Startups like TaskRabbit
and Uber have given consumers a taste of instant satisfaction; probably it
seems eBay wants to deliver the same satisfaction they promise to their
respective consumers. We are witnessing the rise of convenience tech as
well.
This morning eBay sent an
email to Rakesh Agrawal tweeted about being invited to eBay. It
only works for those who purchases more than $25, but beta testers get $15 off
their first eBay Now order plus free
shipping on their first three orders before a $5 delivery fee kicks in.
The company eBayNow from any
store on its Milo platform, this service is only open to San
Francisco residents Monday-Saturday (9am to 9pm) & Sunday (9am-6pm), and
deliveries can arrive in just as little as an hour but a store must be open at
least a half an hour after an order is place. Its Partnered stores are Macy's,
Toys'R'Us, Target, and Best Buy. Those partnered user will
get prioritized for access before general signups. Finally, eBay will
be measure user interest to figure out product updates & whether to further
roll out eBay Now.
Below is the email those
invited to the beta received, though you can sign up here to get eBay Now when it’s ready:
Hi [Name],
We know you love
shopping on eBay. But sometimes you just can’t wait for shipping. Sound
familiar?
If so, we’ve created an
exciting new way to shop. Starting today, for purchases of $25 or more, San
Francisco shoppers can order products from local stores and have them delivered
to their door — at home, at work, or anywhere else in San Francisco. The new
service is called eBay Now, and you can download it here for your iPhone®,
iPad®, or iPod® touch.
Since eBay Now is in
beta, we’re taking $15 off your first order and offering FREE delivery for your
first three! After that, each delivery during the beta period is only $5. Your
orders arrive fast — usually within an hour! Pretty convenient, huh?
Downloadthe app now and
try it out. If you like it, share it!
You have three invites for friends and family.
Happy shopping!
The eBay Now Team
eBay Now trying to go
head-to-head with Amazon, which service is said to be planningwarehouses in
major cities to offer its own same-day shipping service. There will be extra
benefit for Amazon Prime users, who for a $79 a year
subscription gets free two-day delivery and $3.99 next-day delivery. Moreover,
Amazon’s CFO Tom Szkutak said ”we don’t see a way to do
same-day delivery on a broad scale economically” during the company’s Q2 earnings call.
As a result there should be
strong distribution network required to execute same-day service could be immensely
expensive for Amazon, even more for the less-equipped company like eBay.
Failure to produce a reliable or affordable service could be a big waste of
resources as well as reputation also. By Szkutak’s comments, it seems to be to
open the possibility of same-day service like eBay Now in metropolitan areas,
which is certainly easier than in spread out rural areas.
eBay Now can use on nimbler
startups like Postmates Get It Now and Y Combinator’s brand new Instacart, one-hour(!) delivery services for
take-out food, groceries, & other store-bought goods.
They certainly appealing to
customers benefit. For example, If I live in a big city surrounded by
brick-and-mortar stores & want something immediately, why wait times by
going with ecommerce unless there’s a super-speedy shipping option? Yes, you
never have to leave your cave. But eBay Now could turn your impulse into
products at your door just within hours.
Post a Comment