Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist
A Real World Market
E-commerce companies promote and sell their products at the online platform. They use the most advanced systems, techniques, and strategies for doing advertisements for their products, making and receiving payments, and managing customer and stakeholder relationships. This paper presents an analysis of the strategies and policies of three top companies from e-commerce industry, eBay, Amazon, and Craigslist.
The paper starts with a brief introduction to these companies by discussing their origin, scale of operations, location, product and service portfolio, and core operational strategies. Amazon.com is an American multinational e-commerce corporation that mainly deals in new and branded products. eBay is an auction website that provides a platform to the buyers and sellers to interact and do transaction in a safe and convenient way. Craigslist is also an e-commerce website where buyers and sellers negotiate for their transactions. If a buyer has to make a choice from these three retailers, he should first look at his need and resources and the availability of the required product or service at the websites of these retailers.
The online retail channel has completely changed the traditional shopping style. This modern style has great implications for the sellers: e.g. they can save heavy advertising and promotional costs, target customers in international locations, provide customized search to the website visitors (buyers) and understand their purchase decision parameters and preferences. In order to win the confidence of its sellers and buyers and enhance its reputation in the local and international community, eBay has taken few steps in the recent past. It has introduced buyer protection policy which provides full coverage to the buyers from online frauds, misrepresentations, and scam from the sellers' side.
In order to avoid criticism and negative response from the sellers, eBay also provides them coverage against any undue advantage which buyers can take from this policy. By introducing this new market, eBay has also contributed in market equilibrium in the United States and other potential locations in the world. Moreover, eBay and Amazon have implemented feedback systems which enable them to get suggestion for improvements from their customers. These steps have largely contributed in strengthening the brand image of these companies among their key stakeholders.
Introduction: Amazon, Craigslist, and eBay:
1. Amazon:
Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational electronic commerce corporation that promotes and sells a large variety of electronics, household, and consumer products. Headquarters in Seattle, Washington, Amazon is the world's largest online retailer. It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos (the current CEO, President, & Chairman) under the name 'Cadabra'. The company went online in 1995 as Amazon.com. The new name was chosen after the world's largest river, Amazon which depicts that Amazon.com sells a huge variety of consumer and electronic goods that are essential to meet the individual and household requirements of the general public (Amazon).
Amazon.com commenced its operations as an online books store, but soon started selling music, videos, furniture, consumer electronics, toys, jewelry, apparel, computer software, food items, and video games. Amazon runs totally separate and independent websites for the home country and some other potential markets like Canada, Germany, Italy, France, China, United Kingdom, Brazil, etc. It also provides international shipping services in all other countries of the world. Amazon posts prices and sells only new and branded items in each product category (Amazon).
2. Craigslist:
Craigslist is a classified advertisement website that posts jobs, personals, houses and office buildings on sale or rent, services, gigs, resumes, discussion forums, and community activities. Craigslist was founded by Craig Newmark in 1995 as a simple email distribution service for community events and soon diversified in other classified categories. With the passage of time, Craigslist became popular in the local community with the help of word-of-mouth by website visitors and personal recommendations by the existing subscribers. Headquartered in San Francisco, United States, Craigslist started expanding its operations in all other U.S. cities before going international. At present, Craigslist serves 570 cities in 50 countries around the globe. It does not expend any amount on advertising and promotion -- the only source of community awareness is the word-of-mouth and personal recommendations (Craigslist).
3. eBay:
eBay Inc. is an American multinational corporation engaged in providing consumer to consumer buying and selling services. It is basically an auction website where buyers and sellers meet and do transactions on posted items. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay is currently operative in 30 countries around the globe. It is headquartered in San Jose, California. The company's online incarnation, eBay.com is a platform where buyers and sellers from all...
Business Plan: Bridal Salon Business Products and services Keys to Success Company description Vision Statement Mission Statement Company background Products and Industry Product Description Industry Description The Market Market and Target Customer Market Segmentation Target Market Strategy Competition and Competitive Advantage Curbing Local Competition Curbing Regional Competition Marketing Strategy Overall Strategy Sales Plan Competitive Plan Research and Development (Growth Plan) The Organization Legal and Organization Structure Key Personnel Related Service Providers Location The Financials Critical Risks Income Statement Cash Flow Projection Balance Sheet Assumptions References Executive Summary Introduction Pace-setter is a bridal salon that rides on the theme of 'experience'. It creates an environment in which
Business Description Definition of the Market Description of the Products Organization and Management Descriptions Marketing Strategies Financial Management This paper presents business plan for a new leather garment manufacturing and retailing business. The business is being set up with an initial capital outlay of $53 million. The paper starts with a brief description of the business; its target market and product offerings, and then proceeds by proposing organizational and management strategies, marketing strategies, and financial management
Business Plan GBSGreen Building Solutions Company Description Product & Service Description Marketing Strategy & Plan Environmental Analysis (SWOT/PEST) Competitive Analysis Products and Services Pricing Promotion People Financial Analysis & Projections Profit and Loss Risks and Assumptions GBSGreen Building Solutions Business Plan According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the impact of commercial buildings on the physical and social environment are such that there is "not questioning the vast impact…" (Environmental Protection Agency, 2006) Commercial Buildings are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration
[2: www.med.govt.nz/business/business.../structure-and-dynamics-2011.... ] The primary research of the Auckland market presents the following sectors for consideration for the new venture: The demographics in the target market include: college going and married women with children who either are working mothers or stay-at-home mothers; this makes the age group anywhere between 25 to 55; the overall annual income of the household is more than AUS $100,000; the property owned by the target individual
As part of the research triangle, Raleigh has a significant portion of its population that fits the target market. For the Farmery to succeed, it only needs to capture a small portion of the market share. This is especially true because the store has a small footprint, and has the flexibility to set up on vacant lots without the costs of either renting or developing fixed real estate. The
Business Plans Investment Decisions An Analysis of Three Business Plans in Regards to their Riskiness This paper will examine three separate business plans and rate these plans based on the level of risk and the cost of capital that should be awarded to these plans. Of the three plans considered, a plan for an expansion of a coffee production facility in South America carries the least risk. An investment opportunity for a truck
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now