Catalyst US: What to Expect from eBay in 2016

While ChannelAdvisor‘s Catalyst Connect conference is just a week away on the 20th April in London, the Catalyst Americas conference is in full swing in Las Vegas.

Jodi Gaines Pereira, co-founder of ReplyManager which was acquired by XSellco early in 2015, is at Catalyst US and exclusively reporting back on some of the sessions for Tamebay, perhaps a preview of what to expect at Catalyst Connect in London next week:
 

What to Expect from eBay in 2016

eBay today has more than 162M buyers and is listed as the 32nd top global company. They’ve raised more than $650M USD through eBay for Charity and boasts more than 800M listings worldwide. 63% of these listings offer free shipping. 85% of the merchandise is fixed pricing and 50% of that merchandise arrives within 3 days. They are truly a global company selling in over 200 markets with tens of millions of sellers.

It’s been a while since eBay has been on the stage sharing data like this. During ChannelAdvisor Catalyst, Hal Lawton, SVP eBay North America, also presented four key areas where sellers can expect change in the coming months.

Focus on Brand Development

eBay is implementing plans to better execute seasonal marketing to drive relevant content by focusing more on social channels and investing in digital media. They are currently on 14 different social platforms and are integrating notifications into Facebook Messaging. They also announced that next week television advertising would begin in US markets.

More Diverse Product Catalog

eBay is aggregating listings to better leverage the catalog data for things like Google shopping and aggressively rolling out eBay product listings to drive conversions. The data will also be used to create a better listing experience with pre-populated forms.

Updated Browser Experience

eBay is re-launching their user interface to provide a more relevant and user-friendly experience, especially with mobile.

Improved the Seller Platform

2016 will see a big push for an improved seller hub and updated API’s, which they admit has been slow to develop and release in the past.

• In April 2016, eBay.com will be providing a higher level of service for anchor stores, giving them direct access to customer service.
• In the Summer of 2016, a new Seller Hub will be launched to help improve listing and order management with additional access to growth and performance suggestions.
• In the Fall of 2016, eBay will turn their focus to establishing an API-first mentality with the launch of a new suite of API’s, including marketing, end-to-end returns, a promotions manager and more.