As part of its push into fixed-price commerce, online auction giant eBay said Friday that it plans to start allowing sellers to run virtual shops on its Web site by next quarter.
EBay has indicated in recent weeks that it wants to start offering so-called Internet storefronts. But Friday was the first time a company official indicated when that would be available. CEO Meg Whitman made the announcement during the company's annual stockholders meeting held in San Jose, Calif.
Under the storefront plan, eBay would host e-commerce sites for people who already use the site for auctions. EBay then would be in the position of competing with storefront offerings from Amazon.com, the Internet's largest retailer, and Yahoo, which offers online storefronts for both big-name retailers and smaller companies.
EBay said it had not finalized how it will generate revenue as part of its storefront plan, but spokesman Kevin Pursglove said the company is considering a listing fee which mirrors what is already in place on the auction site. EBay also might charge a monthly fee or some other kind of subscription charge, he said.
The Internet storefronts could help eBay combat what are called "gray market" transactions, in which buyers and sellers meet at eBay but conclude a transaction elsewhere, preventing eBay from collecting the fee it charges when an auction is complete. EBay does not say how much money it loses from gray-market transactions, but Salomon Smith Barney analysts estimate in a recent research note that the off-eBay sales cause the auctioneer to lose 10 percent to 25 percent of gross merchandise sales.
Pursglove said that if the storefront feature proves popular with eBay sellers, the company will extend the offering to brick-and-mortar retailers.
EBay became an e-commerce success story through auctions, but the company since has begun emphasizing fixed-price sales. Last June, eBay acquired Half.com, a site that allows sellers to list books, music, movies and other items at set prices. Then in November, eBay began allowing its users to post items for a fixed price through its "Buy It Now" feature.
