eBay: Overview, Marketing, and Digital Strategy Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of eBay's digital business operations, focusing on its marketing strategies, unique selling points (USP), and competitive landscape. It examines the digital marketing principles employed by eBay, including initiation, iteration, and integration, and details its marketing strategies such as establishing a larger user base, concentrating on local and international trading, creating a strong brand, and broadening the trading platform. The report also discusses the growth engines, both viral and paid, that eBay can leverage to enhance its business performance. Furthermore, it includes the design of a digital marketing campaign for eBay and compares eBay's online and traditional competitors. Finally, the report analyzes a case of an online organization that failed to achieve growth, providing insights into potential pitfalls in digital marketing campaigns. The report concludes with a detailed discussion of the key differences between online and traditional competitors and the advantages/disadvantages they pose to an online organization.

digital business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
Provide a overview of selected online organisation.......................................................................3
Identify the digital marketing principles and Online Organisations marketing strategy.................4
Discuss different “growth engines” which the business could use (both paid and viral), in
relationship with its marketing strategy...........................................................................................6
TASK 2 ................................................................................................................................................7
Design a digital marketing campaign for selected online organisation...........................................7
TASK 3 ................................................................................................................................................8
Question 1: Explain 2 key differences between Online and Traditional (Brick and Mortar)
competitors. What are their advantages/ disadvantages to an Online Organisation?......................8
Question 2: Provide an example of another Online Organisation who failed to achieve growth in
its Online Business using its Digital Marketing Campaign and explain why it failed....................9
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................10
REFERENECES.................................................................................................................................11
Books & Journal:...........................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Internet has always been the integral part of business which expand the market sector at
wider scale. With rise of more businesses in market, use of digitalisation and internet has widen the
scope of organisation. Due to rise of competition, it has become important for everyone to conduct
their business online so to access more new opportunities in market. Main aim of this report is to
understand the importance of digital business in business sector. E bay, a largest corporation of e-
commerce headquartered in U.S. Firm deals in online products and services such as household
appliances, apparels, cosmetics etc. This report comprises of overview of organisation, USP,
comparison with competitors, digital marketing principles and online growth engines to increase
business marketing strategy.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
Provide a overview of selected online organisation
eBay, an American multinational corporation which deals at online marketplace,
headquartered in U.S. It is deals in ample number of products and services such as consumer
electronics, home appliances, cosmetics etc. It is mostly operates its business from online websites
www.ebay.com. The company has expanded their business operations around more than 20
countries including UK. In this website, users can sell and purchase the products as well as services.
Due to their global existence, entity has goodwill in market. Pierre Omidyar is founder & chairman
of eBay. Earlier back in 1997, the domain name was echobay.com which was taken by gold mining
company and then it was renamed by chairman to eBay.com (Kahre, 2017). Firm updates their
websites time to time so that customers or users are able to use their services in most efficient
manner. The corporation generated revenue from online transactions which occur during across the
globe, through advertisements and workshops.
The business of eBay mostly depends upon their digital business & technology. The entity
operates many sites including eBay brand localized in different markets. PayPal is also being
viewed as part of eBay as it secured all transactions on website and users in protected way.
(Trotman, 2017).
Examine the selected Online Organisations Unique Selling Points (USP) and compare to their
market competitors.

USP- It is also known as unique selling points which refers to process by which products,
services or brand is unique from their competitors. It is essential to be aware about the USP of an
organisation so that strategies & tactics are adopted accordingly. Through this, customers get easily
attracted Y& chooses brand over other alternatives of same company. The USP of eBay is that it
deals online auctions and transactions by securing the users details in most secured way. Also,
another one is that pricing list of this company is fixed constant flux. It provides retailers &of next
company UK businesses man to sell their used products at lower prices. This is main reason for
success of a company (Trotman, 2017). This unique selling point of eBay has made company
different from others. As compared to their competitors such as in E bid they have variables wars in
prices which leads to difficult for customer to shop. It is necessary for company to be different
from competitors so that they are able to run their activities in correct way.
Comparison
BASIS E- Bid eBay
USP Their USP is that they do not
charge listings fees for putting
inventory on display.
Their USP is that they charge listing fees for
putting inventory on display & have fixed
price of listing which is more beneficial for
sale and purchase.
Advantages USP Main benefit of this is that there
is high traffic on websites due
to no extra charge of fees.
(Henthorne, 2016).
In this advantage is that customers find it
easy as because there is Good Til Cancelled
in which managed stores automatically.
Disadvantages of
unique selling
price
Drawback is that customers find
it difficult to manage their
stored products.
Limitation is that charges of fixed price &
GTC listings are quite high (Kahre, 2017).
The above table depicts the comparison between USP of eBay with its competitor E bid. So,
it is examined that it is crucial to be be unique from others so that business is carried out in correct
way. Furthermore, when competition is high in market it become necessary to access more
customers at larger scale. Thus, comparison between unique selling price of both the companies
shows that they are different from each other and have heterogeneous form of ways to do business
in market. The chosen firm is unique because of their idea of selling products or say used products
in auctioned at their websites (Trotman, 2017).

Identify the digital marketing principles and Online Organisations marketing strategy
Digital marketing is the most hub concept of business now a days. With changing period
of time, all firms have gone to digitalise. Digital marinating refers to way or process of access or
reaching to consumers by use of social or digital channels. In this competitive era, most of the
companies are doing their business through use of digital marketing. In reference with eBay, they
are online businesses platform organisation which have been a achieving success globally. Also,
they have been using marketing strategy for their business in with changing period of time.
Strategies are needed to be adopted so that all resources, manpower, ideas are use in most efficient
manner. Thus, type of digital marketing principles focused by eBay are mentioned below-
Initiate-
It is being considered a first principle of digital marketing in which it states that customers
are base of business without which products or services cannot be traded. It is important to make
assure about customers of a company so that analysis is done properly. So, eBay use this principle
in business because by focusing on this they are able to identify & analyse their customers who are
potential (Kurnianti, 2019). Users are given more importance by them because sales as well as
purchase is done by them only, they keep their priority level high.
Iterate-
It is another principle which is used by eBay in their digital marketing in which it reflects
that though this it is possible to analyse & emphasis on customers activity which assist in improving
the effectiveness of digital marketing campaign. By examining behaviour of customers regularly, it
is easy to make decisions regarding strategy.
Integrate-
Then at last one is integrate in which it states and focuses on making/ using of all digital
channels to achieve a better outcome. By integrating all channels, it is easy to use marketing
strategies in effective manner. It might involve online or offline marketing or both depending upon
firm requirements. For example- eBay uses mostly online marketing to boost their business
activities (Trotman, 2017).
Online organisation marketing strategy-
Marketing strategy is essential part of enterprise which is needed to be used to improve the
business practices & growth in market. Marketing strategy of business are different & are used
accordingly depending upon basis of a company. These are defined as set of actions used to achieve
objectives within a period of time. Due to rise of competition, it has become important for

organisations to choose tactics & strategies so that correct ways are adopted for doing business.
The marketing strategies of business is different from offline as compared with online. I
In relevance with chosen company, they focuses on many strategies which are discussed below-
Establishing a larger user base-
It is first strategy in which eBay focuses on attracting of more new users at larger scale. To
effectively use this, eBay build a strong relationship between various 60 websites even including
American online which assist company a larger base to run their activities & operations. This
marketing strategy help entity to strengthen their overall organisational structure in proper manner.
Through mode of ding business online, company build strong connections at wider scale.
Concentration on local & international trading-
In context of eBay, they have large number of local websites across the globe through
which they were able to access all new opportunities & customers. They have successfully built a
true global presence of entity amongst the users more than din 150 countries (Henthorne, 2016).
With this strategy, it is easier for them top be aware about market change, customers needs at all
aspects. As they focuses on both local and international trading, it is easier for them to make
decisions regarding their business. Also, customers find it easy to use products & services without
facing any inconvenience.
Creating a strong brand-
In this, main purpose is to develop the recognition of a brand and make it strong globally.
By focusing on this strategy, enterprise is known to every individual and mostly because of their
online way of doing business. In market, those companies are more often prefer who have strong
brand and value in a specific region. In relation with eBay, they too uses this strategy to improve
their profit & sales ratio at larger context. By creating a strong brand firm is able to raise funds for
their business which is beneficial in future a part.
Broadening trading platform
This strategy is used by eBay to widen and broaden the trading platform of company via
online tools. The auctions are held online & which makes it compulsory for enterprise to enhance
their use of trading platform worldwide so that users are aware about these things. With this
strategy, company enhance use of their services, products & platform at global level. It is difficult
to broaden the trading platform because it is time consuming process. But it more effective step to
increase the business expansion at wider scale (Kurnianti, 2019).

Discuss different “growth engines” which the business could use (both paid and viral), in
relationship with its marketing strategy.
Growth & development is crucial to be focused by every entity so that market strategies are
used accordingly. Both viral and paid engines are beneficial for enhances working efficiency of
company. So, eBay can use many growth engines for development of their business which is
discussed below-
Viral engines-
These are those engines in which less amount of money is spend on promotion as well as
advertising. These growth engines includes of different types such as inherent, artificial, and word
of mouth. In relevance with eBay, they uses this engines as it help them to promote their brand
when there is need of urgency with less amount (Kingsnorth, 2019).
Paid engines-
In this, promotion & advertising of product is done by spending amount of money at larger
scale. This growth engine is mostly used as it help in creating promotion at all aspects of
promotional tools. With this, engine, it is easy and beneficial for entity to enhance their business
recognition in most efficient manner. It is quite expensive approach of promotion but is used at
wider scale.
By focusing on their marketing strategy, they eBay can use these growth engines as it will
help them to carry out them within their business in efficient manner. It is crucial to connect these
growth engines to marketing strategy so that goals are achieved properly.
TASK 2
Design a digital marketing campaign for selected online organisation
Defining business- The first aspect of creating digital marketing campaign is to define a
business criteria and aims in which market analysis, competitors, and objectives are clearly
defined. In this, eBay main defined its business as a online marketplace for doing auctions and
trading.
Choose KPI to measure- In this, after defining goals of campaigns it is crucial to track
progress for performance of campaign. It is important to measure KPI so that goals or objectives
measurement is done properly. These are also known as key performance indicator which help in
tracking tracking performance (Sridhar, 2019).
Budget- Then another important step in campaign is to decide a budget for a business as

eBay is expanding their activities at wider scale they need to prepare a budget for resource
allocation, requirements of assets, distribution strategy etc. Without a budget, it is not possible for
them to implement or initiate a campaign.
Content development- In this step, main focus is on awareness of a product, engagement
of customers at all aspects. In digital marketing campaign, it is necessary to be aware about the
content of a products and services so that it is easy to attract attract customers attraction. So, content
development is crucial to be focused so that reader get interest in reading about company profile
and products portfolio.
Analysis of competitors strategy- Then, it analysis of competitor strategy is needed to be
done so that alternatives are prepared. For example- E Bid is competitor of eBay and they uses Paid
growth engines with diversification strategy. By review of this, eBay can improve their marketing
strategy in innovative way (Goralski, 2017).
Target audience & Measure/ convert traffic- In this, the potential target audience is being
chosen by company. Then, traffic is measured by various approaches such as PPC, SEO, Google
analytics, which are used to measure the landing of traffic on website.
Measure results- At last, results which of undertaken steps are measures so that
effectiveness of digital marketing campaign is known in proper way. It is important to measure
results so that recertification is done accordingly.
TASK 3
Question 1: Explain 2 key differences between Online and Traditional (Brick and Mortar)
competitors. What are their advantages/ disadvantages to an Online Organisation?
BASIS Online competitors
Meaning These are those who used to do business via internet and
websites (Goldman, 2019).
Change The change in online business is rising rapidly with advance of
use of AI.
Impact
Online competitors have big impact on business due to wider use
of technology and change in market trends.
Advantages- Online competitors-
Access to new opportunities- The online competitors are much beneficial as they can

access to new opportunities at global level.
Disadvantage-
Expensive- Another disadvantage is that carrying out activities online is quite expansive
which leads to affecting the organisational structure.
Bricks & Mortar- Advantages-
Does not require technical skills- Main benefit of this is that it does not require any
additional skills to do business such as technical skills is required in online business.
Disadvantages-
Inconvenience in reaching to customers- Main drawback is that it is difficult to access
large number of customers because of less availability of resources (Wollenburg, 2018).
Question 2: Provide an example of another Online Organisation who failed to achieve growth in its
Online Business using its Digital Marketing Campaign and explain why it failed.
E bid failed to achieve growth through using digital marketing campaigns because of their
less use of advanced skills and knowledge in business. Main rationale for failing of their business is
that it was unable to capture or identify the target customers & did not provide them with consistent
any feature. They uses digital marketing campaign but were unable to provide total satisfaction to
customers because of their old techniques and poor management system (Amankwah-Amoah,
2018).

CONCLUSION
After a brief analysis of report, it is seen that digital business sis growing with rapid scale.
SO, discussions have been made about overview of firm, digital marketing principles and strategy,
growth engines and comparison between tradition and online competitors have been discussed
briefly. Also, their impact on online organisation is explained at depth. Thus, it is examined that the
era of competition has broaden thee use of internet.

REFERENECES
Books & Journal:
Kahre, 2017, January. Beyond business-IT alignment-digital business strategies as a paradigmatic
shift: a review and research agenda. InProceedings of the 50th Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences.
Trotman, 2017, August. The Architecture of eBay Search. In eCOM@ SIGIR.
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Henthorne, 2016. Unique selling propositions and destination branding: A longitudinal perspective
on the Caribbean tourism in transition.Turizam: međunarodni znanstveno-stručni
časopis,64(3), pp.261-275.
Kurnianti, 2019, November. Improving The Ease of Digital Marketing Learning Using Mobile
Learning. InJournal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1381, No. 1, p. 012026). IOP
Publishing.
Kingsnorth, 2019.Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online marketing. Kogan
Page Publishers.
Sridhar, 2019. New vistas for marketing strategy: digital, data-rich, and developing market (D 3)
environments.
Goldman, 2019.Digital Media Environment for Analysis of Components of Content in a Digital
Marketing Campaign. U.S. Patent Application 15/782,457.
Goralski, 2017, July. Online vs. brick and mortar learning: Competition or complementary.
InCompetition Forum(Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 271-277). American Society for Competitiveness.
Wollenburg, J., Hübner, A., Kuhn, H. and Trautrims, A., 2018. From bricks-and-mortar to bricks-
and-clicks.International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management.
Amankwah-Amoah, 2018. Global consolidation of industries and business failures: insights from
brick-and-mortar and online outlets.International Journal of Comparative Management,1(2),
pp.185-201.
Greenstein-Messica, 2018. Personal price aware multi-seller recommender system: Evidence from
eBay.Knowled
(Kahre, 2017)(Trotman, 2017)(Trotman, 2017)(Henthorne, 2016)(Kurnianti, 2019)(Kingsnorth,
2019)(Sridhar, 2019)(Goldman, 2019)(Goralski, 2017)(Wollenburg, 2018)(Amankwah-
Amoah, 2018)(Greenstein-Messica, 2018)