COMPANY PROFILE

Ebay is an online platform and marketplace pioneer that connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating economic opportunity for all.

CHALLENGE

As Ebay expanded globally, the UK business sought to accelerate user acquisition and buying/selling activity while spending marketing dollars efficiently. To enable this, the business wanted consumer insights and a targeting segmentation.

APPROACH

In collaboration with several research partners, Dave Chilvers and Lori Yuhas, now Marquee people, laid out a research and segmentation process that included:
    1) Qualitative exploratory
    2) A quantitative study
    3) eBay user (actual behavioral) data
The process was designed to yield foundational insights along with two segmentations – one of UK Online Shoppers (targeting) and another of eBay UK Users (usage patterns). When overlaid, the segmentations would then produce a predictive buyer/seller acquisition & repeat model of how a segment would behave once acquired.

SOLUTION

Led by Lori and Dave, the team delivered a seven-segment UK Online Shopper segmentation, completed with comprehensive segment personas. The segmentation identified two heavy user segments (that Ebay knew quite well) – those people who passionately enjoyed the thrill of winning and/or opportunistic selling – and three new target segments (that Ebay didn't know at all) – those who were open to buying or selling on eBay, yet needed understanding or encouragement.

As a means to imprint the segments & insight-laden personas upon the minds of Ebay employees, and drive the notion of designing around segments into the culture, the process culminated in a day-long employee workshop. The marketing, category and platform teams then went to work, identifying strategies and tactics to attract, acquire and activate the identified target segments, while the predictive acquisition=>behavior model enabled the marketing & finance teams to strengthen quarterly and annual business forecasting.

RESULTS

Shaped by the segmentation study’s findings and recommendations, Ebay UK’s first ever targeted brand marketing campaign, supported by platform and category enhancements, added +4MM Year 1 new users and grew sales among new and existing users +59% YoY to £2.1B.

The segmentation process, deemed an Ebay Best Practice, was shared and leveraged globally.

 
Region
US, Europe (UK)
People
Lori Yuhas, Dave Chilvers
Services
Marketing Research
Consumer Insights
Analytics
Segmentation
Organizational Engagement