For the past few years eBay have been focusing on verticals where they see massive potential growth opportunity, already Fashion, Tech, and Motors already have customised shopping experiences and now they’re turning their attention to Home & Garden.
As well as a shopping experience tailored for the particular vertical eBay have also concentrated on recruiting retailers in areas where they see holes in the inventory available on the site. eBay UK have now launched eBay Accelerated Growth, a new pilot programme for business sellers in the Home & Garden category.
What does eBay Accelerated Growth offer?
On offer to companies participating in eBay Accelerated Growth is:
- Dedicated assistance in setting up your eBay and PayPal accounts and creating your first listings, plus training in how to get started
- 6 months subscription to an ecommerce management software package
- Ongoing coaching and training in growing your business on eBay.
Special trial pricing - Access to eBay account managers
Through their channel partners eBay will offer a free 6 month subscription to multichannel ecommerce software to facilitate integration between the retailers existing inventory system and eBay, a tailored coaching programme to train staff how to run and grow an eBay business and use the management software, special pricing giving a free eBay Basic shop and no insertion fees for the first three months (final value fees will still be payable, this might sound like a good deal but there are no insertion fees with an Anchor shop anyway so it’s only a value of £350/month), and a dedicated account manager for the duration of the pilot.
Part of the commitment is that participating companies will list all of their inventory suitable for sale on eBay UK. The eBay Accelerated Growth team will now list the first 10 items on on eBay for the company and then assist them to launch the next 100 items, including setting up a listing template and further training on how to use the ecommerce management software.
Business criteria for eBay Accelerated Growth participation
To be invited to join the eBay Accelerated Growth pilot or apply to join the program companies will need to:
- Be located in the UK
- Sell primarily in the Home & Garden category
- Have an annual turnover of at least £2 million and/or currently sell at least £200,000 online
- Have a valid PayPal account
The opportunity for Home & Garden Sellers
According to Forrester Online the Home & Garden category is expected to grow online by 91% by 2016. eBay don’t want to miss out on there share of this growth and just as they have built up the Fashion, Tech and Motors categories Home & Garden is their next target.
The side effects of the eBay Accelerated Growth pilot will be felt by all sellers in the category. Although there may be some additional competition, in reality eBay is big enough that, unless your competing head on with a particular product line against one of the new sellers eBay recruit, a few more retailers on the site probably won’t affect you.
What will make a difference is when the eBay marketing machine kicks in with high profile campaigns to drive traffic and start innovating around a tailored buying experience in the category. If you’re a Home & Garden retailer on eBay look forward to eBay raising the profile of the category both on and off eBay.
