eBay Focuses On Emerging Markets

EBay is gearing up to challenge Amazon and expand into emerging markets, aiming to facilitate around $110 billion (£72 billion) in online sales within three years. The company's goal is to double its global user base to 200 million by 2015, with 25% of buyers and sellers coming from emerging economies. This ambitious move anticipates a 47% increase in sales from the current $75 billion. The company's strategic shift comes as eBay has transformed into a ‘global commerce platform’ rather than just an e-commerce entity.

As part of its growth strategy, eBay plans to establish a Russian language site, capitalizing on the substantial buying activity by Russians on the English-language site, where they placed 30,000 orders daily in 2012, amounting to $400 million in purchases. The company aims to facilitate a total of $300 billion in commerce by 2015, encompassing transactions managed by its PayPal subsidiary, which would mark a 71% increase from the previous year's $175 billion. The local-language sites wouldn't be of the same scale as the website is now, but would be more practical for users within emerging markets.

Ebay's new approach involves a shift away from focusing on individual sellers to providing fixed-price discount items directly from major brands. Approximately 70% of new goods are sold at fixed prices. Investors have reacted positively to these plans, boosting eBay's shares by nearly 4% to $54 in response.

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