How Ebay Used IT to make it Big
Kent Kirkwood
Intro to Business, BA101
Professor Williams
February 2nd, 2011
Ebay’s E-Commerce Success
How Ebay Used IT to make it Big Ebay had an unusual start, when a 28 year old programmer named Pierre Omidyar, created a site to sell items online stated, Hsiao, A (n.d.). He posted some broken laser pointers for sale in an auction-style listing. He meant this to be an example for other things to be listed for sale. Then the broken laser pointer sold for over $14.00. He immediately contacted the buyer to make sure that they understood that is was broken. The buyer just happened to be collecting broken laser pointers. Then and there Pierre Omidyar knew he was on to something big.
Marketing
Ebay has a unique ability to let the users of their business market the products that sell on their website for them. Ebay does not sell any products directly. They just sell the ability for other to sell items that they have. When a person lists an item on Ebay, that item is automatically input in Google. Now, when a person using Google to search for items to buy, items listed on Ebay populate on the list. Ebay sellers do not have to sign up through Google to market their items. They don’t have to have their own website and monitor traffic to it. They just create a ad similar to a classified ad on steroids.
Information Technology How does Ebay use information technology to help their business? A better question would be how doesn’t Ebay use information technology to help their business? Ebay lives on the internet. Ebay uses all facets of electronic communication to promote and run their company. They have email newsletters, online ads, and search engine recognition. The latest forms of website design have made it possible to any person in the world to have an online store or shop worldwide.
Ebay and the Internet What would Ebay be without the internet? Well, it wouldn’t exist
References: Berstien, B. (2001, May 25). The Madison Courier. Retrieved February 2, 2010, from Ebay CEO survives the dot-com bust: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XIxfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oWQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6764,5528032&dq=dot+com+bubble+ebay&hl=en Canedy, D. (1998, November 27). Stuffed Animals with Attitude May Spur Modest Rise in Toy Sales. Retrieved from New York Times: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F11F93E5D0C748EDDA80994D0494D81 Hsiao, A. (n.d.). How did Ebay start? Retrieved February 2, 2011, from A Brief History of Ebay: http://ebay.about.com/od/ebaylifestyle/a/el_history.htm SiliconIndia. (2009, December 28). Online Shopping Record High. Retrieved from SiliconIndia: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Online_shopping_at_record_high-nid-64131.html