Can diversity, improved services help propel eBay’s growth?

US based ecommerce company eBay is trying to race past market leaders Flipkart and Amazon India in at least one category – diverse categories of products. The company has recorded a 100 million product listings. This is huge compared to Flipkart’s 40 million and Amazon’s 65 million.

In spite of being one of the earliest entrants in the Indian ecommerce market, eBay was unable to capitalise on that. As a result, the lead position was wrested away from the company.

eBay has a major advantage over the current leaders; variety. Statistics show that the main drivers of ecommerce sales are fashion and electronics.

Source: Forbes

If eBay is able to capture the other categories playing its diversity card, it will be able to regain its diminishing sheen.

The main speed breakers

The issues that are preventing eBay from getting ahead include:

• Slow deliveries and refunds,

• Fake products,

• No organised system for seller support

The company is focussing on small and medium entrepreneurs and global products, says Latif Nathani, the company’s MD and VP. If eBay is able to fix its potholes, improve the delivery and manage its payment system, it stands a chance to join the race, else it might be referred to as the ‘also ran’.