Mohammad Hasan Shaikh October 2 2013
CASE ASSIGNMENT: eBay: Creating Customers on the Move
1. Which stages of the consumer decision-making process are affected most by comparison shopping on mobile platforms? Explain.
1. All stages can be considered affected less or more. In my opinion, most affected stages are: Internal information gathering – eBay application provides consumer with basic information like brand name, color, price, size, location, shipping cost, etc. After comparing this information consumer supposedly will make a rough choice to get more info or refine search by certain criteria. Evaluation of alternatives – is the most affected and difficult stage for consumer. At this point all options needs to be compared: one seller can be more competitive pricewise but shipping will take longer time due to location of the product, another has a better feedback and accepts every known method of payment but has lower amount of days after product will be accepted back or do not accept returns, etc. Purchase of product also can be considered as affected stage. Before actual payment, some sellers can only ask for desired quantity and get consumer directly to the payment page but some can ask for available coupons or gift cards. However, I think this stage has very limited possibilities compared to full site version.
2. Based on the goal expressed by Steve Yancovich, which stage of the consumer decision-making process is eBay trying to influence? How are they doing so?
2. I think eBay trying to influence need recognition stage. Company created a mobile application with a lot of comparison options allowing users to share “personal outfits” with their friends, using products and items currently being sold on eBay. Creating a way to use eBay for fun “without purchase in mind” should increase eBay’s popularity and percentage of total revenue of mobile commerce