Weakness A major challenge that eBay has been facing in the last few years is the structural challenges related to credit card interchange and the ability to link such systems with other mobile operating platforms. Another key issue that has emerged as a major weakness for eBay has been the reality that there is no further growth strategy for the entity. Perhaps this is due to the fact that eBay currently uses an online platform that may not provide further growth to the systems currently being utilized. eBay has also had a challenge with the current business model, which despite its brilliance has been argued to present certain logistical challenges for the company’s operation. The company’s model has seemed to expand it’s portfolio …show more content…
The company can also take up a business diversification approach that will give it an imperative competitive advantage. On the same note, it is an important note to that E-bay can benefit from engaging strategic partners or strategic alliances with various partners in a move that can aid in improving the entity’s overall operations. For instance, eBay’s acquisition of PayPal and Skype in the year 2002 and 2005 significantly improved the company’s overall share listing in the share markets (Wenig 2017). The company has seemed to grow at a rapid rate, based on the ability to tap the opportunities brought about by an expanding product portfolio that is mostly due to a higher level of partnership with key strategic partners. The company can utilize the use of online stores as a way of expanding to new market environments such as in new countries. Threats A key issue that has come out in the recent years is the threats associated with online security and dealing with ambiguous clients. In essence, cyber security and cyber safety have become a constant concern for online markets and poses a key threat to eBay. On the other hand, the company may face threats presented by other low-cost retailers who have become common in the last few years (Wenig, 2017). On the same note, Amazon poses a major threat to eBay as the key competitor in a market that is highly dynamic. One of other major threat that eBay faces is the unpredictable exchange rates across the
Strategic recomendation on International Commercial Strategy for E-Bay: “Alliance, Acquisition or Abandon Strategy” (use QSPM to select strategy) 20%
In a world where trade is increasingly becoming digitalized online, there are new and challenging strategies emerging. This essay aims to analyze and determine these strategies. Considering the example of eBay and Amazon, their business models and their multi-sided platforms, we can compare them to decide which strategies work in this market and how, in the future, they can keep a competitive edge as the market continuously changes. However, as Amazon and eBay have eventually crossed paths in an attempt to expand in the ecommerce market, the question persists whether the market is big enough for both. This essay will look at how eBay and Amazon have evolved their business structure and how changes in
As ubiquitous as eBay is to Americans, it is only a few decades old. eBay was created back in 1995 in San Jose in the living room of founder Pierre Omidyar with his partner Jeff Skoll and it was envisioned to be a marketplace for the sale of goods and services for individuals (Bjornsson, 2001). Meg Whitman was eventually brought onboard to sustain the success and to help hone a better vision for the company: "that eBay is a company that's in the business of connecting people, not selling them things" (Bjornsson, 2001). Part of the widespread success of eBay was founded in the principle that it was not just about auctioning off collectibles, but in upscale markets as well and in creating solid partnerships with brands like GM, Disney and Sun (bradeis.edu). In spite of those tremendous accomplishments, the real success of eBay is in its trading community on the Internet and making it a marketplace that is safe and regulated. "Buyers and sellers are brought together in a manner where sellers are permitted to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of interest and all eBay users to browse through listed items in a fully automated way. The items are arranged by topics, where each type of auction has its own category" (Bjornsson, 2001). However, despite the massive success that eBay has had in America and in other regions of North America, it has struggled in other marketplaces around the world; something which was indeed a surprise
The e-commerce and online auctions industry is highly fragmented, with a large number of independent players occupying 78.2% of the market. With a low concentration, the two major players, Amazon and eBay, account for only 21.8% of the e-commerce and online auctions market. This indicates low barriers to entry as it not difficult for prospective competitors to establish an online shopping platform. Additionally, there are few specific skills required to participate in the market. Existing operators possess a number of competitive advantages over new entrants, such as reputation of product quality and consumer loyalty, while providing secure payment methods that have been enhanced for years. Furthermore, they also
Where this online phenomenon has low entry barrier that attracts potential competitors, eBay‘s position in the dynamic market is definitely threatened. Where consumers are more demanding and has access to latest information, eBay must stay focus and responsive to customers‘ needs and wants, monitoring its business structure closely to ensure sustainability. 2) Over Diversification As mentioned, focus is crucial. John Donahoe made a mistake by overly diversifying its resources and core business. A ‗strategic misfit‘ has occurred, such that eBay has never been able to meaningfully integrate Skype, an online communications service, that failed to produce intended results of integrating eBay‘s core operations and its inability to capture the synergy that justifies the acquisition. As a result, Skype‘s ownership was speculated to be transferred to either Microsoft or Google. Difficulty in finding a long-term solution to increase growth in its core market during a global economic slowdown would eventually leads to a dramatic erosion of eBay‘s core customer base and the company also faces deficiency of innovative capabilities. 3) Incompetency of CEO John Donahoe‘s management capability has been judged as ‗a miserable debacle that is getting worst day by day‘ by one of his employees. A website that allows employees to rate their CEO fell to 22%. Apparently, not even 1 in 3 eBay employees is happy with Donahoe‘s position in eBay as they have doubts on his
This report seeks to evaluate the major issue facing eBay with regards to its international strategy. This will be done through the analysis of eBay’s competitive environment using the Porter’s 5 forces and positioning in the industry using the BCG portfolio matrix. Following which, we will proceed to identify the sustainable competitive advantages of eBay using the resource-based view of the firm. The core competence of eBay will also be discussed. Through an overview of the above mentioned analyses, we will propose recommendations to address the problem faced by eBay.
The website eBay is the perfect shopping destination for people who don’t like to leave the comfort of their comfy couch, and for people who enjoy taking advantage of some awesome deals! No matter how big of an online shopping fanatic you consider yourself to be, there is still so much that most people don’t know about this intriguing shopping destination. To find out all that there is to know, all you have to do is explore our article- still from the comfort of your comfy couch! Don’t forget to check back soon for our part two article, where we reveal the top eight lesser-known tricks about eBay!
eBay was founded in 1995 and gained the first mover advantage establishing itself as the first major online auction site. The firm started out offering its' services as an intermediary, facilitating the auction of goods by providing a common platform to be used by buyers and sellers. Today the firm has evolved significantly, operating across the globe with more than 97 million different active users registered (eBay, 2012). In total, the organization facilitates the sale of more than US $2,000 every second of every day (eBay, 2012). The growth of the auction service has died classified the development as well as acquisition strategies to provide services and products that complement the core operations. For example, the acquisition of PayPal, the online payment provider has complimented the ability for consumers to pay for goods
In this paper, we focus on an online business expansion plan for eBay, Inc., an online marketplace for the sale of good and services. The company operates its core business via three market segments; Marketplaces,GSI Commerce Inc. and Payments. The analysis and recommendation is done with a consideration of the viability of the business and the online expansion, the current online competitors, Online Marketing Suggestion and Strategies as well as search engine optimization strategies.
Alcohol and Tobacco damages the body , but marijuana helps? Marijuana should be legal in all 50 states for both Recreational and medical purposes. Marijuana isn’t legal everywhere in the U.S. , which is why it’s a huge political debate. First, can’t die from it , unlike any harmful drug. Second, it helps/ cures diseases. Lastly, it’s already legal in nine states.
eBay’s competitive strategy is to provide an online auction platform, which, without holding inventory or providing after sale services, connects buyers and sellers in the sale of “collectibles” and unique products and not just commodities. eBay is asset light and by holding no inventory, it has the competitive advantage of being able to scale fast and enter new markets with little capital expenditure. Since eBay is primarily known for its auction services (as opposed to its “Buy-it-now” feature, which is also available), buyers gravitate towards eBay in order to be able to negotiate in a dynamic pricing system. eBay establishes its customer base from a consumer’s desire to make a steal on purchases that they would not find on other websites where goods are offered at a fixed price. This works very well specifically in a lot of the collectible transactions as it is inherently implied that negotiation will be a part of the buying and selling process. In the after sale services realm, the fact that eBay clearly does not get involved shows the strategic thought behind not wanting to get involved in the seller’s end of the transaction. This implies that eBay ends up saving a lot of capital because of not having to come up with shipping and warehousing of goods. eBay’s strategy is coherent because all competitive strategic decisions are heavily based on the online bidding model of providing a platform that
We all say that America stands for freedom and equality, but how about the discrimination against LGBTs trying to join the military? If there are qualified volunteers, we should accept them willingly. The amount of money that is spent is a very small portion of the annual amount of money that is used. The U.S should be worrying about North Korea, Syria, and ISIS, not locker rooms, reassignment surgeries, and restrooms. LGBT soldiers should be allowed to join the military and be open about their sexuality.
During the starting years of eBay, Pierre Omidyar adopted a very simple approach into selling, which is, “there is always a market for any product that you are selling, the only challenge is in finding that right target market.”
Amazon and Ebay are two well-known brands of online shopping sites. They have evolved and grown from small firms to the giants of e-commerce today. In this essay, a comparison would be made between the two firms.
There have been some negative effects on the economy due to the emergence of e-commerce. It is assumed that the availability of goods online should increase competition but this does not always occur. Reputable companies who have majority control over their industry can sometimes maintain high prices. Further, the Internet allows companies to obtain pricing information from their competitors companies easily and allows them to react immediately to external changes. Company monitoring can also work against consumers. Since other companies can quickly change their price, the original company would not make any extra revenue from increased sales (LaRose, R.,2000). There is also the issue of product differentiation. Increased competition due to ecommerce allows companies to better create products especially for a certain target audience. This makes it difficult for consumers to compare products and lessens the competition and keep prices high.