eBay attracts buyers for its wide selection and value, and for the global connection provided by the comprehensive marketplace. That connection between the buyer and seller can be hugely beneficial for engagement, but buyers would prefer to not be bombarded with unorganized, unwanted communication.
Sellers want an easy way to engage with their buyers, which can help them grow their sales. As part of that engagement, sellers often wish to reach out to past buyers and followers in order to drive more repeat purchases. To do that, and to help drive new customers to their inventory, sellers need tools that can help.
What We Launched
We want to help sellers grow and scale their business. With this unique-to-eBay Buyer Groups tool, sellers can reach new buyers and encourage previous customers to come back.
Buyer Groups is a marketing tool available for sellers to segment their buyers by groups for personalized promotions.
Examples of a buyer group:
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Buyers that bought from a seller’s store in the past month
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Buyers that bought in a specific category from a seller’s store (e.g., “golf equipment”)
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Buyers that are following but have not yet bought from the store.
As part of this first phase, sellers can:
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Group and segment their previous buyers with filtering criteria such as most recent purchase and category;
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Distinguish their followers between those who have purchased from them and those who have not yet done so;
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Engage with buyers and followers of these Buyer Groups in bulk by sending them coded coupons via email and push notifications.
As guardians of this trusted marketplace and buyer experience, we have been extremely careful to put checks and balances in the system, so as to not bombard buyers with these coupons. Sellers can send coupons only twice in the first month following a purchase. If the buyer does not engage with the seller, the seller can attempt to retain the buyer by sending them a further coupon after three months. After one year, the seller is not permitted to send more coupons.
After the launch of Offers to Buyers in early 2019 — a similar program which applies only to a single item — we saw the program drive more than one billion dollars in gross merchandising. eBay is now going a step further. With Buyer Groups, we have developed a marketing tool that is unique to any marketplace today.
At eBay, we create pathways to connect millions of sellers and buyers in more than 190 markets around the world. We offer sellers the ability to grow a business. We do not compete with our sellers; we win when our sellers succeed. Giving sellers the tools to continue to be successful on the eBay Marketplace is at the core of what we do.
