eBay is perhaps the single most influential company to lay the groundwork for the modern era of online commerce. eBay allows people to shop for and sell anything from books to an used car, the great thing about eBay is that it also allows customers to redeem coupon codes usually found on websites like Raise. Today, eBay has around 80 percent of the $200-billion dollar annual online-sales market, and is worth over $50 billion dollars, making it the second largest company in the world. eBay isn’t just big; it’s also smart, as the company has taken advantage of trends like ecommerce, the rise of mobile, and the internet’s ability to bring big products to small buyers all in the last few years. That’s why it’s been such a force to be reckoned with in the online marketplace.
Last month, eBay announced a new ecommerce strategy called Smart Post, where it will focus more on mobile and the internet. CEO John Donahoe explained it this way:
When the business model changes, we do it differently.
The way it is with us is our brand is all about building the eBay experience. If you’re a merchant, it’s really about getting on the eBay platform, and then building a product that is really appealing to people and then using the eBay brand.
He also emphasized the focus on consumer-facing technology. “People are going to get what’s new and what’s great on eBay,” he said.
This is in line with a plan he outlined in his first public speech as CEO in 2013, which was titled “Our Vision and Vision.” He reiterated his belief in eBay as a platform that allows for users to do the right thing and engage with the world.
But some of the changes on display on the floor were less welcome, including the removal of one of the eBay homepage search boxes, which will now be replaced with a search box that will only return results on eBay. The other will return users to the original search bar on eBay.com.