- ebay: more about b2c than c2c
If I say ‘ebay’, what image comes to your mind?
A place to offload items that you no longer need, or even that unwanted Christmas gift? Or, perhaps, the opportunity to buy nearly new items that other people outgrew, or fell out of love with?
If, like me, you think of ebay as the place for consumer to consumer (c2c) sales of, primarily, second hand items, then, you are wrong. According to an interview with Gareth Jones (Chief Marketing Officer, ebay UK), in episode 37 of the Future Proof podcast, c2c sales represent only 20% of business on ebay! The vast majority of ebay’s revenue comes from brands selling new items online. And while there are around 200,000 SMEs on the platform, large brands like Argos and Boho are very active on ebay, too.
- Complaints welcome
Customer complaints are, first of all, an opportunity to repair the relationship with the customer: fix what went wrong, and rebuild trust. But they are also incredible learning opportunities: by learning what makes customers unhappy, the organisation can learn what it could do better… as well as what is doing well. The business can’t make all customers happy, all the time – it needs to focus on its core customers, the ones that bring the most value to the organisation. And, as long as the complaints reflect that focus, it’s actually good news.
A company that gets that message loud and clear is Channel 4. As the company said, as part of its Complaints Welcome campaign:
“We understand that not every programme, or even every presenter, is going to be everyone’s cup of tea. That’s because Channel 4 was set up to be different, to provoke debate, take bold creative risks and represent unheard voices from all around the country. So sometimes we may cause a bit of a stir, but that’s part of our job.”
Well done, Channel 4.
- The teen is off to university, today
And I miss her already.
What does this week have in store for you?
Ana Canhoto 
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