eBay Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Marketing Strategy of eBay analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on eBay marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the eBay Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Quick Glance:
eBay Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in eBay marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
eBay is an online platform for people to sell and buy goods with a strong global presence. eBay kicked off with the auction model and eventually has incorporated options like to buy immediately and unique seller programs. The eBay website and the app is the product in its marketing mix. eBay Money Back Guaranteed program instils faith of customer in the company as it ensures to take care of shipping, returns, etc in case of any damage. eBay is present on all devices like desktops, laptops, mobiles, tablets, etc.
on all operating systems like iOS, windows, etc. It millions of products listed for sales, this shows the diverse and the quantity of transactions on eBay. PayPal was separated into an independent unit in the year 2015, which was earlier under the ambit of eBay.
Image: Wikimedia
eBay Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in eBay marketing strategy:
eBay offers vide range of priced items as more the variety more number of customers are attracted to the website. The sales revenue from the sales is not an income for eBay as eBay is a website to facilitate transaction only.
eBay charges the seller a fee for putting up the product and then if it is sold, another fee on that is charged. These fee levies are the primary source of income for eBay. The fee charged is not very high, this strategy is to induce more and more people to put up their items on eBay. As the number of transactions a direct driver for the profit of eBay. The standard fee charge when the item is sold is 4% of the reserve price, this fee can go only as up high as hundred dollars.
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eBay Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the eBay marketing mix:
eBay has a strong presence in online shopping in over 30 countries worldwide. As eBay is a website, the company is where the customer is. eBay is accessible across all devices and operating systems. The platform is sized in such a manner that consumers can enjoy economies of scale. eBay also allows for customers to buy and sell goods across countries. They want to make the world a small perfect market place. Customers are spoilt for choice on eBay as they have offer different dimensions of choice for transacting. For example, format of listing, delivery preferences or item description.
These options have made eBay very much accessible to anyone and everyone who has access to a system and with an internet connection.
eBay Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the eBay marketing strategy is as follows:
eBay uses several media to promote itself and create a strong brand awareness. eBay uses media like TV, print, online ads, billboards etc to create brand awareness in its marketing mix. eBay went for a change in its logo the year 2012. The logo did not change drastically but only slightly to match the current consumer preferences and thoughts. Initially the logo was pretty eccentric, but in 2012 it was made neat, aligned and smart. eBay positions itself as the one-stop website for quirky items, auction style buying, vintage goods, etc. eBay also promoted online payment gateways and portals so that more and more customers could trust online transactions and would therefore become potential customers to eBay. It also promoted itself like a shopping mall in the pockets of the consumer.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of eBay.
Process:
eBay has several processes for business and customer service, and ensuring a quality online shopping experience. On the buyer front, eBay has auction format. According to this format, the buyers can bid for a product. The highest bid gets the product. The bids are time bound as well, the highest bid made and in lesser time gets the product. On the seller side, the seller has to upload pictures of the product and describe it. Once the bidding is done and buyer chosen, the product is shipped and then payment is received. eBay gives a platform for easy selling and buying with best price that the seller could get and buyer could bid for.
People:
eBay employees 12,600 people. eBay has a multichannel inventory it employs most of its workforce in the logistics of goods. They offer jobs in twelve different categories. The application to which ad requirement is open and available on their website. Such a move is in alignment with the image of eBay of a flexible and open organisation.
Physical Evidence:
eBay came into existence as on September 3rd, 1995 and in the last twenty-one years eBay has been exemplary. eBay is a pioneer in ecommerce. It alone gave an impetus to the growth of buying and selling of goods over the internet. The company has physical stores in certain location calls the eBay Fulfilment Centres which receive, inspect, store, ship and look in returns. eBay’s website, packaging, boxes etc all add to the physical presence of the brand. Hence, this concludes the marketing mix of eBay ecommerce and online shopping brand.
About eBay:
eBay was found by Pierre Omidyar in 1993 in California. It rode high on the dot com bubble to become a raging success that it is now. eBay now is a multinational corporation serving nations across the globe through its website. eBay being a relatively young company, the scale and pace at which it has grown is commendable. The ecommerce industry globally is expected to touch twenty-seven trillion-dollar mark in the year 2020. The total retail sales will grow each year but the percentage change in the growth of this industry will go down.
This means e-commerce industry is growing to grow at a slowly declining rate. eBay caters to business to customer and customer to customer transactions.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
Browse marketing strategy and 4Ps analysis of more brands similar to eBay. The Marketing Strategy & Mix section covers 4Ps and 7Ps of more than 800 brands in 2 categories.
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