eBay Still Missing a Decent Plan
I told myself I wouldn't write about #eBay again, but here I am. Here's what I think is going on.
1 - Jamie (since the beginning) has decided to "let eBay be eBay". Don't worry about the shiny object (i.e. chasing Amazon and supply chain - managed delivery anyone? Bueller?)
2 - Instead, focus on what made eBay good. Collectibles, Off-Price, Refurbished, etc.
3 - Doesn't it strike you that eBay is lacking some sort of digital wallet for its collectibles customers? What demographic are they building towards?
4 - The core buyer experience while a tad better on mobile, is still very poor overall. I think the argument has traditionally been "well Amazon's site doesn't look much better" is not working when you look at a similar experience on, say, StockX.
5 - What am I not seeing? Any "big swings" that are necessary to move the company beyond creeping incremental improvement. What does eBay mean in 5 years beyond incremental changes to rectify mistakes of things that should have been done 10 years ago?
My sense is the current management team is a little bit humble after watching the huge swings and misses in the past 10 years, chasing the wrong things and trying to redefine what eBay means.
But avoiding big misses isn't a strategy, it's just a recipe for being passed by a smart competitor with a point of view.
Which consumers & demographics are most important? Why? Where is retail and Commerce headed and what is eBay's role in it? What key trends is eBay investing behind? The categories they are investing in are clear and have been reinforced, but the story, direction and "why" is still missing or weak.
"Tech-led reimagination" doesn't tell us anything of those things. It just says they have a 20 year old neglected infrastructure.
