Making it easier for the good guys to sell

The Challenge

After a decade of growth, eBay recognised its customer experience had been developed in a way that was more product-led than customer-led. For most users, the selling process was difficult and frustrating. Its business was also evolving, B2B was now crucial to its future. The poor seller experience had to change.

Services: Customer Strategy : Customer Proposition


The Impact

5

5 point rise in NPS within one year

New

New Seller Hub launched

The Outside-in Perspective

In trying to catch bad sellers, eBay unintentionally worsened the selling experience for the ‘good guys’. By identifying which sellers were impacted by which pain points, we were able to examine the amount of effort they spent solving the problem and how they felt once the problem was resolved (or not). We compared this experience with that of people using the HMRC website, which had also once assumed that its customers had bad intent.

The Insight

We found 12 pain points that caused over 75% of sellers’ pain. Sellers were, by default, treated with distrust. One example was when sellers increased their sales volumes it could trigger an alert that froze their account. They then needed to contact eBay to have the restriction removed.

The Solution

Using our insight and intelligence, eBay was able to transform the seller experience - providing transparent information and support, opening up new opportunities for sellers and most importantly, re-establishing trust.