Comments on: Is Amazon.com catching the eBay disease?

By: The 5spoons.com Blog » Blog Archive » Web Trends and Where I Think eBay can Play… And be a Force

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:52:00 +0000

[...] Ecommerce, web 2.0, Search, Internet. 4 comments Om Malik is on to an important trend in his recent post regarding the marginalization of Ebay, Amazon and other legacy ecommerce marketplaces with the [...]

By: Web 2.0 marks the decline of Ebay and Amazon « Lightspeed Venture Partners Blog

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:58:13 +0000

[...] Ecommerce, web 2.0, Search, Internet. trackback Om Malik is on to an important trend in his recent post regarding the marginalization of Ebay, Amazon and other legacy ecommerce marketplaces with the [...]

By: Denis au fil du web » links for 2007-03-25

Denis au fil du web » links for 2007-03-25 — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:18:15 +0000

[...] Is Amazon.com catching the eBay disease? Om Malik se penche sur le futur des grandes places de marché (eBay & Amazon) qui voient leurs partenaires business se passer de plus en plus de leurs services et de leurs communautés pour voler de leurs propres ailes. A l’heure des CPC & CPA les gros r (tags: advertising amazon media economy future) [...]

By: Damon Billian

Damon Billian — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:22:09 +0000

Hi Bubba,

Yes, feedback isn't going to be a completely error-free system for rating transaction risk. But it is most certainly much better than having nothing to go on;-)

As you mention, there's a great deal of benefit to giving your cc number to only one company for all transactions (PayPal, Amazon)...not having to type (or share) this information with a ton of different merchants provides more overall safety.

By: Is Amazon.com catching the eBay disease? « Best Stories to Read

Is Amazon.com catching the eBay disease? « Best Stories to Read — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:08:32 +0000

[...] read more | digg story [...]

By: Mia Dand

Mia Dand — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 22:49:59 +0000

Comparing an ecommerce platform (Amazon, eBay)with an online ad system (Adsense, AdWords, PPA, etc.) is ludicrious. In this era of outsourcing and specialization, smart companies focus on the activities that add value to their customer base and make operational sense. By taking the DIY route, Borders is going back to the dark-ages.

This move makes sense ONLY IF Borders can replicate the exceptional user-experience, social (collaborative) elements like customer feedback/ratings, loyalty-building personalization, backend (fulfillment) system, online cross-promotional features and other competencies that Amazon has mastered over the years.

By: Theo Tonca

Theo Tonca — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:45:41 +0000

I think the future will indeed be big marketplace free as more and more innovative services are being released to help independent and free standing retailers.

By: Bubba Joe

Bubba Joe — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:17:40 +0000

Yes, I think the eBay feedback does help (although note you have to evaluate eBay feedback with a cynical eye). Similarly, Amazon’s reviews are pretty handy.

I think another factor is trust. I’m tired of adding online accounts with passwords. One good thing with Amazon and eBay is that you can buy from different companies and don’t have to give them your CC info and establish accounts with them.

By: pwb

pwb — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:32:03 +0000

I was always surprised that a merchandiser like Target would outsource its online selling to Amazon.

By: Damon Billian

Damon Billian — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:07:50 +0000

“A retailer looking to acquire customers doesn’t need big marketplaces, because Google Adwords (and other such tools) do a pretty good job of directing buyers their way”

I think the primary strength here is that eBay has buyer/seller feedback, something that won’t be identifiable if someone is simply directed to a site’s homepage for a sole proprietor(if they aren’t a large & well-known brand, customers are going to be somewhat wary about buying from a site that they know nothing about).

Disclaimer: I used to work for eBay/PayPal. And while eBay has obvious problems, I do think that the feedback platform still helps folks a lot.

By: Nick Hawkins

Nick Hawkins — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:45:20 +0000

I’m sure that Amazon won’t be hurting. Borders, I think, is pretty much screwed.

By: PXLated

PXLated — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:25:03 +0000

I should ammend my comment slightly…
The big hurdle at the time was not the font or backend of the site, it was distribution. The big retailers were set up to send semis loaded with goods to distribution centers and individual stores, not individual orders to homes/businesses. So, Amazon helped in that respect.

By: PXLated

PXLated — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:20:03 +0000

I was the design director on one of the big ten retailer sites when they first hit the net (1999-2000) and we always wondered why others (biggies) were signing up with Amazon in the first place. They have the brand, they need to control their own destiney and don’t need an Amazon skimming off some of the cream. I’m amazed that it’s taken this long for them to bail.
Bet the next is Target.

By: leafar

leafar — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:12:33 +0000

One question : is this deal only about the integration of the catalogue inside amazon.com ?

Could make as much money if they sale the wharehouse and computer (S3) infrastructure in BtoB. What do you think ?

On my view the website is on the verge of getting out of Amazon core competencies. API, S3, Unbox, Wharehouse ... are now the real keys.

By: AuctionWire

AuctionWire — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:07:38 +0000

Is Amazon.com catching the eBay disease?...

Anyone who has closely watched eBay, the giant online auctioneer, knows that their sellers dont need them as much as they once used to, mostly because of contextual and performance based advertising. A retailer looking to acquire customers doesnt n...