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CHAPTER 1. INTRODCUTION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The basic objective of this research was to give an in depth knowledge on what exactly
Marketing stands for. How online marketing differs from general marketing of Goods & Services
and to give an overview of the marketing mix and strategies of Ebay.
The first part deals with what exactly marketing is and gives us a basic introduction to the
subject. The second part explains the various types of marketing strategies and how different
kinds of businesses need to adapt different approaches to the subject. It gives an introduction to
the company and explains how it has grown over the years, not only in the US, but in the
emerging markets as well.
In the second part, the main marketing strategies and approaches of Ebay has been discussed in
depth.
The project has been concluded in the third part by stating how the marketing strategy for Ebay
has fared so far and what steps can be taken by the company to make sure it performs even better
against its peers.
About the company
eBay, Inc. is the largest and most popular marketplace on the Internet, allowing members to buy
and sell almost anything. Launched in 1995, about 149 million people now use eBay. An
estimated 430,000 people in the United States make all or most of their living by selling on
eBay. eBays online payment service, called PayPal, enables transactions nearly anywhere in the
world. eBay proclaims trust between buyers and sellers as the key to the success of the
marketplace. eBay is the The worlds Online Marketplace, which is its positioning statement,
and it means many things about the companys identity. It enables trade on local, national and
international basis, with a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses.
eBay offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day. The objective at
eBay was to to develop the work ethic and culture of eBay as a fun, open and trusting
environment and to keep the organization focused on the big picture objectives and key
priorities.
The company market capitalization had surpassed that of even Amazon.com, making it the
worlds most valuable Internet retailer. Pierre Omidyar, founder, is focused to achieve
excellence in strategic management for improving the companys strategy, sustaining the
companys growth and business performance, and potentially expanding from online auctions
into general etailing, and to become the worlds largest online mall. This research paper
intends to study the click and click business model of eBay, whose competitive advantage lies in
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its pure play strategy, a breakthrough from the traditional brick and mortar model, which leads to
sustainable growth and a competitive edge over the other retailers.
eBay establishes itself as the The worlds Online Marketplace .Coincidently, it is also the
positioning statement of eBay,which itself means many things about the companys identity, it
enables trade on local, national and international basis, with a diverse and passionate community
of individuals and small businesses, Bay offers an online platform where millions of items are
traded each day.
According to company lore, the idea for eBay came from founder Pierre Omidyars wife, who
wanted to trade Pez dispensers with other collectors over the Internet. In truth Omidyar had been
pondering an Internet auction venture before he was ever aware of Pez mania. He says that he
had been thinking about how to create an efficient marketplace-a level playing field, where
everyone had access to the same information and could compete on the same terms as anyone
else.
After writing the code for the site, Omidyar launched eBay from his home in mid-1995.the
concept of an Internet marketplace caught on so quickly that by the end of the year, eBay was
getting a few thousand hits daily. Even more impressive the website was profitable from its
inception. The objective at ebay was to develop the work ethics and culture of eBay as a fun,
open and trusting environment and to keep the organization focused on the big picture objectives
and key priorities.
Ebay went public in September 1998 at $18 a share. By early march 1999, the stock was trading
approximately $282 per share. The company market capitalization had surpassed that of even
Amazon.com, making it the worlds most valuable Internet retailer.

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What is Marketing and the 4Ps of Marketing
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and
distribution of ideas, goods, services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational goals. Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain
what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services
of value with others. (Kotler)
Marketing is getting the right product or service to the right people (target market), at the right
time, at the right place, at the right price with the right communications and promotion.
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society
at large.
The American Marketing Association revisits the definition for marketing every five years in a
disciplined effort to reflect on the state of the marketing field. This process, as laid out in the
Association's bylaws, is guided by a committee whose members represent a cross-section of the
marketing industry.
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and
distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy the perceived needs,
wants and objectives of individuals and organizations. Marketing is both a set of activities
performed by organizations and a social process. Micro-marketing is the performance of
activities that seek to accomplish an organizations objectives by anticipating customer or client
needs and directing a flow of need satisfying goods and services from producer to customer or
client.
The purpose of Marketing is to sell more stuff to more people more often for more money in
order to make more profit. (Sergio Zyman)
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and
distribution
Marketing Mix is the combination of four elements, called the 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion
and Place), that every company has the option of adding, subtracting, or modifying in order to
create a desired marketing strategy.
1. Planning or Marketing Process: To develop and transform marketing objectives to
marketing strategies to tactics, marketing management must make basic decisions on
marketing targets, marketing mix, marketing budgets/expenditures and marketing
allocations. Dividing the total marketing budget among the various tools in the marketing
mix and for the various products, channels, promotion, media and sales areas.
2. People/Prospects (Target Market)
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A product focusing on a specific target market contrasts sharply with one following the
marketing strategy of mass marketing.
Defining a target market requires market segmentation, the process of segmenting the
entire market as a whole and separating it into manageable units based on demographics,
geographics, psychographics and behavior characteristics.
The market segmentation process includes:
Determining the characteristics of segments in the target market.
Then separating these segments in the market based on these characteristics.
Checking to see whether any of this market segments are large enough to support the
organization's product.
Once a target market is chosen, the organization can develop its marketing strategies to
target this market.
3. Product: The goods and service combination the firm offers to the target market,
including variety of product mix, features, designs, packaging, sizes, services, warrantees
and return policies.
A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or
consumption that might satisfy a want or need. (Kotler)
A service is any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially
intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. (Kotler)
Product includes packaging, as a subset of the total offering. Brand managers use
packaging as a badge, enhancing the products value. Heres an example: In fall 2008,
McDonald's scrapped and changed its package design across 118 countries, 56 languages.
Packaging can increase the perceptions about the quality of the product.
A Product or service also should have Purpose, which is discovering the products real
value, use, difference, reason, or function for the consumer and user.
4. Price: All aspects regarding pricing. The price consumers are willing to pay. Retail
price/wholesale, discounts, trade-in allowances, quantity discounts, credit terms, sales
and payment periods.
5. Promotion: If the product is manufactured keeping the consumer needs in mind, is
rightly priced and made available at outlets convenient to them but the consumer is not
made aware about its price, features, availability etc, its marketing effort may not be
successful.Therefore promotion is an important ingredient of marketing mix as it refers to
a process of informing, persuading and influencing a consumer to make choice of the
product to be bought. Promotion is done through means of personal selling, advertising,
publicity and sales promotion. It is done mainly with a view to provide information to
prospective consumers about the availability, characteristics and uses of a product. It
arouses potential consumers interest in the product, compare it with competitors product
and make his choice. The proliferation of print and electronic media has immensely
helped the process of promotion.

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New forms of Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is a broad discipline, bringing together all forms of marketing that operate
through electronic devices online, on mobile, on-screen. Over the years, digital marketing has
developed enormously, and it continues to do so.
Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the earliest forms of digital marketing. It involves database marketing:
segmenting your customer data and delivering personalised, targeted messages at the right time.
As email marketing has developed, it has become increasingly personalised, with brands like
Amazon and Tesco delivering emails that are bespoke to each user depending on buying
patterns. The skills involved vary from database analysis & CRM, through to crafting the right
message, designing emails in HTML, and analysing the results to act upon them.
SEO (search engine optimisation)
Search Engine Optimisation is the art (or science) of increasing a websites visibility in the
search engines. This can be done by increasing the ranking of a particular keyword, or increasing
the volume of keywords that a site ranks for. There are a variety of SEO techniques, from on-site
technical analysis and improvement, to content creation, outreach, blogging & link-building.The
skills involved are wide-ranging: technical capabilities, an analytical approach, and creativity.
PPC (pay per click)
Paid Search, PPC or pay-per-click is the management of paid adverts in the search results. These
paid adverts are typically placed above, or to the right of the organic search results, and can
cost anything between a penny and 50 per click, depending on the competitiveness of the
keyword youre bidding on. Some terms, such as car insurance, can reach astronomical levels,
so PPC management is all about maximising your budget for the best return on investment.
Social media
Social media management isnt just about sending out tweets its about managing a brands
image through multiple social channels. That may be Twitter or Facebook, but it may also be
Pinterest or Linkedin. Its also about combining proactive business development, helping fill the
top level of the sales funnel, with customer support helping support the bottom end of the
funnel. Social media management has become increasingly mature and complex over the last few
years, with greater reporting tools available, and a wider range of social networks. Skills
involved blend brand awareness, customer service and creativity, as well as an awareness of how
social media metrics reflect on other marketing metrics.


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Online advertising
Online advertising differs from PPC in that you are advertising on other peoples websites. For
instance, you may want to buy banner space on a specific website, and you would pay the
swebsite owner either based on the number of impressions, or the number of clicks the advert
receives. Skills involve design, creativity, negotiation, and data analysis, ensuring that the right
advert is placed in the right place, at the right time.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing can be quite similar to online advertising, except that the website hosting the
advert will be recompensed only when a sale is made. The payment, therefore, will be higher
and will give the website owner the incentive to promote the advert more prominently. Affiliate
marketing isnt restricted to banner advertising. Many affiliates make money through simple
links, e-mail marketing, or even developing ecommerce shops with affiliate products. On the one
hand, brands have to negotiate with affiliates, and provide the best possible deal that will ensure
the best possible promotion, while ensuring that costs are kept down to a level that ensures
margins are high.
Text messaging
Mobile marketing is one of the biggest growth areas in digital marketing. The increased usage of
smartphones around the world has resulted in a greater dependency on them for quick and timely
information. Text messaging is a push strategy that some view as spam, but if used correctly, can
be an effective customer messaging strategy.
Blogging, RSS & News Feeds
Blogging and ensuring that blogs are visible involves not just writing blogs, but creating a
blogging strategy that brings together SEO, PR, social media and web design. A good blog will
be one that attracts natural, organic traffic through effective keyword research, as well as social
traffic.
Viral marketing
Viral marketing combines many elements of the marketing mix. Some call it content
marketing, as it always involves disseminating an element of content across multiple channels.
This can include videos on Youtube, blogs, email marketing, as well as traditional elements, but
the aim is to ensure that the content captures the imagination of your market, and that the content
spreads naturally through online communities.


8


Ecommerce and the Evolution of Ecommerce in I ndia
The Ecommerce sector comprises of the following :
Business-to-Consumer (B2C): The B2C market in India generates the bulk of revenues
across the consumer-facing modes of e-Commerce. Furthermore, though online travel has
typically held a major share of the B2C market, online retail is also growing rapidly and
is expected to significantly increase its share.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): Indias C2C market, though currently small, is set to
grow with the entry of several players. These entrants are attracting VC investment. Their
online portals are also garnering significant traffic. We expect the C2C segment to show
rapid growth in coming years.
Business-to-Business (B2B): The most common users of B2B online classifieds are
micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). These small businesses lack the requisite
financial resources and, therefore, find it difficult to market their products and services to
potential clients through traditional media such as newspapers, banners and television.
Trade through online B2B portals increases the visibility of MSMEs in the marketplace
and helps them overcome barriers of time, communication and geography


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Over the last two decades, rising internet and mobile phone penetration has changed the way we
communicate and do business. E-commerce is relatively a novel concept. It is, at present, heavily
leaning on the internet and mobile phone revolution to fundamentally alter the way businesses
reach their customers. While in countries such as the US and China, e-commerce has taken
significant strides to achieve sales of over 150 billion USD in revenue, the industry in India is,
still at its infancy. However over the past few years, the sector has grown by almost 35% CAGR
from 3.8 billion USD in 2009 to an estimated 12.6 billion USD in 2013. Industry studies by
IAMA2 indicate that online travel dominates the e-commerce industry with an estimated 70% of
the market share. However, e-retail in both its forms; online retail and market place, has become
the fastest-growing segment, increasing its share from 10% in 2009 to an estimated 18% in 2013.
Calculations based on industry benchmarks estimate that the number of parce check-outs in e-
commerce portals exceeded 100 million in 2013. However, this sharerepresents a miniscule
proportion (less than 1%) of Indias total retail market, but is poised for continued growth in the
coming years. If this robust growth continues over the next few years, the size of the e-retail
industry is poised to be 10 to 20 billion USD by 2017-2020. This growth is expected to be led by
increased consumer-led purchases in durables and electronics, apparels and accessories, besides
traditional products such as books and audio-visuals.

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GROWTH I N E-TAI LI NG OVER THE YEARS

E-Commerce is gaining momentum globally with Asian economies like China, India and
Indonesia being the fastest growing e-commerce markets. E-commerce in India is growing at a
fast pace with an estimated size of Rs.43,930 crore in FY13 and a CAGR of 43.8% (FY08-13).
As per the internetworldstats.com The top 20 countries in the internet by number of users as on
June 30, 2012, India ranks 3rd after China and US. The ecommerce industry is mainly dominated
by the travel segment which accounts for more than 70% of the transactions of industry and e-
retails share in e-commerce stands at approximately 12.5%.
In spite of the robust growth, the ecommerce industry is still in a nascent stage with significant e-
commerce ventures being started by young first-time entrepreneurs. The e-commerce industry in
India lags far behind various developed and developing countries (share of ecommerce to total
retail is approximately 1.5% vis--vis 5.8% in US) mainly on account of low internet penetration
due to poor infrastructure.
The Indian e-commerce industry comprises two key business models: B2B (90% of market
share) and the remaining 10% comprise of B2C. India and China, unlike US are characterized by
Marketplace Model, while US follows inventory-based/independent model. Market Place
model only provides platform to a large number of manufacturers/traders (especially MSMEs) to
advertise their products (which translates to benefit the MSMEs in the form of increased
turnover) as well as manages related functions and in turn the entity earns commission from
sellers for goods and services. The B2B players do not carry inventory while in the other model-
B2C, the merchant owns the goods. Currently FDI is restricted in B2C model in India.
The e-retailing market in India is estimated at Rs.5,513 crore in FY13 with a robust CAGR of
30.5% (FY08-FY13). However, e-retailing in India constitutes a miniscule 0.2% of the total
retail market and 2.3% of organised retail in India. E-retailing industry in India is fragmented
with a few large players at the top and race for high valuation has led to fierce competition and
aggressive growth. Furthermore, the industry has also witnessed consolidation with the largest
acquisition of Myntra by Flipkart. The trend is likely to continue in future given the foray of
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Amazon, inability to raise follow-up capital from PE by majority start-ups in the past couple of
years and likely opening of FDI in B2C.
Below-average penetration of e-retailing, has led to explosive growth of unique visitors during
July 2011 to July 2012 within Indian retail online market.
ONLI NE RETAI LI NG CATEGORI ES I N I NDIA


Key Drivers for E-Retailing
Todays consumer, especially the middle-class urban and semi-urban India, who are increasingly
pressurized due to paucity of time as well as lured by convenience and increased use of plastic
money are all leading way to more online consumption. Furthermore, favorable demographic
profile (75% of internet users are aged between 15-34), limited geographical reach by brick &
mortar model, increasing internet penetration, increasing smartphone usage & declining data
charges offer high market potential for e-retailing in India.
Indian Ecommerce : Growing under constraints
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The inability to provide a direct connect with consumer is the biggest challenge in e-retailing.
Further, apart from low internet penetration, like low debit card/credit card usage which is being
offset by cash on delivery, multiple languages, and logistics issues which is being managed by
building in-house logistics by players are also some of the challenges faced by players. However
with the help of technology, backbone of e-retailing, an attempt is made to bridge this gap. Also,
other challenges are developing efficient supply chain management, customer relationship
management solution and enhanced security systems which form heart of e-retailing. Foreign
capital inflow is the next logical step to build the necessary infrastructure.
FDI in B2C: Next Logical Step
FDI in ecommerce in India has seen around US$1.3 billion of foreign investment in the
ecommerce industry since 2010 to June 2013 and a large number of deals compared with some
other peers on account of huge potential seen in India.
E-Commerce Driving Factors: E-Commerce has led to:
Reduced search and transaction cost
Reduced process lead-time and faster time to market
Increased customer service
Improved convenience and shopping experience
Increased information transparency
Knowledge generation
Novel products and services
Top 10 Ecommerce as per ASSCHOM
Flipkart
eBay India
Snapdeal
Amazon India
Myntra
Shopclues
Dominos
Freecharge
Jabong
Tradus



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CHAPTER 2. MARKETINGSTRATEGIES
eBays Strategy
eBay community values are incredibly amazing since it focuses on trading millions of dollars on
mere faith and trust among the community members. Its values can be sited as below,We
believe people are basically good. We believe everyone has something to contribute. We believe
that an honest, open environment can bring out the best in people. We recognize and respect
everyone as an individual. We encourage you to treat others the way you want to be treated.
These community values mean that the entire strategy lies in trust to build e-loyalty, for
longterm profitable relationships, these set of core values encourages open and honest
communication between its members.
Corporate strategy
The whole foundation of eBay, lies on the idea that practically anything that can be bought and
sold can be facilitated through this Internet retailer, and this auction platform provider was
implementing the concept of e-commerce even more forcefully. We help people trade
practically anything on earth and conduct commerce through the Internet on a global basis is
certainly eBays business model .This model was so effective and efficient in conducting
transactions that more and more people preferred to trade online, so that they can enjoy the
comfort at home or work-places and still buy things online just by the click of the mouse.
Today eBay users can bid anything from office equipments to real estate to cars. It is surprisingly
true but perplexing that Why has eBay prevailed, but others have failed? Though many of its
successes resulted from its adaptive approach, eBays accomplishments can also be explained by
the companys consistent focus on two long-term goals that is becoming the worlds largest
consumer to consumer online auction house and building out each of the five core strategies. An
analysis into these strategies reveal that eBay has applied sound strategic management as
adopted from Porter and other Management experts .Its whole business revolves around creating
an environment where everyone can come and transact without any second thought of being
cheated or misguided in any form.
The first strategy is creating an insurmountable customer base, that is
(1) Establishing a larger user base
To attract new users, eBay established relationships with more than 60 websites, including
America online which gave eBay the largest access to the largest user base on the internet and
prevented AOL from entering the auction arena, bay also added dealer to person trading and
addresses the fast growing and fragmented small business market by creating a feature called
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business exchange, where businesses could buy or sell new, used or refurbished business
merchandise and professional tools in their local market.
The second strategy is:
(2) eBay concentrated on local and international trading
EBay has local sites in 53 U.S markets they deliver distinct regional flavors and give users the
convenience of shopping locally for difficult to ship items such as automobiles or antique
furniture. The company also built a truly global presence with users in more than 150 nations.
The third strategy is:
(3) Creating a strong brand
For eBays first few years it did not spend a single penny on marketing, relying instead on viral
marketing and its ability to piggyback on competitors ceaseless (and expensive) efforts to retain
market recognition. The companys brand building shifted though with the arrival of new top
professionals.
The fourth strategy is:
(4) Broadening the trading platform
By 1999, eBays fourth year, a host of competitors had entered the online auction market, while
eBay had the first entry advantage, not all of its competitors were small start ups, some including
yahoo and Amazon were internet significant players with extensive, established user bases.
Ebays response was to extend its core business into other attractive niches, the company
introduced higher priced product categories, a move that would increase its profit margin
dramatically while requiring minimal infrastructure and operating expenditures. The only caveat
was that the company needed to develop a new skill set-to overcome this obstacle eBay made
several acquisitions, starting with auction house Butterfield and Butterfield, the marriage of
offline and online auction houses revolutionized the way that fine antiques and collectibles were
bought and sold, allowing users to place real-time bids for items on offline auction house floors.
The fifth strategy is:
(5) Maintaining a strong community affinity
The company believes that fostering direct interaction between buyers and sellers with similar
interest had enabled it to create loyal, active community of users, As noted earlier this emphasis
on community building has been present since eBays founding.
(6) Continually enhancing site features and functionality
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Because eBays strategy is to be as hands-off as possible when it comes to transactions, the
company has to provide a reliable and straight forward way for users to manage the process on
their own, buying and selling on eBay are made easy for users to manage the process on their
own. Sellers need do little more than write a compelling description of the item up for auction,
provide a suitable photograph, and decide how many days the auction will last. To enhance the
payment component of the customer experience, an admitted difficulty for mast buyers and
sellers, bay acquired a company called Billpoint, whose online bill payment service facilitates
credit card payment between buyers and sellers.
According to the SEC filing, eBay summarises the core messages to define its proposition as
follows:
For buyers:
Trust
Value
Selection
Convenience.
In 2007, eBay introduced Neighbourhoods where groups can discuss brands and products they
have a high involvement with.
For sellers:
Access to broad global markets
Efficient marketing and distribution
Opportunity to increase sales.

eBay Marketing Mix :
Product
PayPal is an online transaction business allowing payments and financial transfers to be
made through the internet. PayPal is an alternative to offline transaction methods such as
checks and money orders. eBay offers a marketplaces for the sale of goods and services.
It also provides online payment and communication services to individuals and
businesses.
Products on sale at Ebay include millions of collectibles, dcor, appliances, computers,
furnishings, equipment vehicles and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, or sold,
daily.
Bill Me Later is an Ebay service that provides convenient and secure payment method
designed for purchasing on the web or over the phone.
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Rent.com is an Ebay subsidiary which is a first pay-for-performance online rental site, a
business model that outperformed competitors who went with subscriptions, listing fees,
or costs-per-lead revenue models The company charges the property manager when a
verified lease is produced through the site.
Shopping.com is an online community Owned by Ebay it provides a price comparison
service and operates webpages in the USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany and
Australia.
StubHub is a subsiiary of Ebay which acts as an online marketplace for buyers and sellers
of tickets to sporting, concert and theater events.
Skype is an economical communication tool owned by Ebay. The company provides free
video calling , free chat with other Skype members, free instant messaging and call to
landlines at low rates.
Half.com is a subsidiary of Ebay, Inc in which sellers offer items at fixed prices, usually
items that have a ISBN, UPC or database file indicators as opposed to rare, old or
collectible items. The items available on half.com are limited to textbooks, music,
movies, video games, and video game consoles.
Price
Ebay, Inc. recently changed some of its pricing policies, dictating different listing fees
from frequent and occasional sellers.
EBay, Inc. Every Day eliminated upfront listing fees (for auctions only, not Buy It Now),
and instead charges 9-percent of the final sale price, up to $50.
Ebay, Inc. employs a quality click pricing model which pays affiliates "by the click", just
like AdSense.
Sellers are charged when an item is listed on eBay a nonrefundable Insertion Fee is
charged, which ranges between 30 cents and $3.30, depending on the sellers opening bid
on the item.
Sellers pay a fee for additional listing options to promote the item, such as highlighted or
bold listing.
A final sale price fee is charged to a seller at the end of an auction. This fee generally
ranges from 1.25% to 5% of the final sale price.
Place
New Ebay users can find answers to procedural questions by utilizing the companys
Answer Center located at http://pages.ebay.com/community/answercenter/index.html
Ebay provides an international site visibility feature which allows some listings created
on eBay.com to be posted on international sites (such as the U.K. site). Buyers on these
sites will see the listings exactly as you originally post them on the U.S. site.
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Ebays Seller Information Center aids participants by offering information on getting
started, growth strategies and shipping http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/
Promotion
There are eBay Coupons, eBay discounts, eBay Promotional codes, and an eBay bargains
page at DealTaker.com
The eBay Bucks Rewards Program gives those who use PayPal on Ebay 2% back on
qualifying purchases participants get a rewards certificate at the start of each calendar
quarter for the amount of eBay Bucks they accumulated in the previous quarter. They
have 30 days to spend it on any eBay listing with PayPal.
EBay Radio provides traders and eBay community members with the latest in news and
views from around the eBay world and covers major eBay events like the annual Ebay
Live Conference.
Process
Participants who list an item on eBay, are charged an insertion fee. If the item sells,
youre also charged a final value fee. The basic cost of selling an item is the insertion fee
plus the final value fee. The basic fee structure depends on the type of listingauction-
style or fixed price formatyou use.
Ebay provides helpful information to facilitate the use of its services at Ebay University
http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/starting/university.html.
Ebay facilitates transactions by providing Daily Deals which highlight discounted
prices parties can sign up to receive a Daily Deals Alert.
Physical Evidence
The Ebay, Inc headquarters is located at 2145 Hamilton, Ave, San Jose California.
Ebay has introduced a new fashion category.
The company has introduced a new Products Review tab enabling a user to find the right
product at the best price
New Ebay users can find answers to procedural questions by utilizing the companys
Answer Center .
Ebay provides an international site visibility feature which allows some listings created
on eBay.com to be posted on international sites (such as the U.K. site). Buyers on these
sites will see the listings exactly as you originally post them on the U.S. site.
People
John J. Donahoe is the President & Chief Executive Officer
Pierre Omidyar is Chairman of the Non-Executive Board
Scott Thompson is President of Paypal
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BobSwan is Senior Vice President
Ebay purchases are now under a new Buyer Protection Program which covers a
buyers full purchase price and shipping and implemented via a new streamlined
customer service procedure.
Ebay Feedback is a procedure that lets participants monitor their transaction
reputation as an eBay member. Its made up of comments and ratings left by other
members youve bought from and sold to.

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eBay New Strategy
At web giant eBay, its out with the new and in with the old both in terms of corporate strategy
and product mix. After trying in vain to remake itself as an online "retailer" of fixed-priced
items to rival the likes of Amazon.com and Walmart, eBay last week cried uncle when it
announced it was returning to its roots as an auction clearinghouse for used goods and
collectables (in addition to overstocked items). Why the change? The past year has not been kind
on the one-time darling of the web which has seen its traffic and fortunes decline.
To compete in the fixed-price marketplace, eBay enacted a series of policies and site changes
that favored power sellers at the expense of smaller sellers. As casual sellers abandoned the site,
buyers have migrated elsewhere in search of the hard-to-find products upon which eBay built its
business"traffic to Craigslist has risen 40% over the past year. In contrast, eBays traffic was
down 5.2% last month over the previous year, while Amazons traffic rose 18.7%.
Not only are fewer shoppers returning to the site, but average order values have stagnated at
around $28 (other than the spike during the holiday season.) Since eBays marketplace revenues
are driven by fees charged to sellers, declining traffic and flat transaction values have led eBay to
raise its fees in hopes of meeting Wall Streets expectations. As a result, eBay is squeezing the
very sellers on whose backs the success of its business rests.

The more eBay has tried to be a retailer, the more its customers have gravitated to sites offering
better overall shopping experiences with lower total prices, better customer service, and
predictable deliveries; not to mention the avoidance of the risk of fraud. The percentage of
eBays visitors who shopped at Amazon jumped from 41% in February 2008 to 53% last month.
Over the same period, Amazon visitors cross-shopping of eBay has remained unchanged at
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58%, suggesting eBays fixed-price strategy has failed to attract significant numbers of new
shoppers to the site.
By focusing so much on fixed-priced items sold by large sellers, eBay has blurred the distinction
between it and the litany of shopping comparison sites and tools on the web (such as
shopping.com which eBay also owns). In so doing, eBay has traded away much of the brand
equity that once set it apart from the rest of the online retailing universe.
With its greater emphasis on fixed-priced goods, its not surprising that eBay has seen a steady
increase in the number of shoppers making "Buy-It-Now" purchases over the past year. In
February, 11% of eBays visitors, or 7.8 million customers, made a Buy-it-Now purchase (up
20% from the previous year). However gains in fixed-priced activity have been eclipsed by
declines in eBays traditional auction business.
eBays challenges are multi-faceted, and it remains to be seen whether by simply returning to its
roots as an auction site it can win back buyers and sellers who have long since given up on using
the site. Savvy consumers have learned how and where to find deals online, but value intangibles
beyond price when making their purchase decisions. Consumers expect a level of service that in
some respects is beyond eBays ability to control in its role as middleman. Given that, eBay
would be better served looking beyond product strategy and focusing instead on improving the
shopping experience for buyers and sellers as its constant tinkering seems to be doing more harm
than good.

Electronics is the largest category of products selling online in India, with a market share of
61%.Electronics include computers, peripherals, televisions, cameras and mobiles. While
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electronics goods enjoy the maximum popularity in India, apparel and accessories seem to be the
largest-selling categories in leading markets such as the US, the UK and Germany. This is
because of the higher margins that this category generates for e-Commerce players. As is the
case in leading e-Commerce markets, we can expect online retailers to shift to selling higher-
margin products such as apparel.
The preference for apparels in online shopping is a global phenomenon. According to a survey
conducted by Nielsen in March 2010, books and clothing/accessories/shoes emerged as the most
preferred product categories to be bought online in the next six months. A total of 44% of the
respondents claimed to buy books online in the next six months, while 36% preferred
clothing/accessories/shoes.




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Ebays Social Strategy
It could be argued that eBay was one of the earliest social media platforms, connecting buyers to
sellers as early as 1995.
It stands to reason that eBay was early to social media, rolling out a Facebook page in 2008. The
company was still dabbling, however. Until 2011, eBay didnt have a clear strategy in place. It
used platforms like Facebook and Twitter to announce changes in policy and post links to
products. It was only in the last two years that its made the commitment to make social a core
part of its business. It has begun a social business unit, led by 12-year eBay veteran Jeannie
Reeth, and has grown its social following from 600,000 to 5.3 million in under two years.
We were giving social the same treatment as our other channels, and that wasnt what followers
and fans wanted, Reeth said. It wasnt relevant to them. We decided that it was time to change
and be more relevant to what is going on in their lives, and thats easy for us because our
inventory is so rich that we can pretty much talk about anything with fans and still be relevant
and stay true to our brand.
Now, rather than dry corporate boilerplate or direct marketing-style product pushes, eBay goes
the storytelling route. One post that did exceptionally well was a photo of a diamond ring that
says, Diamond is Aprils birthstone. But, admit it, you wouldnt mind getting diamonds in any
month. Agree? The post was liked almost 14,000 times and shared nearly 1,000 times. It used
paid media to promote the story of Ed Church, who sold a motorcycle when he was in his
twenties and then bought it back 32 years later through eBay.
The company has several blogs like eBay Fashion and eBay Motors. The content tells stories
through photos, videos and text about interesting products sold on eBay like a batmobile that was
built by hand and a guitar signed by Adam Levine. Ebay is also using visual platforms like
Pinterest and Instagram to tell its stories through pictures.
Measurement is still a challenge, because its really hard to build the full, closed-loop story of
transactions. Theres no way yet to have a scientific test and control of where to make an
investment.
Its a challenge, but I still believe in the power of social, Reeth said. Social is part of our
brand heritage, which is all about connecting people with what they are passionate about. You
could argue that our feedback capability was the first social commerce feature. So, yes, we are
challenged with measurement, but that doesnt mean that social isnt having an effect on
peoples consideration and exposing them to new products and services.


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Competitors
Although there are now few direct competitors of online auction services in many countries,
there are many indirect competitors. SEC (2012) describes competing channels as including
online and offline retailers, distributors, liquidators, import and export companies, auctioneers,
catalogue and mail order companies, classifieds, directories, search engines, products of search
engines, virtually all online and offline commerce participants and online and offline shopping
channels and networks. In their SEC filing, eBay states that the principal competitive
factors for the Marketplaces business include the following:
ability to attract, retain and engage buyers and sellers;
volume of transactions and price and selection of goods;
trust in the seller and the transaction;
customer service; and brand recognition.
Although eBay is one of the largest eCommerce businesses, these factors also need to be actively
managed by the smallest online e-retailer.
For their online and mobile competition, they describe additional competitive
factors including:
community cohesion, interaction and size;
website or mobile application ease-of-use and accessibility;
system reliability;
reliability of delivery and payment;
level of service fees; and
quality of search tools.
Before the advent of online auctions, competitors in the collectables space included antique
shops, car boot sales and charity shops. Anecdotal evidence suggests that all of these are now
suffering. Some have taken the attitude of if you cant beat em, join em. Many smaller traders
who have previously run antique or car boot sales are now eBayers. Even charities such as
Oxfam now have an eBay service where they sell high-value items contributed by donors. Other
retailers such as Vodafone have used eBay as a means to distribute certain products within their
range.






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CASE STUDIES
MyMix Campaign
Campaign Objective
eBay understands the importance of attracting mobile customers, and selected [amobee] to
execute the mobile portion of the MyMix campaign.
To showcase the hottest bloggers and trend-setting stylists from around the world using the
MyMix tagline, [amobee] created a mobile campaign that celebrated UK womens individual
mix and match approach to style. Rather than using traditional models, the MyMix mobile
campaign featured women recognized for their individual style, which allowed users to explore
the featured clothing items and check out additional styles using the eBay app.
Execution & Use of Media
[amobee] extended the MyMix experience onto mobile using rich media to create an interactive
experience in which users could browse and buy the spring/summer looks in the virtual magazine
on their mobile devices.
Users had the ability to mix, match and create their own outfits and share their fashion finds with
friends over social media using the #MYMIX hashtag. Additionally, users could read more about
the featured bloggers, access behind the scenes footage, and even go straight to purchase on
selected items. Within the virtual magazine, users were given the option to download the eBay
mobile app.
Using augmented reality technology, users pointed their devices at eBay print magazine ads to
access the virtual MyMix magazine, offering behind the scenes stories and videos from the five
featured style-setters.
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Additionally, the augmented reality ad provided a direct link for users to download the eBay app.
The eBay MyMix ads were placed in popular magazines including: More!, Reveal, OK, Grazia,
Stylist, Look, Marie Claire, InStyle, Glamour, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Company and more.
Results
The MyMix mobile campaign performed exceptionally well, achieving over 3X the objective
CTR: 0.99. Because consumers were given the ability to go straight to purchase on a range of
selected items within the MyMix mobile campaign, mobile purchases soared. In fact, eBays
revenues jumped 23% to $3.4Bn, with a large portion being generated from mobile transactions.
Mastercard Campaign
Objective

To promote Mastercard/Maestro debit card usage by offering 5% discount on purchase with a
maximum discount of Rs.500
A dedicated landing page was created for Mastercard.
Discount coupon created.
The Promotions

Posts done on Facebook eBay.in fans page.
For the first time on eBay.in Gutter skin branding with Roadblock was done for Mastercard.

Gutter Skin + Roadblock performance for one day
Impression delivered - 2.03 M
Clicks generated - 4711
Click through ratio - 0.23%

Also sent exclusive mailers to eBay registered user base. Banner Insertion in marketing
newsletters. ROS banner campaigns done on site.

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Outcome 2012
Achieved 16,430 transactions using the offer within six months.
Significant increase in MasterCard/Maestro share of voice.
Offer relaunched in 2013 on a bigger scale with 12 months of continued promotion.
Tata Nano
Objective

To sell Nano branded merchandise on eBay & thus create a Buzz about the brand Tata Nano
This was for the first time that an auto major started selling merchandise on ecommerce
platform. eBay facilitated it fabulously.
The Promotions

Created dedicated Microsite for Tata Nano. Onsite banner promotions were done landing to Tata
Nano Microsite. Posts done on Facebook eBay.in fans page. Banners insertions in eBay.in
Marketing Mailers
Also sent exclusive mailers to eBay registered user base. Banner Insertion in marketing
newsletters. ROS banner campaigns done on site.

Outcome 2012
550 SKU's sold within first 3 Months.
Amazing response to the brand.
Offers got more juicy for another 3 months. An exciting contest was run for the eBay users
where users could stand a chance to win Karbonn Tab & many more gifts on buying Nano
branded merchandise through eBay.in



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SAMSUNG
Objective

Increase the SOV(Share of Voice) of Samsung Handsets on eBay India
How did eBay go about it?

eBay shortlisted 8 sellers who have been selling on eBay for the last 3- 4 years.
These sellers got empanelled with the ND (National Distributor) of Samsung Mobile.
Samsung allocated a separate advertising budget for eBay to promote these set of sellers along
with the individual sellers on the site.
Banners ran across the site to promote the sellers selling Samsung Mobile.
Visitors who clicked on the banners were taken to the view item page, post that they carried out
their purchase of the handset.

Outcome 2012
The SOV of Samsung Mobiles on the site was 18% before the activity started.
After the activity the SOV increase to 32%
Duration of the campaign was 3 months.
Total clicks 35,200
Over all CTR 0.25%

Samsung Mobile now has a separate budget for eBay every quarter and they also have a
separate team to engage and interact with eBay to scale this relationship to the next level
HTC
Objective
Increase the SOV(Share of Voice) of HTC handsets on eBay India
How did eBay go about it?
eBay shortlisted 5 sellers who have been selling on eBay for the last 3- 4 years.
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These sellers got empanelled with the ND (National Distributor) of HTC.
HTC allocated a separate advertising budget for eBay to promote these set of authorized sellers.
Banners ran across the site to promote the sellers selling HTC.
Visitors who clicked on the banners were taken to the view item page, post that they carried out
their purchase of the handset.

Outcome 2012
The SOV of HTCs on the site was 5% before the activity started
After the activity the SOV increase to 10%
Turnover increased from 63 lakhs to 1.86 Cr during the campaign period
Duration of the campaign was 3 months (Starting from April,2012)
Total clicks 45,337
Over all CTR 0.30%
HTC came back with a promotional campaign once again during the Q1 of 2013
Want IT get IT Campaign focusing on India
eBay India launches a new integrated brand campaign 'Want It. Get It.'
TVC showcases the width & depth of the range of products available on eBay
Mumbai, March 15, 2012

Mumbai, March 15, 2012: eBay India (www.ebay.in), India's leading eCommerce
Marketplace, has launched an integrated marketing campaign 'Want it. Get it'. This new
campaign highlights eBay India as the destination for the widest range of brand new every-day
use products, with the best deals, always. eBay India has the width and depth of products and
categories to cater to any and every "want" of it's consumers. The campaign portrays consumers
with varied 'wants', shopping on eBay India to achieve their dreams & aspirations.
Targeted at value-seeking shopping enthusiasts across the country in the age bracket of 18 - 40
years, eBay India's new campaign emphasizes 'Want it. Get it' as its core message. The campaign
is designed to encourage consumers to use eBay India to satisfy any 'want' that they have. These
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'wants' can pertain to any aspiration which can be fulfilled through any of the comprehensive and
myriad product categories available on eBay India like apparel, accessories, fashion, personal
care, gadgets, technology products, fitness, health-care among many others. Conceptualized in a
zany story-telling format, the TVC is designed to appeal to audiences with its tongue-in-cheek
style. The campaign highlights situations in which the protagonists are able to fulfill their wants
by getting the relevant products at great prices on eBay India. The TVC is being created in 6
languages - English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu & Kannada to cater to multiple regional
demographics while having a national appeal.
Mr. Kashyap Vadapalli, Chief Marketing Officer, eBay India says, "Our new campaign is
congruent with our goal of step jumping ecommerce trial in general and eBay trial in particular
amongst shopping enthusiasts across the country. The campaign plays to eBay's core strength of
unmatched variety, illustrating not only the width but also the depth in categories available on
eBay India. It positions eBay India as the 'want satiator' fulfilling diverse needs of varied
consumers through abundance of selection of brand-new every-day use products, at always
fantastic deals. This is aptly encapsulated in the tagline 'Want It. Get It.'. Through this
campaign, we would like consumers to rediscover their eBay shopping experience with greater
variety & better deals."
Scheduled for a high-voltage, nationwide launch, the campaign has been developed by Law &
Kenneth. The campaign will roll out across the country, through a combination of TV
commercials, outdoor, digital and social mediums to drive awareness and encourage consumers
to look for unmatched range and variety and fantastic deals while shopping on eBay India.
Storyboard of the Ad
The TVC is a series of three commercials that capture varied situations such as a teenager
aspiring to become Miss India, a young man surviving a sinking ship and a 30 something nerdy
man wanting to have a super model girlfriend; all of whom shop for multiple products on eBay
India, a destination where their wants can be fulfilled at through the widest-range of products
available at great prices.

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CHAPTER 3. ANALYSIS, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
India is developing rapidly and if development is to be measured, how can we ignore the role of
ecommerce in it. The internet user base in India might still be a mere 100 million which is much
less when compared to its penetration in the US or UK but it's surely expanding at an alarming
rate. The number of new entrants in this sphere is escalating daily and with growth rate reaching
its zenith; it can be presumed that in years to come, customary retailers will feel the need to
switch to online business. Insights into increasing demand for broadband services, rising
standards of living, availability of wider product ranges, reduced prices and busy lifestyles reveal
this fact more prominently thereby giving way to online deals on gift vouchers. Going by the
statistics, According to a statement released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI), the ecommerce market was expected to touch Rs 46520 crore turnover marks in 2012.
The growth in ecommerce business clearly implies the growing number of internet users .The
online purchases are limited to certain categories like gaming subscription, food delivery, online
classifieds, buying movie tickets, travel related purchases and electronics items etc. The growth
in ecommerce industry is primarily driven by online travel industry which has contributed 80 %
(Rs 25298 crore) in 2013 and expected to touch 81 % (Rs 37890 Crore) in 2014 of total
ecommerce market and is building user confidence.
This research study was successful in addressing its goals and objectives of examining the
success of eBay, of identifying its direct and indirect competitors, and of identifying the
strategies of competitors in competing with eBay. The study shows that eBay is more popular to
the male gender compared to females, belonging in the age range of 18 to 25 years old, that the
number of products and services is its primary strength, and that quality and price are two of the
most important aspects that consumers give importance to when purchasing a product or service.
This aspect is thus, related to the satisfaction of consumers with the products and services offered
and rendered in eBay.
Three years before Flipkart made a non-descript beginning as an online book store, there was
eBay.in, the Indian subsidiary of the $16-billion US company. It bought local auction platform
baazee.com for $55 million in 2004 and transplanted its American business model an online
marketplace where sellers engage directly with buyers, with eBay only serving as a hosting
platform to India.
It had a lot going for it: a profitable parent, a team that wrote the code for online marketplaces, a
brand synonymous with this medium of shopping. Yet, in the ecommerce din today, eBay India
is hardly in the conversation. The talk is, instead, centred around Flipkart, Amazon and
Snapdeal, and their fund-raising, investments or valuations.
"We are the largest marketplace (by number of sellers), but we are not in the valuations game,"
says eBay India managing director Latif Nathani. "Hence, we don't get talked about that much."
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But it's also true that while eBay, though growing at a rate that would be the envy of most
companies, is trailing its peers in this high-growth sector.
In 2012-13, the latest period for which comparable numbers are available, Flipkart grew 476 per
cent in value of goods sold. By comparison, eBay's revenues stood at Rs 81 crore for the year,
against Rs 51 crore the previous year a growth of about 60 per cent.
Globally, in 2013, eBay earned 8 per cent of the value of goods transacted as marketplace
revenues. Extrapolating that to India yields a value of goods sold of around Rs 1,000 crore in
2012-13. That is close to the Rs 1,180 crore that Flipkart did that year.
But the others appear to have hit a sweet spot and seem to be breaking away from eBay. For
2013-14, Flipkart says it maintained that scorching pace, without disclosing numbers. In terms of
unique visitors, in July, eBay trailed both Flipkart and Amazon, according to data from
ComScore.
"When eBay started in India, it was ahead of its time," explains a former country head of eBay
India, on condition of anonymity. "The Internet user base was less than 10 million and few
people were willing to shop online.
However, things changed in the last few years and eBay has been surprisingly indifferent." The
indifference this former country head, one of the six eBay has had in 10 years, is referring to is
its reluctance to pivot with the times to capture more business from the 200 million-plus Internet
users in India today, 10 per cent of whom shop online. For example, eBay was the last to switch
to cash on delivery, the preferred payment mode of Indian consumers, about three months back.
In a recent survey of mobile phone users by Jana, a market research firm that specializes in the
ways mobile technology is transforming emerging markets, eBay was the only company to score
in the top five online shopping sites in all five countries polled.
Most encouragingly for eBay, its marketplace ranked second in India (by far the most populous
country surveyed) behind Flipkart, Indias answer to Amazon, whichhas struggled to enter an
Indian market that tightly restricts foreign retail.
San Jose-based eBay ranked lower in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the Philippines, but still
performed better overall than any other company, topping Amazon and Google handily. In fact,
eBays only close rival across these five dynamic markets was the online classifieds site OLX, a
kind of global version of Craigslist.
In part, eBays success in these countriesespecially compared to a rival like Amazonseems
due to its business model as a platform for third-party sellers rather than a direct fulfiller of
orders. To compete in a country, Amazon must set up warehouses and logistics networks to
handle inventory and delivery. As seen in India, some countries arent eager for a U.S. company
to enter its borders and set up physical shops while funneling profits back to Seattle. With eBay,
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on the other hand, its domestic Indian businesses selling to domestic consumers, even if eBays
commission ends up back in San Jose.
The results also likely reflect eBays strong push into mobile. Company CEO John Donahoe has
made mobile the centerpiece of his push to brand eBay as the worlds leading anytime, anywhere
shopping site of choice. In emerging markets, where cell phones rather than PCs are often the
easiest route to the internet, a mobile-first approach seems like a clear path to success.
Donahoe has said he expects $300 billion in merchandise sales and PayPal payments to move
through eBay by 2015. That would be a sharp jump from the $175 billion eBay reported last
year. Then again, these five countries alone represent nearly 1.6 billion peoplemore than 20
percent of the worlds population. If eBay can succeed with them, its future seems assured, even
if everyone in the U.S. stopped using eBay tomorrow.

















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CHAPTER 4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.google.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.ebay.com
www.businessstandard.com
www.financialstimes.com