posted on January 28, 2005 06:09:26 PM new
eBay is the Intersection of Commerce and Community says Whitman at Rotman Business Design Conference
TORONTO, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ - "eBay has been designed by our community
of users, so our number one guiding principle is: listen to them," Meg
Whitman, President and CEO, eBay Inc., told participants today at the
15th annual MBA Business Conference held by the University of Toronto's Rotman
School of Management in Toronto.
Speaking via satellite from eBay headquarters in San Jose (CA), Whitman
says eBay's job is to "make inefficient markets efficient." And with
$1,168 transacted per second (a diamond sells every 83 seconds, a pair of
basketball shoes every three minutes, and a car every minute), it's well on
its way.
"eBay is about the intersection between commerce and community. It isn't
about selling widgets. It's about human beings, following their passions,"
says Gary Briggs, Vice President, eBay, and Country Manager, eBay Canada, who
appeared at the conference in person.
"eBay's business design principles include: listen to the community;
supply follows demand; ensure a level playing field between merchants;
customers are people, not wallets; enable users, don't direct them. And when
it comes to innovation, involve many, not few."
"Ours is an extremely efficient business model," says Briggs. "We have no
inventory, warehouses or sales force. What we have is a unique community of
users who have created what eBay is today." eBay's growth since its inception
almost 10 years ago rivals that of the world's most successful companies,
including Starbucks and Wal-Mart. "Our growth happened very fast compared to
most companies," says Briggs. "We managed that growth by constantly
implementing user's ideas and feedback. They have literally designed eBay for
us."
Whitman says that business people often try to solve every problem for a
consumer; "But we have found that it's often best to let the customer figure
it out on their own. We don't try to over-engineer at eBay. We listen to our
community and evolve with it."
posted on January 28, 2005 10:19:58 PM new
My personal favorite:
Whitman says that business people often try to solve every problem for a
consumer; "But we have found that it's often best to let the customer figure
it out on their own. We don't try to over-engineer at eBay. We listen to our
community and evolve with it."
So I guess that's why they don't have good customer service--we have to solve our own problems. Good grief.
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