Shop The World, our new global brand campaign, is coming to a screen – be it TV, tablet or mobile – near you soon.
The campaign makes a bold claim: that any moment of inspiration can be instantly shopped for on eBay. You might be inspired by a rock concert, street artist, classic film or a marathon. Whatever you see that makes you think “I must have that”, eBay will stock it and you can buy it anywhere, anytime.
Why are we placing our chips on inspiration this Christmas? Simply put, we want to acknowledge the many different ways in which customers now browse and buy. Many of our shoppers are on a mission. They might be coming to us to quickly replace a lightbulb or purchase a replacement phone charger, but many others are looking for inspiration and fun. They want to take the time to browse, which is the reason why creating exciting, browse-based shopping experiences is a strategic focus at eBay. It’s these shoppers we are targeting with the Shop The World campaign.
Being in a position to tell shoppers they can buy absolutely anything they want, whenever they want, requires a good deal of hard work behind the scenes. Depth of inventory is hugely important, but it’s not the whole story. Selection and service have to go hand in hand to meet the expectations of today’s shoppers.
Here’s a rundown of the perspiration that sits behind our inspiration campaign:
• Providing unrivalled selection: our community of sellers and more than 800m listings gives eBay one of the most extensive and interesting product catalogues in the world. Here in the UK, more than 140 brands and retailers – from fashion and homeware to toys and electricals – are now using eBay as part of their omni-channel strategy to reach the UK’s largest online shopping audience.
• Constantly looking to further improve functionality: we’re always listening to our users, from running surveys to hosting trials in our labs that examine the impact of any changes we make to the site, however small. The result is increased app downloads and interactions. Our apps have been downloaded more than 240m times globally and in the UK, we’re seeing an item bought every second via the eBay app.
• Helping shoppers become inspired: October marks 12 months since we introduced a new site experience on eBay, which allows the user to find and follow collections of items. It’s designed to enable our users to customise and personalise their homepages so they can enjoy more inspired, browse-based shopping.
• Making life easier for our shoppers: when it comes to pick up, click-and-collect has become a staple of UK retail and we are delighted to be extending our partnership with Argos to encompass 65,000 eBay sellers, 8m listings and 650 Argos stores. On returns, we recognise they are inevitable for retailers, especially when it comes to gifting. That’s why this year eBay sellers can offer their customers an extended Christmas returns policy.
Sarah Calcott is senior director of operations at eBay
This advertisement feature is provided by eBay, sponsors of the Guardian Media Network’s Technology in retail hub
