How Ebay has built its Internet and International business strategy

Internet and International Business

Final paper

How Ebay has built its Internet and International business strategy

Contents

Introduction        3

How internet impacted businesses?        4

Marketing        4

Expanding to new markets        4

Working with others        4

Increased competition        5

Using internet strategy        5

        SEO and SEM (Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing)        5

        Email and Social media Marketing        5

How eBay has built its Internet and International business strategy?        6

eBay business model canvas        6

eBay main business strategies and technology usage        7

Acquisitions        7

Startup support        7

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence        7

eBay’s adaptation to the latest market trends        8

References        9

Introduction

Only 20 years ago for a business to successfully operate and to survive it needed to operate more locally, publishing ads in local newspapers, opening physical stores and hoping that they have what a local customer may need. However, with mass implementation of the internet today any business can have relatively cheap access to global worldwide customer base, without being dependent on their local customer base.

Moreover, if we consider international trade, the impact of internet is remarkable too. Especially small countries now have the ability to communicate with partners and investors from all over the world, managing and negotiating, therefore expanding their activities worldwide. Internet has also permitted to improve shipping industry, when we can track, control and make the overall shipments safer and quicker, decreasing time delays and thus allowing a better supply chain management. Also, during shipments all business has to comply with laws and regulations of a destination country, and with internet it is now a matter of 2 clicks to find out or have a consultation about legal procedures etc.

How internet impacted businesses?

To talk more in detail about main impacts internet had on business we can create a list:

Marketing

Nowadays it became easy for a business to know what their customer wants and thus deliver it. Websites can contain a lot of useful information; feedback forms and questionnaires online are a great tool for monitoring customer needs. Customers can leave comments and ratings of particular products and if a business provides its clients with great products or services – positive feedback from other customers will only attract new ones. Advertising via emails and online advertising however demands from a business to stand out, knowing that a regular consumer is bombarded with those on a daily basis. Also, using Google AdSense and/or publishing ads on related websites will attract new clients from all over the world and increase awareness of your brand. Moreover, using geolocation of a customer if they are in proximity of a store can provide them with information about current sales or new products.

Expanding to new markets

With the use of internet, a business which is interested in expanding in particular country can now make a relatively cheap market research to determine what kind of products are in favor in this country, what sales and what doesn’t, what competition has to offer etc. Each country has a customer base with their own expectations of how a service or a product should be/ look like, what kind of customer service is expected and even the wat your website should be. Website localization is another important step, it has to be in local language, local product range and designed to comply with local tastes. Also, internet allowed usage of big data, where huge amounts of information can be used to track modern trends as well as for analysis.

Working with others

Working with other businesses is now simplified with the use of internet. Furthermore, it enhances communication. Collaborating on different projects is now made easier as a business can organize a meeting or a seminar with another one on the other side of the world and discuss conditions and terms. Communication with employees and customers is now made via email and instant messengers, greatly enhancing communication. Also, employees now can work from home, greatly decreasing costs of an office space for a business and some functions can be outsourced (ex. Customer Service) to the cheapest areas while having contact and control over them.

Increased competition

Increased competition grants better products and services for a customer, and enhanced cost-effectiveness and know-how for a business. There are now more market players in different industries using e-commerce. E-commerce and internet technologies allowed smaller business to compete more successfully with big businesses, with a change towards new business models rather than traditional ones.

Using internet strategy

The way businesses are promoted nowadays is different from traditional ways we used to promote. By missing out on ‘online’ part of your marketing strategy you miss out on huge number of potential customers and opportunities. Enhancing your internet strategy therefore is important (DeMers, 2016). It can be done through:

• SEO and SEM (Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing) 

Engine Optimization is a part of Search Engine Marketing, it is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a business’s website by making your website to appear amongst the first links on the list of results of a search engine. It is achieved by excelling your website, adding content to it, simple URL with precise keywords. Therefore, making a better platform for your business will attract more clients and thus increase conversion rate (convert a visiting your website to an actual commercial transaction, buying of your product or service).

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