Using Twitter to Connect with Customers

Twitter is helping e-commerce merchants, like eBay sellers, to connect with their customers, understand their needs, receive regular feedback and generally drive up sales by influencing customers through building a personal relationship with them. There are certain ground rules that have to be followed when using twitter, however.

First, the merchant has to choose an appropriate username and create a relevant profile. The merchant has to learn to listen, interact, influence and provide content that is both entertaining and relevant. Using short, direct messages and answering questions are also important. Providing regular discounts can help too.

eBay sellers can use Twitter to advertise their products and influence customer choices to increase revenue. The increased revenue is, however, likely to take a hit from high shipping costs. To help reduce them, eBay sellers can use the Adship eBay program. Adship lets sellers make money through ads placed in the order-fulfillment process.

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eBay Running Free Fixed – Price Promotion for Listings

eBay has invited select sellers for its free fixed-price promotion listing event. Selected sellers can list up to 20,000 listings in the regular fixed price format. The listing duration options will be 3, 5, 7, 10, and 30 days.

Invited sellers have received a message on their My eBay page. Only those sellers meeting a certain minimum performance standard are eligible for the listings. The free promotion is not transferrable, and it is in addition to the regular 50 free listings that every seller stands to receive each month.

The free listings promotion event will allow smaller sellers to list even more items on eBay and, hopefully, make bigger sales. eBay sellers struggling to make a profit can also innovate and use Adship to generate money through placing non-competitive, complementary advertisements in the order fulfillment process. Adship eBay sellers can use this extra revenue to off-set shipping cost, for example.

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eBay Turns up the Heat on Bad Buyers

The eBay seller protection team has increased the suspension rate for bad buyer accounts by a staggering 900% over the first half of the year. They have also increased bad buyer restrictions b 450%. eBay has given the credit to sellers that have reported bad buyers through the “Report a Buyer” feature on the website. To help sellers further, eBay is also planning several seller protection workshops in May and June.

eBay has also helped preserve the performance ratings of more than 100,000 sellers over the first half of the year by deleting erroneous feedback. The seller protection program’s new features seem to have paid off for the company.

eBay has long looked out for the interests of its sellers. Another company that looks out for eBay sellers as well as sellers on other platforms is Adship. Adship eBay sellers to make money through placing ads in the order fulfillment process.

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EBay Looking to Link Shopping Carts across Devices through its Updated App

eBay is looking to make shopping easier for online shoppers in the U.S. and the UK by making updates to its app. The update allows for a universal shopping cart that can be accessed from any Android and iOS operating platform. For example, if a customer adds an item to his shopping cart on the iPad, but is then interrupted for some reason, he can then access the same shopping cart and complete the sale later.

eBay has also introduced different search views that allow users to see search results in table, tile, or grid view. The other features include a better user interface and more customization options.

The move should help eBay sellers to sell more goods, as shoppers are less likely to abandon their shopping cart. eBay sellers can use the Adship revenue generation program to cover shipping costs and to make a bigger profit. Adship eBay sellers make money for every ad placed in the order fulfillment process.

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eBay Looking to Develop Apps for Google Glass

eBay is currently in the process of participating in the Google Glass beta program. Google Glass is a wearable technology that lets users see data from the web through an electronic screen placed on the left lens of a specially designed pair of glasses. eBay wants to ensure that if Google Glass is the next big thing in technology, it has a presence on it.

eBay benefited tremendously by making a similar move when the iPhone was first introduced. Its early presence in the app store gave the company’s online store a much-needed shot in the arm.

eBay has always had a policy of looking to the future. eBay associates and sellers have always benefited from this policy. Another program that eBay sellers can take advantage of is the Adship revenue generation program, which lets eBay sellers make money by placing ads in the order fulfillment process.

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eBay Hosting List Promotion for UK Sellers

eBay is hosting a list promotion for UK business sellers from May 20-24^th, 2013. Usually, list promotions in the UK are limited to casual sellers, but this time eBay has decided to host one for business sellers. The list promotion is only open to those who have received an invitation, however. Invitations are given out to those who have listed as business sellers in the UK and who own a basic or a featured shop.

As part of the promotion, sellers will not have to pay insertion fees for eligible listings, numbering up to 50,000.

The move should help eBay sellers in the UK make a bigger profit than usual. They can also take advantage of the Adship revenue generation program to cover shipping costs. Adship eBay sellers make money for each ad placed in the order fulfillment process.

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Shoppers Likely to Leave Hard-to-Shop Sites

According to a new study conducted for Redwood Software by OnePoll, 65% percent of online shoppers will leave an e-commerce website if they cannot quickly find what they want. The statistics for retail stores are even worse – 75% will leave a store if they can’t find what they need.

Some of the common irritants for online shoppers were: having to repeat personal information in several places, finding an item to be out of stock, difficulty in returning online-bought items and transactions being too long and complicated.

eBay, unlike most top online retailers, has a well-optimized website that caters to both its customers as well as sellers. eBay sellers usually have no problems satisfying customers. eBay sellers can even offer a custom tracking portal by joining the Adship program for shippers. Adship allows eBay sellers to make money through ads placed in the order-fulfillment process.

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Tablet Shoppers much more Likely to Buy

According to a new report by Adobe Systems, tablet shoppers are three times more likely to purchase as compared to smartphone surfers. The research goes on to suggest that tablet owners use their tablet to compare products and buy them, while smartphone owners use the smartphone to check the price of an item or for a store address, rarely to buy.

The conversion rate for the tablet is 2.2%, while for the smartphone it is a measly 0.7%. The report is relevant to all big retailers, like eBay, that have been struggling to maintain profit levels.

eBay does have a tablet friendly website in place already. Adship.com, which offers revenue-generating opportunities to sellers has a tracking portal that is also tablet friendly, and allows buyers to track their packages.  The Adship program allows Adship eBay sellers to make money by placing ads in the order-fulfillment process.

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For Better Sales, eBay Merchants should Use Social Media

Big brand brick and mortar stores have resources to advertise their products, but small eBay merchants do not have that luxury. Digital marketing gurus thus advocate eBay merchants to extensively leverage social media platforms for marketing their products. The mechanics are simple, if a person likes or shares your product related posting, all the people in the users friends list will also see it. As an eBay merchant, you can increase the chances of garnering more likes by making your page “Like” protected. In simple words, unless the user likes your page, he would not be able to access Facebook exclusive discounts and offers.

Of course costs would be involved, and you as an eBay merchant can offset some of the costs by subscribing to AdShip’s innovative advertising program. AdShip places ads on order fulfilment touch points like emails, order confirmation pages, shipping and shipment tracking emails and tracking portals. And best of all, once you are with AdShip, every order shipped will earn you some money. For more information on social media usage by eBay merchants, click here.

Sellers Confused with Recent eBay Photo Requirements

eBay no longer allows sellers to place text on product photos, that many sellers use as watermarks. eBay has also come up with new picture requirements – product pictures will have to be at least 500 pixels on the longer side. The recommended picture size, however, is more than three times the minimum: 1600 pixels.

eBay has been sending emails to sellers that have photos that don’t comply with the company’s new requirements. The deadline for the new photo requirements was July 1^st.

The move is an attempt by eBay to help its customers identify what exactly they are buying. The move will also benefit eBay sellers in the long run. Adship also has a program that helps customers track their packages better, via the AdShip tracking portal. Adship also allows sellers to make money by placing  non-competitive ads in the order-fulfillment process. Read more about the whole story here.