eBay Now
The Story
eBay now was eBay’s attempt at same-day delivery. It was Instacart before Instacart existed. It was a zero-to-1 incubation project doing something that was completely opposite of eBay: same-day delivery, items at your local store, delivery for $5. I joined the team right after the product launched and no research had been previously done. So, my first goal was to get the product out of the office and into the hands of users ASAP, where we discovered some key tactical problems preventing adoption. I continued my journey with the team over the next year helping to incorporate this product within the larger eBay ecosystem and further track its success by creating a customer dashboard of success metrics.
Key Research Questions To Solve
How do we communicate the product value?
What might prevent the adoption of the product?
How do we incorporate eBay Now into the larger eBay product?
How might we track the success of the product?
Methods Used
Iterative Usability Studies, Satisfaction surveys on the product and delivery experience
The anti-eBay: Delivery from local stores within 1 hour for $5.
After joining this zero-to-1 team, my first priority was to get the product in hands with users and learn what might be hindering product adoption (e.g. not allowing locations).
Eventually, the product integrated into the core eBay product, which proved to be challenging as the eBay platform was built around auctions, not local delivery. For example, our legacy checkout experience only allowed scheduling a delivery AFTER order completion. This red flag emerged from our research, pausing the launch until the optimal flow/experience could be implemented.
Why This Project Matters To Me
I’ve worked on a lot of zero-to-1 initiatives within larger companies throughout my career. It seems to be my niche. However, this product was my favorite because it presented some interesting challenges. First, the service aspect of the product via valet delivery made understanding the journey of the product much more complex and thus more interesting to assess. Second, there was the challenge of building something completely “un-eBay” on eBay which provided a great learning experience for me. For example, communicating the product value became much more of a challenge than the product interaction itself, such that I learned to work more closely with our marketing and content team members to meet this challenge head-on. Finally, I came into a “startup” environment that had no prior research and a general reluctance to research. It was a thrill to turn these stakeholders around and be perceived as a valued team member.
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