Is eBay The Future For Online Retailers?

Monday, April 12, 2010 - 15:20 by Mike Price

Almost everyone is familiar with eBay; some of us would go so far as to say we love it, whilst others would happily admit that they are addicted to the thrill of getting that hard-to-find item of clothing or book in an auction on the site. And whilst safe shopping online through eBay is a fact of life for many ordinary consumers on the internet, there are likely to be increasing numbers of online retailers, who, whilst still selling via their own sites, may be looking to further boost revenues and market share by offering safe shopping online through the eBay site.

It seems that there are some compelling reasons for online retailers to consider this approach, according to advertising solutions provider Advansys. The firm has spent some time analysing the opportunities the auction giant presents for online retailers. According to Advansys, retailers have a significant opportunity to drive revenues through eBay, thanks to eBay's application programming interface (API).

Online retailers can take advantage of the way in which eBay and its API allows sellers to streamline the listing process. Given the ongoing challenges associated with achieving strong positions in the natural search results, leveraging eBay's positioning in this regard may well prove to be a highly cost effective approach, even when listing fees are accounted for.

Advansys has other ideas as to the best approach in fully exploiting eBay. Chief among these is that retailers should use eBay's templating facilities, allowing for consistent look and feel across eBay listings and the retailer's site; reinforcing brand identity; driving curious bidders to the retailer's main site and creating professional listings which inspire confidence and thus higher bid volumes / conversions. The sophistication of the APIs should provide sufficient management facilities by which inventory, early listing ending and other practical aspects can be handled.