When eBay makes changes to their website, a large number of users speak out. As eBay considers making changes in their search tools, they have decided to incorporate their customers and buyers by using a separate website called Garden by eBay. Here they can customize, critique and change their preferences and the search options. They hope to provide a better retail experience while slashing search result quantities. The old search function by eBay was very outdated and required that you pass over either hundreds of search results or a handful of different pages until you find what you are interested in. That way, they are able to provide the customer with accurate results in a format that they are comfortable with. With the large amount of inventory that eBay has on its website, it is important that customers find what they are looking for. By setting up Garden by eBay, eBay will have a better idea of what are more popular and practical search preferences while eliminating less useful ones.
EBay recognizes the importance of customer relations in this article. Information such as a photograph, price, and product descriptions are all highlighted and are presented in a cleaner fashion. Making sure that the customer is able to get to the desired product is vital for eBay’s success. The fewer pages that it takes for the customer to make it to their final site greatly improve the chances of a final sale. By establishing Garden, eBay makes their first move to hear what their customers would prefer.
It is a good idea for eBay to make Garden because not only does it help their bottom line, they also become a more user friendly web site. Reaching out and listening to what users have to say is a big step for eBay. They are trying to make sure that everyone is happy. If the customers are given the power to influence the overall product, a stronger online community has been built. The use of technology to improve communications between eBay and their users will result in better flow of information. They will finally construct an effective search engine that will improve the ability of users to find what they are looking for by establishing the new website Garden by eBay.
I think this is a phenomenal idea by eBay. I am an eBay user, predominately for selling but occasionally making purchases as well and I can not agree more with the need for a more effective search application for the website. Item titles tend to be the most common search tool, you type in a product name and every product for sale that has that name in its item title comes up. This seems like an efficient way of conducting the search, however, for example if you are searching for a 1968 Pontiac GTO rear passenger seat, you are going to get a lot of unwanted additional Pontiac parts as well. I'm not knocking eBay's search tools, I think they have done a good job with what they have and make a strong attempt to refine the searches as much as possible, but there is definitely room for improvement.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great move by Ebay to better the efficiency of their search engines to increase customer satisfaction. The company of Ebay lives on the internet, so it is vital that they stay ahead of the competition and always offer the best IT. Before their new search engine, Ebay users would get frustrated clicking through all the pages of results which ended up in lost sales for Ebay. Now with their updated search engine, Garden, users can find exactly what their looking for in less time. This is a great move by Ebay because customer satisfaction is probably their most important primary activity. With their new search engines, Ebay will able to capitalize on more sales and increase customer relations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dylan and Adam, in that this move by EBay is an excellent idea that should turn out to be most beneficial for the company. As we learned in Erick’s presentation, Me the media- “The Rise of the Conversation Society”, today’s society marketing and selling is very personal as the individual has become the “hyperego generation.” Our new generation, with the use of technology has more power in controlling the ways in which companies market towards them. By giving the consumer the ability to control, in some aspects, the visual presentation of EBay, they are giving their customers a sense of hominess. This allows EBay to establish a personal relationship with their customers, while helping the customers navigate through their website more easily. Personally I am not a huge EBay user, as I end up on their website every now and then but have never purchased anything. I believe that allowing their customers to personalize their EBay, will help establish relationships resulting in greater profits.
ReplyDelete