E-Bay Case Study
The Customer Learning Cycle Never Ends For Your Brand
In a recent issue of Fast Company Magazine, I was surprised to see a feature on the once-King of auction websites, eBay. Why? Because eBay’s days seem to have come and gone, and while they’re still an amazingly profitable company despite a big-time low in 2009, the limelight has been off eBay for some time.
So, when I saw that they were being featured in Fast Company, I knew something was brewing.
eBay is rethinking the way they promote their service. They’re paying attention to the type of people who are using their service – not just what they intend the service to be used for. This is huge! You have to pay attention to your customers, followers, and brand. While your average eBay-er peruses auctions only when they need something, their marketing team has decided that isn’t good enough.
“We wanted to attract people who care about style trends,” says Mark Carges, eBay’s CTO, “so we built an experience around them.“
They know that their services are used mainly to sell clothing – both new and used. Because of that knowledge, they expanded to embrace a new “eBay Fashion” program and service with the appearance of a regular online clothing shop. Users can search by size, color, garment… This is all part of a plan ignited by a key idea:
Steve Yankovich, eBay’s VP of mobile platforms says, “We want consumers to engage when they don’t have a purchase in mind.“
They’ve released a mobile application for users to share “personal closets” with their friends, using products currently being sold on eBay. Creating a way to use eBay without thinking “I’m shopping!” will likely soar eBay’s popularity (and profit) to new heights.
What can you learn from your followers and customers? This is a perfect example of how the learning curve never stops when it comes to your brand and your target niche.
