Can you believe eBay is older than me! First launched in 1995 as ‘Auction Web’ and having no visitors or views in the first 24 hours. 2 years later the name ‘Auction Web’ changed to eBay. In 2009, eBay had attracted 90 million active buyers and 9 years later there are now 168 million buyers active on eBay right now!

But we may ask ourselves how eBay has evolved its brand proposition over the years and still continued to achieve massive growth in active buyers and as a business.

Now I LOVE online shopping and who doesn’t like a good bargain? However, when it comes to online shopping I am always so hesitant with purchasing products from other sellers who have the power to post anything & sell anything through big e-commerce sites like eBay.

 ‘Trust and Safety Programs’ eBay have developed to reassure customers (like myself) from fraud incidents.

eBay feedback and ratings forum has allowed sellers and buyers to provide feedback, compliments and even criticism by users who have dealt business with other users.

See that gold medal in the image – Top rated seller was introduced in 2010 to increase this trust for sellers and buyers.

eBay has partnered with others to increase trust value. Safe harbour data protection method and standard protection system have allowed customers to become more reliant and trusting.

eBay continues to grow and develop their brand with ongoing development of other sites and creating vertical formats. Staying ahead of their competitors by attracting both buyers and sellers, customer service, brand recognition and volume of transactions and price selection.

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REFERENCES

Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2016). Digital Marketing. 6th ed. United Kingdom: Pearson, p.11.

eBay. (2019). Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles, Coupons and More | eBay. [online] Available at: https://www.ebay.com.au/ [Accessed 14 Aug. 2019].

Guta, M. (2018). There Are 168 Million Active Buyers on eBay Right Now – Small Business Trends. [online] Small Business Trends. Available at: https://smallbiztrends.com/2018/03/ebay-statistics-march-2018.html [Accessed 14 Aug. 2019].

Lovett, M.J. and Staelin, R., 2016. The role of paid, earned, and owned media in building entertainment brands: Reminding, informing, and enhancing enjoyment. Marketing Science, 35(1), pp.142-157. Twin, A. (2019). Everything Marketing Entails. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing.asp [Accessed 14 Aug. 2019].