their online businesses in the 2010 holiday shopping season
•    72 percent expect their total online sales to increase through December
•    36 percent plan to increase their inventory through 2011 by up to 15 percent or more
•    53 percent plan to raise their sales targets from 2010, and 66 percent of those are targeting increases of up to 20 percent

Local Products Startup Milo Purchased by eBay

Linc Wonham — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 01:05:00 GMT

E-commerce giant eBay struck a significant deal Thursday, purchasing startup local product inventory search engine Milo.com for a reported $75 million.

There has been a lot of recent attention given to the growing importance of local commerce – with rumors swirling about a possible deal between Google and Groupon, as well as Amazon potentially investing in LivingSocial – and Thursday’s acquisition affirms that eBay has been doing more than just listening.

Milo lists product inventory for more than 50,000 stores across the U.S., including major retailers such as Macy’s, Best Buy and Target. Overall, the site features more than 3 million products for which users can search and determine in real-time whether a local store is carrying that product and at what price.

The site is an indispensable tool for local merchants to attract online customers to their brick-and-mortar stores. With Forrester projecting the research-online, shop-offline market to reach $1 trillion in 2011, Milo’s mission was to take ownership of that bridge between online browsing and in-store buying.

The purchase by eBay will give Milo a larger platform to do exactly that, but there are some potential obstacles. Google recently rolled out a local product inventory feature of its own in anticipation of the 2010 holidays, and Amazon is not likely to let neither Google nor eBay get too comfortable in the local products space without making a move.

And Google’s aforementioned interest in local deals provider Groupon, paired with Amazon’s interest in Groupon competitor LivingSocial, hints that the entire local commerce space is not only heating up but could also become fiercely competitive in 2011.

Crowdsourcing Fashion at... eBay?

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:48:00 GMT

Designer Derek Lam today announced plans to introduce an original collection to be sold exclusively on fashion.eBay.com - yes, eBay. What should internet retailers take away for the announcement? Perhaps that crowdsourcing is increasing in popularity and that it might just be time to starting turning over your next innovation to those that will ultimately purchase it.

Lam will leverage eBay’s global community of more than 93 million by crowdsourcing prospective pieces, with the collective consumer voice determining which are produced for the final exclusive collection. “Having a direct and immediate dialogue with the online audience is what makes fashion exciting and relevant in this moment,” said Derek Lam. “eBay’s technology offers me a unique and innovative opportunity to reach new and existing customers directly, and to create fashion they desire.”

Many brands are beginning to understand that crowdsourcing can do wonders for increasing engagement in both the near and short term. eBay is far from the only brand to try crowdsourcing; online retailer MooseJaw just last week announced a similar crowdsourcing effort.

“We are thrilled that a fashion luminary like Derek recognizes the power of eBay as a platform to directly engage style-conscious shoppers worldwide,” said Miriam Lahage, vice president and general manager of eBay Fashion. “This collaboration underscores how eBay is leveraging technology to invent new ways to shop fashion and provide access to acclaimed designers at incredible value. Our global reach enables us to expand the velocity of trade in the fashion ecosystem—helping leading-edge designers, like Derek, as well as brands and retailers, market to a new audience.”

Merchants: ProStores and Clickable

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Merchants of Ebay's ProStores will now have access to online advertising solutions from Clickable, a solution which enables merchants to promote their products across multiple portals and Web destinations like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Facebook simultaneously.

“Search and social advertising offers merchants an enormous opportunity to acquire new customers with measurable ROI,” said David S. Kidder, co-founder and CEO of Clickable. “Together with ProStores, our eCommerce advertising solution is designed to expand shopper reach and empower merchants to thrive with real sales growth."

For ProStore merchants without much exposure to online advertising, Clickable can create custom campaigns (from a dedicated account specialist including conversion tracking setup, account benchmarking, goal-setting, keyword review, custom reporting, recommendations and other add-on services.

"ProStores is thrilled to work with Clickable to help our merchants find new customers online and increase sales," said Lin Shearer, Head of Marketing and Revenue, ProStores. “Clickable is an ideal solution for ProStores merchants because it enables them to unlock the full value of their advertising investment simply and with complete transparency.”

Parham Joins eBay as CMO of eBay North America

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:08:00 GMT

eBay has announced that Richelle Parham has joined the company in the new role of Chief Marketing Officer, eBay North America. Parham will report to Christopher Payne, head of eBay North America.

Parham joins eBay from Visa, Inc., where she most recently served as head of Global Marketing Innovation and Initiatives. Previously, Parham led Global Marketing Services for Visa. Her previous experience includes 13 years at Digitas, Inc., a world leading marketing agency, where she held a variety of senior leadership roles, including Senior Vice President and General Manager of the agency’s Chicago office.

“Richelle is a world-class marketer with deep experience and expertise in creating and implementing strategies that drive consumer engagement and generate strong return on marketing investments,” Payne said. “She will bring great insight and leadership to our focus on strengthening eBay’s relationship with millions of shoppers who search our site every day for incredible value and selection.”