• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
Tech

Here’s How eBay Plans to Take On Amazon

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 10, 2016, 3:48 PM ET
Courtesy of eBay
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

EBay and its CEO, Devin Wenig, have a big task ahead for 2016: Proving to investors that the e-commerce site is still growing after its split from payments giant PayPal last year. So far, things aren’t looking good for eBay, which reported disappointing earnings for the important holiday season.

But Wenig has a plan, which he laid out at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Media conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. In an interview on stage, he said that eBay is now thinking more like a retailer instead of a technology site when marketing and selling the 800 million items that are available through the service.

It used to be that eBay’s core business was as an online auction house for hard to find items and antiques, used clothing and cars. But in the past five years, the company has emphasized selling new products like electronics and car parts at a fixed price.

But eBay is running up against e-commerce juggernaut Amazon with its current strategy. The challenge is to give shoppers a reason to go to eBay first.

“The brilliance of eBay’s model is its greatest challenge,” Wenig said. “It’s a friction free marketplace, which means sellers can sell anything they want, and that makes it complicated.”

In eBay’s twenty year history, the only way for shoppers to find items was through the search box, he continued. When it comes to mobile, however, people don’t want to scroll through a list of a hundred search results.

eBay is working on making finding items more “structured.” What that means is that the company is starting to help shoppers narrow down their search by providing them with choices.

For example, if your search for an iPhone, you’ll see categories for best value, brand new and more. What you won’t see is a list of every iPhone sold on eBay.

For more about eBay’s split from PayPal, watch:

EBay is also encouraging buyers to post product reviews. Because merchandising is getting better on eBay, said Wenig, the company is seeing more detailed reviews being posted by customers.

And eBay is following in the footsteps of Amazon by giving sellers more tools and data to help them grow their businesses. Amazon’s Sellers Coach gives sellers data about how quickly certain items are selling, and points out which items aren’t selling as well. Amazon also tells sellers when they could increase or lower prices, based on data of similar items sold throughout the site.

“It’s about making things more simple,” he said. “We want to improve all of these things in 2016.”

Wenig also addressed the company’s need to appear in Google search results. In 2014, eBay was was hit with a search penalty, which means its listings were listed lower than before. As a result, eBay lost a huge amount of traffic and sales.

“We are trying to bring more stability in search results,” Wenig explained. His solution is to have more products for sale all the time instead of just for a fixed time.

One area where eBay is not going to emulate Amazon is in logistics, which increasingly building a fleet of planes, trucks, and ships to take on FedEx and UPS. Wenig professed to “loving” Uber Rush, the ride sharing giant’s newly debuted delivery service. Instead of recreating a delivery network, he said he would rather work with Uber. “The last thing we should do is compete with Amazon on shipping,” he said.

Apart from shipping and logistics, Wenig’s comments generally paint a picture of eBay looking a lot like Amazon’s e-commerce marketplace. That’s a massive undertaking that even brick and mortar giants like Walmart and Target are having trouble successfully replicating.

But Wenig seems up for the challenge, at least based on his comments to the crowd of investors.

“There’s going to be a few great e-commerce companies and eBay will be in one of those.”

 

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

ring
PoliticsTariffs
Belgium got its tariffs cut. Then it sent Trump a diamond Superman ring
By Sam McNeil and The Associated PressJuly 4, 2026
1 hour ago
Ejay O'Donnell, Bart Szaniewski, and Grant Eastey wear Dad Gang hats in a factory
SuccessEntrepreneurship
Three dads started selling hats from a garage with $750—now they’ve sold $35 million worth, partnered with Gary Vee, and grown a community of fathers
By Preston ForeJuly 4, 2026
4 hours ago
How a third-generation Texas oilman transformed an organic farming company into a leading advanced nuclear startup at a small Christian college
EnergyNuclear
How a third-generation Texas oilman transformed an organic farming company into a leading advanced nuclear startup at a small Christian college
By Jordan BlumJuly 4, 2026
7 hours ago
Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs today. One specific American is predicted to eat 70 of them
North AmericaFood and drink
Americans will eat 150 million hot dogs today. One specific American is predicted to eat 70 of them
By Catherina GioinoJuly 4, 2026
7 hours ago
‘Devin-kun’: Japan embraces agents as legacy code and a shrinking workforce create a perfect market for an AI software engineer 
AsiaAI agents
‘Devin-kun’: Japan embraces agents as legacy code and a shrinking workforce create a perfect market for an AI software engineer 
By Nicholas GordonJuly 3, 2026
17 hours ago
Chad Hurley and Steven Chen wearing suits
SuccessWealth
YouTube’s founders split over $650 million when they sold to Google in 2006—had they held out, they could have taken a slice of $550 billion
By Preston ForeJuly 3, 2026
23 hours ago

Most Popular

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
Law
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
AI
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 3, 2026
1 day ago
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
Economy
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s 'misleading' job numbers
Economy
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s 'misleading' job numbers
By Jim EdwardsJuly 3, 2026
1 day ago
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ every day Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
Success
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ every day Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
By Preston ForeJuly 4, 2026
7 hours ago
$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time—he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch
Success
$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time—he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 3, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.