eBay Local Selling
The Story
The eBay Local team's mission was to best understand how to integrate a user’s local marketplace within the eBay ecosystem. Most of the focus was on the buying side (e.g. delivery from local stores), and we had yet to think about the selling side. The only local selling eBay allowed was a simple shipping option to “pick up locally” from a seller.
When the Local team moved within the Selling organization, I could sense there would be a future interest in Local selling. I therefore proposed that we start exploring this space further with research. I did a combination of ethnographic field studies to understand the needs and pain points in selling locally via such outlets like Craigslist, Facebook, Nextdoor, etc, and coupled this with a survey to bring quantitative metrics to some important attitudinal questions (e.g. “What is the preference for paying with cash?”)
The outcome of this exploratory research inspired a barrage of Local Selling concepts. To help us prioritize, I conducted a mixed-method concept study using online focus groups to better understand which concepts were most well-received and why.
Ultimately, this collection of generative research set the team up for success in determining our product strategy for Local Selling.
Key Research Questions To Solve
What are the user needs and pain points in selling locally? Where are the opportunities for eBay?
Which local selling concepts should we focus on?
Methods Used
Ethnography, Quantitative Survey, Mixed Method Concept Study
Ethnographic field visit with a local parenting group discussing how they sell used children’s items within the neighborhood.
Quantitative survey to size up key behaviors, such as the common types of items sold locally.
A comic storyboard representing a concept in our mixed-method concept test.
Why This Project Matters To Me
There are two reasons why I love to highlight this project. This first reason is how I was able to use a variety of research methods to triangulate our insights. By the end of the project, through the combination of ethnography, survey, and concept testing, I was able to tell a compelling story about the user needs within the Local Selling space. I felt confident that we had a complete view of how to move forward.
The second reason was the timing of the project. At the time I proposed investigating local selling, we were knee-deep in a launch on the latest release on the local buying side of eBay. While local buying was important, it was also a space where we had iterated several rounds of research and already had a wealth of knowledge. Rather than continue conducting more iterations, I proposed that we focus our research on this new space where our attention was going to shift next year. Had we not started this exploratory work early, I’m certain research would not have had the same influence on the product strategy. It served as a great reminder and lesson that sometimes it is important to say “no” to important short-term research, so we can focus on the future.
Want to learn more about this research and its impact? Let’s chat!