FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Monday, March 19th, 2012
Here’s a full round-up of all eBay Inc. activity around Mobile World Congress 2012:
** OVERVIEW: eBay Inc. at Mobile World Congress
** eBay and PayPal announce new partnerships at Mobile World Congress
** eBay Inc. CEO John Donahoe keynotes Mobile World Congress 2012; video interview with the Wall Street Journal
Cheers,
RBH
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Members of the eBay Inc. team have been in Barcelona this week for the Mobile World Congress. eBay Inc. CEO, John Donahoe, spoke on a panel earlier today and sat down with the Wall Street Journal afterwards to chat about why eBay was attending the leading mobile conference:
I’ve been uploading photos from the conference:
Live coverage of the event:
Although I’m not with the team in Barcelona this week, I have been covering remotely here on the blog and you can follow all the eBay Inc. focused coverage coming out of the event, live on Twitter:
@PayPal
@eBayMobile
@RedLaserApp
#MWC12
Cheers,
RBH
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
With the eBay Seller Update: Spring 2012 announcement coming out today, we took the time to sit down with some eBay sellers to talk about the changes and get their input on what it means for their business. In our conversations, we focus on the updates made to the eBay Top-rated Seller program and the introduction of multiple free pictures for listings.
Cheers,
RBH
Helpful Links
** Get details on the 2012 Spring Seller Update.
** Use the Seller Checklist to stay on top of important dates.
** Update your listings quickly and efficiently and bulk editing tools.
** Visit the special 48-hour discussion board devoted to the announcement.
** Join the Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, February 29 starting at 3:30pm PST.
UPDATED February 29, 2012
I’ve seen some of the eBay Ink Social Media Sellers upload their own videos and interviews in response to yesterday’s Seller Update: Spring 2012. I thought I’d share here on Ink for folks.
ColderICE
John Lawson kicked off the first day with his overview of the announcement.:
He followed it up with a full-recorded interview with MJ and Griff here at eBay:
The Danni App
eBay Ink Social Media Seller, Danni Ackerman, has also uploaded an initial reaction video to the update, also asking for questions from eBay Sellers and directing them to additional resources for help and clarification.
It’s great to see eBay sellers taking the initiative to broadcast their reactions, insights and interpretation of news coming out of the company. I’m happy to share more here with folks because when it comes to news like this, it’s better to hear directly from the people and businesses being effected rather than a dorky corporate blogger in my opinion.
Cheers,
RBH
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
The following video interview is with Jim “Griff” Griffith and Michael “MJ” Jones of eBay Marketplaces. Here, they discuss the Spring 2012 eBay Seller Update and what it means for sellers and buyers moving forward. We discuss the eBay Top-rated Seller program in detail and talk about why the updates are being implemented.
Cheers,
RBH
Helpful Links
** Get details on the 2012 Spring Seller Update.
** Use the Seller Checklist to stay on top of important dates.
** Update your listings quickly and efficiently and bulk editing tools.
** Visit the special 48-hour discussion board devoted to the announcement.
** Join the Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, February 29 starting at 3:30pm PST.
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Monday, January 30th, 2012
John Donahoe, President and CEO of eBay Inc., attended the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, this weekend. In addition to speaking on a panel, he sat down with Pete Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable.com. Check out their discussion (complete with his snazzy snow boots), here:
Documented@Davos: John Donahoe, eBay from Michelle Laird on Vimeo.
You can also read a full breakdown of John Donahoe’s panel: Digital Norms
Cheers,
RBH
More information:
Videos : World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012
The Global Agenda 2012 – Annual Meeting 2012
About the World Economic Forum (WEF)
The WEF is a Swiss non-profit foundation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The purpose of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is to ensure that leaders exercise their responsibilities – jointly, boldly and strategically – to improve the state of the world for future generations.
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Apologies for the delay here. I realize I’ve been back in the Bay Area for 24 hours but had to focus on eBay Q4 2011 earnings yesterday, meaning that my NRF 2012 recap post got put on hold. Without further ado, here you go folks…
Monday’s Panel:
Social Shopping: Mobility, Social Media and Personalized Services
Moderator: Kevin Permenter, The Aberdeen Group
Panelists:
Liam O’Keefe, Black Bear Saloon
Rick Orr, TabbedOut
Bob Schwartz, Magento
“Smart retailers are looking for anything that creates less friction for the customer’s shopping experience” @bobschwartz #NRF12 #ebayatNRF
— Richard Brewer-Hay (@ebayinkblog) January 16, 2012
Overview: Connected devices make what was once a solitary trip to the store a more socially connected event. Smartphones don’t serve as just another marketing vehicle—they can be a platform to combine the digital and physical worlds. As shoppers go through the process of discovering new products, testing them and reflecting on their purchases, they share these thoughts with their social networks and influence perception among their peer group. This session will examine why retailers must embrace and facilitate this sharing of information, and how retail outlets need to evolve to create experiences that drive sales in-store. Retailers will learn how to integrate mobile and social media strategies into a cohesive business model that enhances marketing and merchandising.
It was an engaging discussion with some key trends running through the presentations. It was something we heard from eBay Inc. CEO, John Donahoe last week and from Don Kingsborough on Sunday: The rules of technology are being rewritten and the rate of change is incredible – particularly in the world of retail and commerce. Again, the emphasis was made on the need for the education of – and adoption by – merchants. It was also agreed that when it comes to all the huge amounts of data coming in through social channels, the key is prioritization and delegation.
eBay Inc. at NRF 2012: Show Floor
PayPal Shopping Showcase
On my last day in New York I was lucky enough to check out the PayPal Shopping Showcase (and unlucky enough to get into a physical altercation with a NYC taxi cab on my walk over… but that’s another story).
From the PayPal Blog:
Imagine a digital wallet that stores all of your gift cards, loyalty points and offers and then automatically applies the stored money and savings for you at the point of sale. Imagine purchasing an oversized item from the aisle and having it shipped directly to your house in a matter of clicks. At the Shopping Showcase, we’ll be showing merchants and select members of the media a complete set of solutions that do all of this – and so much more
You can check out all my photos of the PayPal Shopping Showcase in eBay Ink at NRF flickr set.
Also, be sure to check out our recap and video of Don Kingsborough, PayPal GM of Retail and Prepaid, and his mobile payments panel.
It has been a whirlwind 10 days covering both CES and NRF but it’s good to be back at HQ and working on some cool social projects for 2012. Will keep you all posted.
Cheers!
RBH
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Monday, January 16th, 2012
“…look, we’ve had a wallet in the cloud for twelve years that 103 million people actually use. ” –Don Kingsborough, #PayPal #NRF12
— Miles Skorpen (@milesskorpen) January 15, 2012
The National Retail Federation (NRF) 2012 is in full swing here in NYC. It’s my first time attending this show and I’ve been trying to do my best to see everything on display on the expo floor while also attending panels on which we have eBay Inc. representation.
The first was yesterday’s panel:
Making Dollars – and Sense – in Mobile Payments
Moderator: Sahir Anand, The Aberdeen Group
Panelists:
Bruce Yen, Guess? Inc.
Don Kingsborough, VP/GM, Retail & Prepaid, PayPal
Doug Kilgour, Sr. Biz Development Executive Isis Mobile Commerce,
Mung Ki Woo, head of mobile, Mastercard
“Retailers are focusing on mobile payments because a lot missed out on ecommerce and they don’t want to miss out on new commerce.” #NRF12
— Richard Brewer-Hay (@ebayinkblog) January 15, 2012
Overview: The mobile payments space comprises two different systems: 1) payments using the mobile network, and 2) contactless payments. Payments and the services mobile payments enable at the store level can serve as a powerful and disruptive force in the retail environment. This session reviews the latest in this rapidly evolving technology and business, and details the newest players in the mobile payments ecosystem.
“Retailers should create a unique customer experience, rather than wait for an industry standard” Mung Ki Woo, Mastercard #NRF12 #eBayatNRF
— Richard Brewer-Hay (@ebayinkblog) January 15, 2012
The engaging discussion covered similar themes addressed in last week’s CES mobile panels, and I was fortunate to catch up with PayPal’s Don Kingsborough earlier today to chat about those themes:
“Is the mass consumer ready for mobile payments in 2012?” All 4 panelists answered with one word. “Yes.” #NRF12 #eBayatNRF
— Richard Brewer-Hay (@ebayinkblog) January 15, 2012
Look for more updates soon. Remember to follow @ebayinkblog for all the live-updates from the conference and to follow the discussion you can check out #NRF12 and #eBayatNRF. You can also check out the eBay Inc. at NRF overview.
Cheers!
RBH
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, January 12th, 2012
I sat down with eBay CEO, John Donahoe, this morning at CES to chat about the eBay Inc. portfolio of business and technology – and how our different solutions complement each other. We also discussed the shift in consumer behavior in both the offline and online world.
Follow @ebayinkblog and see the eBay-related discussions coming out of CES this week using #eBayatCES hashtag. You can do the same for conversations coming out of NRF 2012 using #eBayatNRF.
Cheers,
RBH
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Congratulations to Dane Glasgow, VP, global product management, eBay Marketplaces and Rob Veres, senior director mobile/general manager, RedLaser, eBay Inc., for being named to SV / SJ Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars 2011.
They’ve both been here on eBay Ink multiple times in the past so it was great to be able to sit down with them this week and talk about the accolade. Even more interesting was learning how eerily linked their paths have been over the years… beginning with their freshman year in college (stick around for the end of the interview to also find out possible connections to the movie Mannequin and Jessica Simpson).
FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
I took the above photo of eBay Mobile’s VP, Steve Yankovich, being interviewed by CNN yesterday afternoon. Below you can see the resulting piece on CNN that highlights the new iPad feature, “Watch with eBay“.
Cheers,
RBH
