Introduction
Anyone trying to sell their product, old or new, always considers eBay. It is an online auction platform open to all. It is a website that made e-commerce susceptible and convenient. The platform operates as a middleman for both consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer services. Pierre Omidyar founded this multinational corporation in 1995. It is one of the leading e-Commerce websites of all time. An online auction company founded as a hobby is now worth $34.27 billion. It manages 2 billion transactions per day. Therefore, it is without a doubt their approach to their target market is the right way to do it.
Target Market Analysis
eBay has approximately 167 million active users and around 25 million sellers. It is a place where you can find antiques, collectibles, new and secondhand appliances, motor parts, devices, equipment and so on. 80% of products are brand new and sold at a fixed rate on the site. But their real deal happens in the auction section, which is the real money generator. The first product eBay successfully auctioned was a broken fountain pen to a broken pen collector. So, anything you may find a bit iffy, you can find it on eBay for sure. This is where sellers list their unique products for auction. So, it gives us an idea of which sort of markets the corporation approaches. Let's look at some facts based on Neilson ratings to understand it adequately.
- Types of buyers: The buyers are mainly collectors of unique and specialized properties, as the highest-grossing merchandise is antique and collectible items. But 80% of products are sold new and at a fixed rate. So, both general household consumers and professional users are also targets for the company.
- Age range: The money-spinning users of eBay are aged 45 and up. A study states that millennials are less keen on eBay, which has a large customer base in the 55-65 age range. As they are collectors. But on average, 20-to 34-year-old users have a fair count, too. It is important to mention that the website is quite popular among kids (age 15-19) nowadays. Even as sellers, it is a potentially growing market.
- Gender: The gender ratio is almost 1:1 for male (53%) and female (47%) buyers. So, their approach to the market is gender-neutral.
- Average income: The website is originally an online auction platform. From celebrity-worn clothes to Einstein's driver-used glasses, all sorts of things are auctioned, and bid wars tend to get intense. So, the household income range is high. It is around $100,000. But the average individual income is recognized to be $ 50,000-$ 75,000.
- Service base: Today, eBay deals with a wide range of customers and products. They target all categories of buyers (Male and Female, young, elderly, middle-aged, professionals, educated, less educated, service holders, etc.). They focus on specific types of services when listing products, so it is a "service-focused" website. It offers its broad market the limited services they provide effectively. Thus, they create a very compelling customer-business relationship. Auction facilities, instant buying, bidding, and classified services are the main services they offer. Therefore, buyers and sellers of all kinds are attracted to their services. So, the corporation's market is smaller than that of other e-commerce sites, but its users are well maintained.
- Education: Most eBay users are considered passionate buyers because they bid for unique items. It was confirmed that more than half of the users do not have a college education background. Most of them don't even have kids. So, the firm’s target market is leaning toward less educated but more independent groups of people.Â
Reference:
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBayÂ
- https://www.majortests.com/essay/Ebay-Target-Market-F3QVNKGQAA.htmlÂ
- https://research-methodology.net/ebay-segmentation-targeting-positinoing/Â
- https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Ebay-Target-Market-P3J3L443TJÂ
- https://www.ebayinc.com/company/Â
- https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/EBAY/ebay/net-worthÂ
- https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ebay-marketplace-statistics/#ebay-statistics-to-make-any-sellers-head-turnÂ