CEO of eBay lays out his master plan to fend off new rivals like TikTok and Shein with AI and live-shopping features
- Jamie Iannone, eBay’s CEO, spoke with Insider about the next phase in the e-commerce giant’s evolution.
- It involves leaning heavily into new technology like artificial intelligence and live commerce.
- Iannone said eBay’s size would empower it against emerging competitors such as TikTok and Shein.
eBay CEO Jamie Iannone has revealed the next step in the company’s evolution.
Iannone told Insider that new technologies such as artificial intelligence would supercharge the company’s growth after the e-commerce marketplace reported second-quarter earnings this week.
Revenues increased 5% year on year to $2.5 billion, but gross merchandise value, or the total value of sales conducted on the company’s website, decreased 2% to $18.2 billion in the quarter.
Its new strategy includes creating relevant experiences for buyers and sellers, scaling tech solutions to be useful across eBay, and utilizing new features such as artificial intelligence (AI) and live commerce, or when sellers host a livestream where viewers can directly buy products.
When Iannone returned to eBay as CEO in April 2020, he implemented a strategy that included doubling down on “focus categories” where eBay’s users preferred to shop: sneakers, handbags, watches, trading cards, and motor parts and accessories. He claimed that his efforts had paid off.
Historically, the company has faced competition from large retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. Now, a new generation of players is emerging, emphasizing low prices at a time when consumers are becoming more price-conscious. According to Reuters, TikTok is launching a program that will allow Chinese merchants to sell goods to US customers. Shein and Temu have also made significant inroads into the US market.
“We think it’s the perfect time to evolve the strategy, when you look at the foundational work we’ve done over the last couple of years, really setting us up, and then the new tools, technology, and capabilities that are available now,” he said.
Building trust to keep ‘enthusiasts’ engaged
The company intends to target “enthusiast” shoppers, or those who make at least six purchases and spend at least $800 per year. Iannone claims that these buyers account for far more than that, spending more than $3,000 per year on eBay on average and accounting for roughly 70% of what is sold on the site.
Over 90% of eBay’s approximately 16 million enthusiast shoppers purchase products in focus categories.
This insight influences how eBay considers which areas to expand into. For example, it launched an authentication program aimed at sneakerheads at first, employing experts in a warehouse to verify that sneakers sold on eBay were genuine. Once that program was in place, the company expanded it to other product categories, such as watches and handbags, as well as markets outside of the United States.
In some cases, eBay collaborates directly with brands via a new program called Certified by Brand, which allows brands to certify that secondhand products sold on eBay are genuine.
It also completed the acquisition of Certilogo, an AI-powered apparel authentication company, earlier this month.
According to Iannone, eBay’s authentication efforts have resulted in a “game-changing level of trust on the platform.”
It is hoped that trust will attract new buyers to eBay. In the most recent quarter, the company’s active buyer base continued to decline, reaching 131 million buyers, a 3% decrease year over year. However, the number of new eBay buyers increased for the second quarter in a row, according to Iannone.
