Over the years, the number of business transactions that take place online has continuously risen. Online providers have improved the quality of services they offer to the consumers; this has attracted a larger population of customers. Competition among online retailers is becoming more vigorous. Online shopping has also enabled companies to reach their consumers everywhere. Communication and information technology have made online shopping possible by reaching a wide market in a variety of geographic location. For consumer interaction, through e-commerce, most businesses are trying to obtain a competitive advantage.
Technology has enabled consumers to have access to information about products and services offered in different stores. Having this information enables them to evaluate and determine which store they will purchase the commodity they require from. The decision they make may be based on the appearance picture; the information provided video clips and images. It is, therefore, important for retailers to study the attitudes customers have towards online shopping and adjust their market plan accordingly to make their business successfully.
eBay is a shopping company that strives to make buying and selling easier. To sell a commodity on eBay, the seller should describe the item and add fantastic pictures of the item on sale. The seller should then decide bin a price and postage; auction-style listings attract most buyers. The final step is to list and wait for the potential customers to contact you. At eBay, people purchase items by bidding. Bidding is a fun and enjoyable process. Each bid you place puts you into a binding contract. At eBay, when you place a bid it is advisable to place the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the commodity. After placing your bid, your bid is compared to those of other bidders, eBay increases your bid on your behalf according to your bid, and this is to ensure that you maintain a good bid position.
eBay has an automatic system used for bidding; this system makes the bidding system more appropriate. The system is centered on increments; an increment is an amount by which a bid will be increased every time the present bid is exceeded. eBay protects the privacy of the buyers by using anonymous names when displaying the historical bid information. When a buyer bids for an item, the user ID is only revealed to the seller of the item. The anonymous name will appear throughout the auction process. It is advisable not to bid on similar items on separate listings if you only want to purchase one item. This is because you may be forced to purchase both commodities. You should wait till an auction is over before placing a bid on a similar item you were outbid on, this is because the person who outbid you may retract his or her bid, making your bid the winning bid.
eBay offers free shipping services to their customers; this is a big incentive for buyers to bid for a commodity. This service, however, takes the buyers location into consideration. In addition to this, eBay has a MapIt service that enables the buyers and sellers to influence the power of local sales. MapIt generates a map to reveal where the commodities posted are located. It is a convenient tool for people planning to make large and bulky sales as they do not have to ship them. In iBuySell, the seller is responsible for the shipment of commodities. The company only provides shipping labels that are used in the delivery of goods.
iBuySell is a new marketplace where shopping takes place. In this marketplace, a variety of items starting from fashion to technical gadgets are found. iBuySell is a unique shopping store because of the way sales are run. There are no auctions that require bidding, which as time goes by, the price of the commodity increases. The idea for iBuySell is actually the opposite. Here sellers display their commodities in their online closets, and the customers can browse through their products and tag the items they are interested in all the buyers are given a notification before their tagged commodities go on live-scale. Each live-scale lasts for 90 seconds, the discounted price of the commodity falls by each second until the first buyer claims it (iBuySell, 2016).
The auctioning process is fun and interesting, it enables the buyers and sellers to interact and decide on the price of a commodity (Amanda, 2016). A commodity that is not in high demand may end up being sold at a low price. Despite the system of selling items by auctioning them being fun and interesting, a lot of time is consumed in the process. The auctioning process may take up to seven days; this may not be convenient for the buyer who urgently needs the commodity. In bidding, the price of the item gradually increases. Auctioning an item can exploit the buyers, a buyer may opt to place a higher bid on an item because he or she urgently needs it.
The way iBuySell make their sales proves to be a much more convenient process. Here, it can take only 90 seconds for an item to be bought. The buyers are alerted before their tagged commodities go on live-scale. Each live-scale lasts for 90 seconds, after which if not purchased the price of the commodity reduces. This system is fast game-like price countdown, it engages the customers and is a thrilling experience for everybody. This system is convenient as one may decide to wait for the cost of the item to reduce before purchasing it. Despite its many benefits, the sellers may exploit the buyers by placing a high price on commodities that are in high demand. This may force the buyers to purchase the items at extremely high costs.
Physical evidence is used to describe services as they cannot be touched. In the process of selling a product, you will also be selling a service to the buyer. Most People on eBay are not sure about buying commodities online; it is, therefore, advisable to give them excellent services. Providing perfect packaging for their goods depicts a good image for the service provider. Items I bought from eBay were wrapped in a new and clean envelope. iBuySell provide shipping labels that are used in the delivery of the goods to the consumer. The labels have a specific color that makes it easier to differentiate and identify the online store.
The unique labels used by iBuySell made it easier to differentiate and identify the products. Since the items from eBay were from the company, they were neatly packaged and delivered to the premises. The commodities from iBuySell were from different sellers. Despite using the labels from iBuySell, some of them did not offer good services while delivering the items; some used old-padded and dirty envelopes.
Packaging and branding have an imperative duty in physical evidence. How an item is packed will determine if the customers find it appealing and attractive. To improve sales, it is important to strive to provide services that will help you retain customers. I recommend that eBay should have unique shipping labels that will make it easier to identify their commodity. For iBuySell, it should arrange to have a packaging and delivery system; this will ensure that the goods delivered are appealing, and consumers will be more willing to purchase items from the store. To have a successful business, physical evidence is very important.
References
Amanda, K. C. (2016). Latest eBay Products and Services. Entrepreneur.
iBuySell. (2016, April 20). iBuySell-Real-Time Mobile and Online Marketplace That Turns Shopping to a Thrilling Competition. PR Newswire.
