Why can’t the big guys get it right?
I read an interesting post on the e-Consultancy blog this afternoon, entitled “Big brands not doing the business on eBay“.
It focussed on five well-known UK brands that have tried to crack eBay but seem to have fallen short.
- Orange (mobile phones)
- 3 (mobile phones)
- Vodafone (mobile phones)
- B&Q (hardware)
- Robert Dyas (homewares)
Trevor Ginn, from Auctioning4U, suggests that lack of automation software is a possible reason for the lack of success
“One issue is that a lot of companies don’t use any decent automation software, which makes it a lot easier to list in bulk. Robert Dyas is a good example of this.”
“The sales are run by one person who has not got the time to load a decent number of Robert Dyas’ 2000 odd SKUs. Subsequently, you get very limited use of the eBay channel.”
Whilst Trevor is certainly right to point out that automated management software can certainly reduce the headcount required to manage a successful eBay business, the real problem in many cases is a poor overall business strategy. If your strategy is not good, then automation software will simply help you execute a poor strategy more easily - which is not a recipe for long-term success!
Over the last six years, ChannelAdvisor has helped many well-known brands develop and execute robust eBay strategies and develop a sustainable extra channel to market. In the UK our clients include such well-known brands as Schuh, Creative Labs and Hewlett Packard. Our experienced account managers have these companies refine their strategies and improve their overall results on eBay.co.uk, enabling them to transact hundreds of thousands of pounds each and every month on eBay UK.
Our experiences have taught us that, at the end of the day, success on eBay is not guaranteed. Like any online channel there are constant challenges to address, new competitors to navigate and channel nuances to learn and adapt to. It takes a lot of experience to execute a sustainable strategy and software alone is not enough to guarantee success.
That’s why ChannelAdvisor works with each and every one of our clients to hone in on a winning strategy - and once we’ve done this, our world class software picks it up and runs with it!
July 4th, 2007 at 8:28 am
It seems to me that this discussion is missing a fundamental truth, and one which all British business suffers from - not just the drop-shop/eBayers. You can have the best multiple-item, speed listing, automatic uploading software in the world, whether home designed (Auctioning4u) or commercial (Channeladvisor) but if you don’t train your(or are unwilling to pay the higher rate for qualified)staff, you are already starting to fail.
When I was at Auctioning4u, the ‘Listers’ were constantly castigated for failing to list the 40 items per day one of our German rivals was claiming. We got the average from around 12 to around 20 while I was still there, yet since leaving, and putting myself through level one of the European driving licence in computing, I can now list 30/50 items a day without any enhancement software.
In other words it’s all about training. The business models are all problematical, Isoldit, took money from people who had it, but - if other blogs are to be believed - then allegedly failed to deliver the support required (I notice A4U have a ‘don’t bring your Isoldit problems to us’ disclaimer on the same webpage explaining how they’ve taken over!). A cynic (such as an ex-employee for instance…) might go on to suggest that A4U’s own model consists of buying crippled rivals in order to give the investors a suggested veneer of growth. It’s clear that an ‘increse of x% per month’ is not the same
July 4th, 2007 at 8:38 am
- in terms of success - as turnover, as it would be if it were actual profit.
I believe the only way for eBay drop-shops to work -in the long term - as a business model is with small operators using a single shop, without the haemorrhage of paying fees to a franchiser, or suffering the overheads of multiple staff, or real-estate infrastructure
You can of course , keep cost’s down by employing people unlikely to fight for their statutory befits, but that’s another story…
and I would say that wouldn’t I!