eBay Is Going In The Right Direction Slowly
eBay released earnings, and in doing so, Jamie Iannone had his first chance to reveal his vision for eBay.
I came away encouraged at the direction. The big question mark in my mind - where will the execution and talent come from?
A few focus areas to call out:
Increasing the pace of technology innovation. eBay is woefully behind the times in many areas on its site, and its speed is frankly too slow.
Focus on enthusiasts. The eBay "core" seller is also a huge buyer.
Focus on small and growing businesses, with less of a focus on big sellers. FINALLY. A seller market focus.
Focus on items that are not new or not in-season merchandise. FINALLY. A merchandise focus.
Focus on vertical-specific experiences. eBay should take its Motors experience and apply that thinking to other categories. Motors has long been a powerhouse for the company.
I applaud Jamie for making the following admissions also:
eBay has neglected its core area of expertise,
They didn't adapt quickly enough with the times to market changes.
Again, back to talent and execution. eBay needs a massive talent infusion and reorganization. And it needs to strip its "endless Powerpoint culture" entirely out of the picture. A big question is if eBay is able to attract back all of its good employees that left for Facebook, Walmart, and other places in eCommerce. Brian Eddy said it well - “Culture trumps strategy. Let's see if he can be the change agent needed. Companies are no longer competing against other companies, they are competing against speed.”
As for execution, there’s some support in the field for getting “back to basics” - or zeroing in on what made eBay great to begin with. From Joe Cortese: “Glad to see the essential conversation regarding eBay's untapped potential is finally emerging in proper context. It's been there all along…the resource is right there at eBay's fingertips. Always has been. To finally leverage it is to recapture the incredible market dominance eBay had in collectibles and grey markets as the pioneer first mover.”
There were some big claims they have heard before, but I’m cautiously optimistic. It will help if they stop focusing on so many items that are not strategically important, and zoom in on merchandise focus, seller market focus, and vertical-specific experiences.
