The two online retailer juggernauts duke it out in this E-business analysis of eBay .vs. Amazon. Dug up from coursework back in 2007...
- 1. eBay.vs.Amazon Analysis of two first-movers that lasted, in
the E-commerce space Student: Bryan Copeland Student ID: 053171c
Submitted to: Wakayama-sensei
2. eBay 3. Summary
- Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995
- His wife needed a better way to lookup and trade collectibles;
decided to put his computer science skills to use, never thought it
would lead to a multi-billion dollar E-Commerce company
- Auction-based online sales of products (and sometimes services)
where users try to outbid one another by placing a higher maximum
amount; Dutch and Reverse-auction style also recently available in
some regions
- Transaction fees for listing (regardless of whether item sells
or not) and additional fees for Premium Auction features (i.e.
extra photos, BuyItNow, Feature It!, etc) or Premium Seller
memberships
4. History 15.13 Acquired PayPal Jul 2002 12.708 Global
expansion to over 2 dozen countries 2000-2006 49.500 Acquired Skype
2005 20.833 Withdrew from Japanese market & Hong Kong(where
Yahoo! Auctions/Shopping had head start) Feb 2002 1.871 CEO Meg
Whitman (July); IPO 1998 25.016 Alliance with AOL 1999 Founded by
Pierre Omidyar 1995 Menl Park, Calif (VC)22% stock acquisition 1997
Stock ($) Event Date 5. Products & Services
- eBay started out sellingCollectiblesandAntiques
- Has since grown to include incredibly diverse categories of
items:
6. eBay: Target Segments
- Primary target markets areOnline Auction & Shopping
communities .
- eBay has business strategies to target specific segments of
each.
- Key segment isAntiques & Collectibles.
- (It was the lack of a good community-based pet collectibles
company that inspired Pierre Omidyar to develop eBay. Collectibles
still among highest in gross merchandise sales, boasts by far the
most veteran sellers.)
- Motor lovers:Using credibility of leading car collector Kruse
Inc., eBay expanded its categorical offerings with eBay Motors.eBay
Motors became one of its most successful target segments with
$2,500M Global Gross Merchandise Sales in 2002.
- Art lovers:eBay also had a somewhat failed strategic
partnership targeting Art Collectors directly.
7. eBay (profit sites)
- Internet value network consists of three majorgroups and they
are users, communication service provider and suppliers. Each
subgroup of these three segments are called profit sites. Here we
will focus on eBays profit sites and its implications .
- Market maker : Amarket maker acts as a neutral intermediary
that provides a place to trade and also sets the rules for the
market .Thus, eBay is acting as a electronic auction market and
brings buyers and sellers together to execute transactions through
a win-win strategy. And in this way, eBay is developing new
markets.
- Brokers and agents:to complete transactions, buyers and sellers
depend on some facilitating organizations like, citigroup or
charles Schwab tocomplete transactions. These groups are parts of
eBays profit sites when eBay gets commission from these
organizations for each transaction.
eBay is a market maker Acts as an intermediary Charges
commission Buyers sellers 8. Business Process Seller Account
Creation Listing an Item Reserve Dutch Buy-it Now Regular (Auction
Type) Bids Placed Completinga Sale After-salesService Typically
covered by Seller,using eBays features. No bids Final Value Fee =
5% of the first $25+ 2.5% of remaining amount up to $1,000+ 1.25%
of any portion of sale over $1,000 -eBay sends Outbid Notice if
needed. -Sellers feedback rating dictatesbidder confidence. 9.
Online Auction Industry analysis
- Newspaper cite on the web
- Every music & video retailer
Suppliers Buyers New Entrants Substitutes Porters Five-Force
Framework BargainingPower ofBuyers Threat of Substitutes
BargainingPower ofSuppliers
- Large number of customer for longer period of time
High threats ofnew entrants Auction Universe Yahoo! Excite
Classified 2000 Fewsubstitutes and Low threats because of strong
CRM Since suppliers are large, so threat is low. Threat of New
Entrants 10. eBays Business Model Seller Buyer Internet
propertysales format Network externalitysocial communication
Mediation(forums, buyer/seller ratings) U niversalityRegional sites
Information asymmetryTrust and safety Virtual capacitylarge variety
Low costInnovative(Bid-based auctioning systems) Exchange
Transaction Community platform For global personto person trade
MoreProfit Decreased Costs Win-winsituation Leads Repeat
Transaction 11. Regional sites vs.Network Externality
- eBay created > 24 regional trading sites within countries in
order to facilitate the process of buying and selling items of
local interest.
- This regional focus and network externality are very much
consistent because the larger the network size, the more
opportunity for buyers and sellers to have a better match of their
needs.
- Localization and Internationalization of eBays services should
also help make the site more accessible in a specific region, for
speakers of the native language; thus offering the opportunity to
gain new members at a faster rate
- The only possible downside could be fragmentation and isolation
of the individual networks, so each new regional site must feel
like part of the main eBay network and family
12. eBay API
-
- Get the current list of eBay categories
-
- View information about items listed on eBay
-
- Display eBay listings on other sites
-
- Leave feedback about other users at the conclusion of a
commerce transaction
-
- Submit items for listing on eBay
-
- Get high bidder information for items you are selling
-
- Retrieve lists of items a particular user is currently selling
through eBay
-
- Retrieve lists of items a particular user has bid on
13. Internet Properties///// Transaction-Cost Reducer// Creative
Destroyer//// Low Cost Standard// Infinite Virtual Capacity///
Info. Asymmetry Shrinker//// Time Moderator/// Distribution
Channel// Network Externality///// Universality///// Mediation
Communication Content Community Commerce Coordination 14. Key
Drivers
- The company believes that this critical mass of buyers,
sellers, and items listed for sale created
- a cycle that helped eBay continue to grow its user base. and
one thing is very true for this model is its large
- number of customers stay for longer period of time to complete
transactions.
- In addition to providing a venue for selling items, eBay
provides buyers and sellers a place to socialize, to
- discuss topics of common interest, and to provide feedback on
one another
- 3. Universality On the Internet, amateurs and collectors from
around the world, rather than locations within a reasonable
- driving distance, could bid on items. And eBay is applying that
latitude by connecting both parties.
- the property of time moderation assists eBay a lot by tailoring
time according to customers needs.
- sometimes it enlarges time period of auction according to needs
of a buyer
- 5. Distribution channel and replacement effect:
- eBay uses the traditional distribution channel without any sort
of disintermediation and it is called the
- replacement effect, that means, serving the same customers
using the existing distribution channel.
- 6.Information asymmetry shrinking:
- eBay reduces all sorts of information asymmetry by allowing
sellers to provide all related information to buyers
- to pave the way for successful transaction. So buyers are no
more deprived by short of data .
15. Success Story:Commission Junction
- Partnered with eBay in 2001 as the exclusive Affiliate Network
for eBays affiliate program 1
- Allows partners to revenue-share by creating links to Auctions,
Seller sites and/or eBay pages (such as category listings,
etc)
- eBay in charge of payouts for specific actions (i.e. 9 cent
click-throughs .vs. $13 active user signups .vs. 5% purchases)
- Commission Junction gains an even smaller ratio per eBay payout
to one of its affiliates, but, which adds up over time
- Network externalities for both companies
1 -http://www.cj.com/news/press_releases0102/press_010418.html 2
-http://www.cj.com/news/press_releases0304/press_030918.html 16.
Amazon 17. Summary
- Online retailer of millions of products (books, toys, Cookware
etc..)
- Founded in 1995 by Jeff Bezos, in a computer science and
electrical engineering graduate from Princeton University.
- Vision To build the worlds most customercentric company To
establish a place where customers could buy anything
- Located in Seattle Close to the largest book wholesalers in
Roseburg, Oregon The sales tax rate of small state is cheaper than
big state
- Sites in 6 countries (US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Japan);
ship to > 200 countries
- Percentage of sales responsible majority of revenue
- Financial Status (Year of 2006) Net Sales:$8,49billion Net
Income:$359million Achieve a surplus since the 4 thquarter of
2002
18. History 1
-http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/change.html 54.135
Acquired IMDB, worlds biggest movie database Dec 21, 1998 Founded
then Launched by Jeff Bezos 1994-1995 49.500 Video sales launched
Nov 17, 1998 67.85 (mean) Global growth in key international
markets 1999-2003 12.708 Amazon.com Kids launched Mar 2, 1998 72.29
(6-6-07) Merchant strategy; major corporate partners 2003-2007
20.833 Music sales launched Jun 11, 1998 9.896 Millionth customer
personally receives order from Bezos's hands Oct 28, 1997 8.833
First holiday-gift center opened Nov 18, 1997 3.917 IPO May 15,
1997 9.250 Collaborative Filter recommendations launched Sep 23,
1997 Stock ($) Event Date 19. IndustryCompetitors: Intensity of
Rivalry Supplier s Buyers New Entrants Substitutes Threat of New
Entrants BargainingPower ofBuyers Threat of Substitutes
BargainingPower ofSuppliers Network Externality ( no customer base
) Low Cost Standard + Universality + Distribution Channel +
Transaction Cost Reducer + Mediation ( no social platform ) Network
Externality + ( many customers) Mediation + ( reviews/community
platform ) Distribution Channel - (replacement) Info Asymmetry
Shrinker + Low cost + Transaction Cost Reducer ( wholesale/retail )
Universality ( regional focus ) Distribution Channel + Distribution
Channel ( No control over channel ) Info Asymmetry Shrinker + (
reduces asymmetry, so no manipulation over data ) Universality + (
existing suppliers ) Network Externality + ( large customer base )
Mediation+, ( no social platform for sellers; great platform for
buyers ) Universality Online Retail Industry analysis 20.
Evolution: From Retailer to Retail Platform 21. Sales Format B S
-Communication (Reviews) -Low Cost -Large Variety -Distribution
-Trust & Safety (seller ratings) Sales Format Transaction
Product from Catalogue Userchoice Locate Sellers Store 1 Store 2
Store n MerchantStorefronts 22. Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Amazon E-Commerce Service
-
- Search catalog, retrieve product information, images and
customer reviews
-
- Retrieve wish list, wedding registry
- Alexa Web Information Service
-
- Retrieve information such as page rank, related sites given a
target URL
- Amazon Simple Queue Service
-
- A distributed resource manager to store web services
results
23. 5 Benefits of AWS
- Reliable/Redundant/Secure
- Most services accessed via simpleREST/SOAP API
- Superior Technical Support (Experience & Commitment)
24. S3 in a Nutshell Client Idea: Put/Get objects into buckets
based on unique keys.
- Support for large objects.
Amazon S3 Bucket1 Bucket N Putobject Getobject 25. Value
Configuration Diagram :_________ Strong CRM 1-Click Shopping
Convenience Low Costs Diversification Partnering Network
Externality Brand Image Product ReviewInformation Customer Base
Fixed Merchants ProductRecommendations Cross-selling Distributed
Web Services Money-backGuarantee Email Marketing Loyalty
&Advocacy Merchant Advantage :Automatic Re-Ordering, etc
Associates Program Association RepeatPurchases Positioning: Online
Shopping Order Fulfillment (Buyer) (Seller) 26. Business
Process
- The Amazon Business Process is built around three main
operation:
- Browsing:User looks for books available at Amazon(searched,
recommended, or browsed by category)
- Manage Account : check content of user shopping cart, stock of
sellers, add and remove products
- Shop : First browse to find product(s), place in the shopping
basket, then complete a purchase(payment/delivery)
Process Model for Amazon.com Browse Manage Account
Shop=Browse+Manage Account 27. Internet Properties/////
Transaction-Cost Reducer/// Creative Destroyer//// Low Cost
Standard//// Infinite Virtual Capacity//// Info. Asymmetry
Shrinker//// Time Moderator/// Distribution Channel/// Network
Externality///// Universality///// Mediation Communication Content
Community Commerce Coordination 28. First-Mover Success
- First to move booking retailing online (1994 Jeff Bezos)
- Brand recognized worldwide, most visited site in USA
(2000)
-
- Expensive inventory brick and mortar warehousing not required
Require WEB to interface with customers and take their orders
- ContinuousRapid innovation
-
- one-click, search facilities, collaborative filtering,
affiliate programs (250,000 partners in 2000), order tracking
mechanisms
- Established strong brand presence created psychological
switching costs in consumers (collaborate filtering, privacy
policies, builds trust)
- Pillars (quality of service, value for money, trust
worthiness)
- WEB site easy to use, easy to find, and fast
29. Key Drivers
- 1. Low cost platform for transaction:
- The Internet is certainly a lower cost platform for any
transaction, communication or negotiation than any other electronic
media. Amazon is using this platform successfully to bring buyers
and sellers together for transactions, and doing so not by charging
an upfront listing or transaction fee, but by charging a percentage
of each sales, which in the long-run could be a much larger pie and
better approach for Amazon on volume; on the short-term to
merchants it appears to be a win-win situation as well as
cumulative listing fees can even become prohibitively expensive in
some cases.
- 2.Transaction cost reducer:
- The Internet is reducing costs of commercial transactions
dramatically by matching the right buyers to the right suppliers,
for the right product at the right time. Just-in-time (JIT) theory
which dominated the late 80s and early 90s, is taken to the
extereme in Amzons business model. In this model, sellers can learn
about buyers financial standing, review history and other
characteristics of a good customer. Likewise buyers can learn about
suppliers reputations, product features, and prices.
- 3. Infinite virtual capacity:
- Internet infrastructure gives customers the feeling that it has
infinite virtual capacity to serve them. Amazon is taking advantage
of their distributed infrastructure through AWS and by bringing a
large no. of sellers with large no. of products for transaction.
Buyers are confident that just about anything they want must be
available on Amazon, and most importantly, the quality and
authenticity will be more reliable than eBay.
- The Internet is transforming the traditional retailing
distribution structure; business is now conducted by Amazon to
remove the middleman of the brick-and-mortar storefront, playing a
role as a creative destroyer. Amazon is paving the way for the
digital storefront, which is much more affordable and accessible
(does not require large amounts of capital to startup). In this
way, it is both a creator and a destroyer, but certainly in terms
of the traditonal system it is a creative destroyer.
30. Success Story : Toys-R-Us
- 1999 Christmas on-line orders flushed into newly establishe
ToysRus.com
- Announced a joint-venture with Amazon for online sales in
2000
- Used AWS and Amazon site itself for Web operations, order
fulfillment, & customer service
- Toys-R-uscontrols buying and managing inventory
31. Success Story (cont)
- 65 million and growing number of visitors every year
- Number one site in its category
- Explosive growth in sales reaching $300 million
- Posted profit for the fourth quarter of 2002
32. Side-by-Side
-
- Superior revenue-sharing plan with Affiliate program
-
- Enables big and small sellers/affiliates to earn at roughly the
same rate
- Transaction fee structure
-
- Superior technology through AWS, EC2, S3 & catalogue
-
- Tends to prefer big-name brands and retailers with strong
distribution chains
- Percentage of sales structure
33. Conclusion
- Based on my analysis eBay should not put additional resources
towards B2C market, due to saturated market and competitors near
stranglehold on market share
- Should instead surprise competitors like Amazon with a strong
B2B initiative or campaign (i.e. introducing a new comparison
shopping service for wholesalers)
- Reinforcing their C2C presence through continued rewards to
their loyal seller/buyer base to maintain dominance there would
also be a wise strategy, after-all in C2C eventually incentives are
needed as parties can communicate offline
- Amazon should invest whatever resources necessary to maintain
hold of B2C market by continuing to compete on price, convenience
& reliability of vendors and continue to bring in new
brand-name retailers
- Should reward smaller users as the longtail works for network
membership as well(strength in #s, not just big enterprise
retailers, because if they leave, sales/catalogue can shrink
overnight)
- Better position than eBay right now for long-term B2B strategy
with AWS, should try new programs(i.e. seller-exchanges, etc)