EBay Launches Game Changing Retail Platform

By: Jennifer Diamond Aug. 09, 2013

Ebay unveiled a new technology, the Retail Associate Platform, which is a tablet solution that is aimed to drive revenue growth by allowing sales associates to build detailed databases on their individual consumers. This information includes their purchase history to their contact information.

The holiday shopping season is only a few months away. The new platform is an opportunity for traditional retailers to majorly improve the omnichannel experience and drive sales both in stores and online. There are many technology solutions already that provide retailers with the ability to connect with consumers, mobile POS or even the ability to pick up orders in-store that were placed online, but few have combined all these options into one platform, as well as have the reach reach and technological prowess of eBay.

"Retailers are merchandisers not technologists. They use technology and are huge consumers of technology but that's the business that we're in," Geisinger, told WWD. "I can't emphasize the importance of technology for retailers and designers enough, [and] our focus is to provide and enable them with solutions that allow them to compete in an extremely challenging and cluttered environment."

The "clienteling" component of the solution is the foundation of the Retail Associate Platform. It allows sales associates to manage their relationships with their clientele via e-mail or text. It will also bring a real-time recommendation engine using the benefits of eBay's Web analytic gathering capabilities to the retail stores.

"We see the store as a distribution center. EBay is not competing with the retailer from a distribution standpoint. We aren't a retailer. We partner with retailers and we're partnering with them in terms of technology to help them drive more sales," Geisinger said.

And how does eBay Now fit into the equation? Geisinger addressed this by saying, "One of items we are building into this is the ability to have retailers publish inventory directly to [eBay's] marketplaces, giving them another channel to distribute goods on a global scale," he explained, adding that eBay Now is just another way to connect the seller and buyer on a larger scale.

"There is a significant evolution - almost a revolution - in retail. Consumers are demanding more and more, and retailers need to adapt to accommodate those needs," said Geisinger.

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