Discuss how eBay has had to evolve its online brand proposition and communicate it to achieve continued growth.
eBay is an online retail marketplace that utilises a Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) business model. Digital Marketing strategies play a monumental role in ensuring companies like eBay maintain a competitive advantage in the market. eBay’s brand proposition has greatly evolved through their customer service initiatives, security measures as well as attractive features.
eBays proposition for buyers incorporates “trust, value, selection and convenience”. For sellers eBay provides access to “broad global markets, efficient marketing and distribution and the opportunity to increase sales” (Chaffey & Chadwick, 2019).
eBay’s core service offering allows sellers to list items for sale on auction or at a fixed price. eBay has revolutionised their brand proposition through the utilisation of software technology to automate the selling process and make transactions easier for both buyer and seller. eBay uses Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for product listings and items can often be found at the top of webpages as well as in sponsored ads. This efficient use of SEO, encourages customers to both sell and buy through eBay through communicating the opportunity for sellers to increase potential sales and buyers to easily navigate through eBay’s extensive product listings.
Security risks are a prevalent issue in online business. eBay has incorporated security measures to tackle the issue of scamming and fraud in their online marketplace. The introduction of the ‘Money Back Guarantee’ program played a huge role in intensifying eBay’s brand proposition, which reduces the risks associated with buying from unknown sellers.
eBay’s also offers appealing features such as their review system, that allows buyers to read the experiences of other customers as well as provide feedback on their transactional experience. This feature also offers sellers to provide feedback on buyers which creates accountability on both sides of the transaction.
Screenshot from https://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&ftab=FeedbackLeftForOthers&userid=tryork5ifp&fromPage=-1&iid=-1&de=off&items=25&page=3
Bibliography
Chaffey, D., & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2019). Digital Marketing. Pearson Education, Australia
Marketing with Mel 