Е-Commerce Case Studies

Case 1

1. Why has eBay become such a successful and diverse online marketplace?

eBay’s successful strategies have been that it charges a low commission fee for items sold.  It can afford to do this primarily because of the vast number and variety of products that it sells.  eBay has become a household name and one that first comes to mind when we think of internet buying or selling.

2. Why do you think of eBay’s playbook concept? Why do they call it a playbook?

Answer: In most cases, playbooks are notebooks or documents that outline and describe a strategy for a certain sport, organization or activity. For example, video game playbooks may contain tricks and tips for passing through certain levels of each game. In the theater arts, a playbook is a book containing the scripts for one or more plays. The term playbook is particularly associated with football.

1. A notebook containing descriptions and diagrams of the plays that a team has practiced (especially an American football team)

2. A book containing the scripts of one or more dramatic plays; "the 1963 playbook leaves out the whole first scene"

3.  A scheme or set of strategies for conducting a business campaign or a political campaign; "they borrowed a page from the playbook of the opposition"

The playbook analogy refers to steps that need to be taken for success, not unlike a sports playbook.  The playbook model allows existing site managers to take the steps necessary in order for that particular group to grow on eBay as fast as they wish.  The playbook describes how to set the right conditions for electronic trading to flourish in a particular area. eBay playbook concept is a great idea. They have all of this knowledge throughout the company that they have collected over time, and making it available for new employees or employees in new markets will greatly improve the learning curve for these new ventures. It makes me think back a few chapters when we discussed knowledge management systems. E-bay...