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NOV 2007

eBay’s Chaos Theory

With its buyers swamped by a sea of choices-and its growth rate slowing-the online giant gambles on helping shoppers find what they want

Fast Company, November 1, 2007 — It was early in 2006, and Matt Carey, the new CTO of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), was attending his first focus group about the online shopping site. It was a memorable experience, to say the least. "It's hard to use," complained a longtime customer. She had been collecting antique glass on eBay for years. But lately, the treasure hunt was more frustrating than fun. "I get lost," she said. "I can't get back to my search results. I have to go all the way out and start over."

"This is not good," Carey thought to himself. This particular buyer was, as he puts it, a "dyed-in-the-wool, right-down-the-center customer." What she was describing is known by the pejorative "pogo sticking." To Carey, who had just moved to eBay after 20 years at Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), it was the equivalent of "having customers not able to shop in your store because they can't find the aisles."

Categories: Brand Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Customer Experience
Tag: eBay

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