eBay Focuses China for Major Growth
At a recent meeting in Beijing, China, eBay president Meg Whitman is reported as stating 'China could be eBay's largest local market in a five to ten year period' - provided the current growth strategy comes to fruition.
But according to some industry sources, eBay's problem in China is that a local player called Taobao.com is experiencing much faster growth than eBay. Recent reports are forecasting the volume of online transactions in China to increase by around 75 percent to reach over 3 billion yuan in 2005 and eBay claims to have the majority share of this market.
One of the keys to eBay being able to successfully execute its strategy for China is PayPal, eBay’s online payments system. The PayPal system has been instrumental in largely removing the financial risk for both buyers and sellers in online auction transactions.
When eBay took over BaaZee in India, the introduction of PayPal on a wider basis has been vitally important in reducing the perceived risk of online trading that previously existed, particularly for buyers and sellers trading globally on eBay. If the same approach works well in China, then eBay seems more likely to achieve its long-term aspirations.
The increasing globalisation of eBay will permit sellers in low-cost countries including India and China to sell their goods to the higher cost US and Western European countries. But that is potentially bad news for eBay shops and stores in the UK, US and Europe since they will face more competition.
Joining the externally promoted directory of eBay shops is one way to gain additional publicity and differentiation from the emerging global competition.
But according to some industry sources, eBay's problem in China is that a local player called Taobao.com is experiencing much faster growth than eBay. Recent reports are forecasting the volume of online transactions in China to increase by around 75 percent to reach over 3 billion yuan in 2005 and eBay claims to have the majority share of this market.
One of the keys to eBay being able to successfully execute its strategy for China is PayPal, eBay’s online payments system. The PayPal system has been instrumental in largely removing the financial risk for both buyers and sellers in online auction transactions.
When eBay took over BaaZee in India, the introduction of PayPal on a wider basis has been vitally important in reducing the perceived risk of online trading that previously existed, particularly for buyers and sellers trading globally on eBay. If the same approach works well in China, then eBay seems more likely to achieve its long-term aspirations.
The increasing globalisation of eBay will permit sellers in low-cost countries including India and China to sell their goods to the higher cost US and Western European countries. But that is potentially bad news for eBay shops and stores in the UK, US and Europe since they will face more competition.
Joining the externally promoted directory of eBay shops is one way to gain additional publicity and differentiation from the emerging global competition.
