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Join us for an online discussion with Michael Dearing, eBay's VP of Marketing and Merchandising. Michael will be discussing the strategy behind recent category changes, including Item Specifics and category rollups (where some lower level subcategories are being removed in some meta-categories). This is an opportunity to learn more about how these changes benefit the eBay Marketplace and to get your questions answered. This event has already occurred. Please read the transcript of this event below: eBay: Good afternoon. With us today is Michael Dearing, Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising for eBay North America. eBay: Today Michael will field questions concerning the strategy behind recent category changes, including the introduction of Item Specifics and category rollups (where some lower level subcategories are being removed in some meta-categories). Thank you for joining us, and we welcome your individual questions. Michael: Hi, everybody! Thanks for coming. This is an important topic, and I know many of you are personally interested in it, so let's dive into the questions. Charles Hawtrey: Why did these changes have to be made? The previous categories and sub-categories worked extremely well. The new process is more laborious. Michael: We agree that the previous categories and sub-categories worked extremely well and sub-categories will continue to remain at the heart of how eBay is structured. However, sub-categories and free-text search alone don't allow buyers to shop as flexibly as they would like. By combining Item Specifics with Keyword Search and category structure, we believe the buyers will have a much more powerful means to find what they're looking for. We tested this belief extensively in the laboratory through user surveys over the last 2 years. Since we released Item Specifics, we've been very pleased with the trend in gross merchandise volume in every category. Since we completed the category rollups in Movies, Music and Video Games, we've seen additional acceleration. It's important to note that the buyers are using the Product Finders to browse just like they used to use the category structure, and they are finding more success with the Product Finder than with category structure alone. Bill3001: Why do you have to screw around with something that worked perfectly well? Where I was once able to look at perhaps 50 to 75 items in a specific sub-category, I now have to search though over 700 items now placed within a much broader category. If this continues I will no longer use eBay for auctions or online purchases. I don't have the time to waste. Just another observation, the next time you decide to change things. Michael: Good question, Bill. Category structure did work very well for a long time. However, category structure alone isn't enough to fuel the long-term growth of the marketplace. For example, the importance of keyword searching has increased significantly in just the last few years. This coincided with a major increase in the inventory, and now Search represents the vast majority of finding on eBay. Similarly, we are evolving category structure to accommodate a third finding concept called Item Specifics. Much like Search did in combination with category structure, Item Specifics allows buyers to do everything they could previously but at powerful new capabilities. Because we rolled up certain categories, the inventory level per category appears higher. However, the Product Finder (the drop-down finding tool that appears on left-hand side of search) allows you to browse or filter using any combination of attributes you want. So while genre, for example, is important to some, other buyers may prefer to filter by format, price, or condition. Your last point regarding discussing changes before we make them is a very valid one. That's why we previewed Item Specifics and category changes very widely before we implemented them. Over the last 2 years, eBay has tested both in the lab, and with users in surveys the Item Specifics products more extensively than any other new feature or function we have ever released. While we recognize that not every user can be consulted, we consult leading sellers and buyers, new sellers and buyers, and many other user segments very carefully. Titankoios: Don't you think that category roll-ups will affect buyers accustomed to browse by category? Michael: Yes. We realize that category rollups require some getting used to. Any time you change something that's been in place as long as the category structure, there will be some period of adjustment. However, when buyers learn how to use the Product Finder, browsing becomes easier and more powerful than ever before. For example, using a Product Finder a buyer is able to browse not only genre but also genre and condition combinations. We would not have made this change without strong evidence that Item Specifics allowed buyers to find items more easily than the previous category structure. I'll go further and say that if there were ever evidence that Item Specifics or category rollups had harmed the business, we would immediately reverse the decision. Comics by the Web: Which categories are being affected, and what is the reasoning? Michael: Item Specifics has been released to approximately 70-80 categories on the site. The most recent and most significant changes have been to Video Games, Music, and Movies, and in the coming weeks, additional changes will be released in Books. The reason we are introducing Item Specifics and making selective category changes is to improve the buying experience on eBay. The size of the inventory and the number of buyers coming to the marketplace requires that we offer more powerful tools than free-text search and category structure alone. Some folks are concerned - and rightly so - that the introduction of Item Specifics changes the way buying is done on eBay. We want to change the experience but only to make it better. By better I mean faster and easier to narrow down hundreds of thousands of items to the few that you're most interested in. Item Specifics allows buyers to do just that, and the Product Finders (the drop-down tools that appear in the left-hand side of Search and Listings pages) are very powerful tools. Babenterprises: Will the category change make it easier for sellers to find the correct category for their listings? Michael: Yes. Category changes will reduce the number of categories in Books, Movies, Music and Video Games. This will make it easier to select which category; however, we recognize that for sellers who are new to using Item Specifics there will be an adjustment period. We are confident that those sellers who adopt Item Specifics will be able to develop shortcuts and listing techniques that take full advantage of seller tools such as Turbo Lister or the Seller's Assistant series or even Third Party tools, most of which already support Item Specifics. Hammer-con: This effectively kills browsing. A lot of sellers get a lot of sales from people browsing. So how does removing sub-categories and eliminating browsing help sellers? Michael: You're right, Hammer-con - eliminating browsing would not help sellers. Item Specifics is a complement to browsing, not a replacement for it. As you can imagine, we watch buyer behavior extremely carefully, and we track practically every session on the site. We've observed that buyers who use the category structure to find items are very quickly adopting the Product Finder to help them find items on eBay. For example, the old category structure in Music was based on genre - rock, R&B, classical, new age, etc. All of these classifications still exist on the site. However, by using Item Specifics to browse by genre, you can also browse by genre AND condition or by genre AND format or by genre AND price...you get the idea. In this way, Item Specifics and the Product Finder offer buyers of all types - whether they are searchers or browsers - a much more powerful tool for shopping. Quot Libros Quam Breve Tempus: What has eBay done to educate the buyers about Item Specifics? All I have seen is that the categories are gone. Michael: Great question! We have invested heavily in buyer education. The single biggest investment was in locating the Product Finder so prominently on the listings pages. There is no more valuable real estate on that page than the spot in which the Product Finder sits. Our research, both before and after Item Specifics went live, shows that the finders are both easily discovered and easy to use. The use of drop-down based filters is a standard on the web and appeals to new and experienced buyers alike. For example, among browsers in the Video Games category, the Product Finders are used between 2/3 and 3/4 of the time. That's an astronomical usage rate for any feature, much less a voluntary one. We think that speaks volumes about how helpful and powerful, not to mention intuitive, the Product Finders are. Your point is very well taken and we know that education is an ongoing process. It's not enough to just drop the Product Finder on the page, and that's why we will constantly be reading results from buyer behavior and updating and improving our on-site education and help on how to use Item Specifics. Fivemile13: I was disappointed to see that Records are no longer broken down into category. This makes collecting in a genre much more difficult. Can it be changed back? Michael: At this time, and based on all the data we're seeing, the change to Records has had a positive effect on total sales volume in the category. You can still shop/browse by genre in Records using the Product Finder on the left-hand side of the page. Not only can you browse by genre, but we've also added a sub-genre to the Item Specifics. Based on observations of thousands of buyer sessions, we are confident that using the Product Finder on the left side of the page is as or more powerful than the previous category structure. Having said that, I understand that a change like this can be disruptive. However, the long-term value to collectors like yourself and the overall marketplace makes this a change worth doing. Forbidden CDROM: I have noticed a drop-off in hits in my auctions since the category changes. Using Sellathon I had found that nearly 90% of the people finding my auction were doing it by browsing the category. As you can see, I am left blaming the category changes for the drop-off in hits and sales in my auctions. Is this to be expected and what advice do you have? Michael: Since eBay only succeeds if you do, Forbidden CDROM, our expectation is that sales will increase as a result of these changes, not decrease. We watch these numbers very carefully. Generally speaking, there can be short-term disruptions associated with changes like these. However, by using Item Specifics your items should be as findable, if not more findable, than previously. My advice would be to use Item Specifics so that your buyers when using the Product Finder can find exactly what they want from your inventory. And let me assure you that if Item Specifics were to reduce the sales volume in these categories, we would of course remove it from the site. I'm happy to report, however, that all indications are that gross merchandise volume in these categories are beating our expectations for growth. Sewing Simple Mom: Is there something I can read that will let me know what is going on with the category changes? Michael: Absolutely! The announcement board is the place to go. For those that don't know, you can find it by clicking on Community from the eBay nav bar at the top of every page, so no matter where you are on the site, you're only 1-2 clicks away from the latest information. Treasure Trove: Have you even shopped eBay? Michael: LOL! :-) Of course I shop eBay! In fact, I bought two books today. I am a buyer and a seller with over 140 feedback. (It would be higher if it weren't for my day job.) Mapleton Iowa: What exactly is the new category strategy? Michael: Your question is very broad, but I will do my best to answer it in a brief high level summary. Our category strategy boils down to one thing: provide economic opportunity for practically anyone trading practically anything. This means that we manage the marketplace to maximize growth and sales opportunities for the sellers. It also means that we manage the marketplace to provide extraordinary access to the world's biggest inventory to the buyers. We do this in every category in every line of merchandise that's sold on the site. For Movies, Music and Video Games (and soon in Books), we have made a large investment in a powerful new finding tool (Item Specifics). We've done this because we believe that Item Specifics and the Product Finders that we show to the buyers are the best way to fulfill our mission/category strategy. Jmbstudio: Hello Michael. I want to ask why all Featured Plus are coming up for pages and pages before any Ending Soonest regular auction listings. I don't know why this is being done, or how it affects other categories, but for the Art it is detrimental to have all Featureds come up first. There are way too many and it is redundant to even bother using Featured Plus at this point. Michael: Hi Jmbstudio and thanks for your question. Featured Plus shows up differently in Browse than in Search. The vast majority of buyer sessions used Search and they see Featured Plus only for the page on which that item would normally appear. When buyers are browsing, however, they see what you described: all the Featured Plus items before the non-featured items. I will take your feedback and make sure that it is considered carefully by the team that manages that feature. Rabbit Bro: Michael, are there statistics on how many visitors actually use Categories instead of typing key words into Search? Michael: Great question, Rabbit Bro. At this time the vast majority of visitors/buyers use Search. This is clearly because of the extraordinary volume of inventory that's on eBay. To prove that point, if you go back in time and look at how visitors used eBay 5-6 years ago, the relationship between Search and Category browsing was the exact opposite. But as the site grew, Search became more important. Stevelco: Can we list in more than one category if both have Item Specifics? How will that work? Michael: Thanks for your question. At this time, Item Specifics for your primary category of choice are the ones that will apply. We are investigating alternatives that would allow sellers to take advantage of Item Specifics in more than one category at a time. We will of course discuss any new developments extensively with the users. If you'd like more information on this, don't hesitate to contact me at md@eBay.com. Greater Deals 4U: By reducing the number of categories, will this enable sellers to be available for more/better searches? Michael: The real benefit comes from using Item Specifics so that your buyers may find your items using the Product Finder on the left hand side of the page. Samadams11: Have these changes had any effect on buying activity? Michael: Great question! As I mentioned earlier, we track buying and spending activity very carefully in all of the categories that have Item Specifics/category changes. The growth rates have either held or increased, and buyer usage of the Product Finders is increasing rapidly, particularly in Video Games, Movies, and Music. We expect to see the same effect in Books. I should also add that the category changes in Books, Movies, Music, and Video Games are among the most significant that we anticipate on the site. For example, it is likely that category changes due to Item Specifics being introduced in other categories such as Collectibles, Sporting Goods, Apparel, and Jewelry will be milder, if they occur at all. Masterpak USA: Am I free to list in whichever category I choose? What are the guidelines? And where does fine art shipping materials - conservation etc - fit in? How about art supplies for fine art, not just arts and craft supplies? Michael: It's every seller's responsibility to list his or her items properly and according to the user agreement in the proper category. We try very hard to ensure that there's a place for practically anything on eBay. If you are having trouble identifying a category in which to list your items, you can use the category selection tool in the Sell Your Item form, or you may browse the entire category structure by clicking on the Browse link in the eBay header at the top of every page. Zzrules3: Will item searching be more advanced and thorough? Michael: When buyers use a Product Finder, they get to decide whether they browse the broad attributes of a category or whether they very narrowly target particular items with particular attributes. That's why the Product Finder is such a positive development for the site and the users. But it only works if sellers add Item Specifics to their listings. Dpseeker: Won't the new category structure make it more difficult for bidders to browse? Michael: No. Buyers may use the Product Finder on the left hand side of the page to browse or filter the large set of results they get in these categories. They may browse by genre as or more efficiently than they did using the old Category structure. As you know, eBay Inc. only succeeds if the eBay marketplace succeeds. The eBay marketplace only succeeds if the individual buyers and sellers succeed. So we all want the same thing - fast, easy and fun shopping that brings buyers and sellers together successfully. Bingo Fuel: I'm really bothered about the rollback of categories, especially the loss of the Musicals sub-venue in DVDs. Michael: I understand, Bingo Fuel, that changes like this can be disruptive short-term. However, we believe Product Finder and Item Specifics allow you to do all that you could with the old category structure and then some. For example, if musicals are what you're looking for…Oops! I goofed! We're looking at the site now and see that Musicals is not there. This brings up a good point, which is that the values or attributes that are included in Item Specifics will evolve much like the category structure evolved, and your input is critical to that process. We will investigate why Musicals was left off the list and get back to you with an explanation, either on the category discussion board or to you personally if you'd like to email me with your contact info. My email is md@ebay.com. Pythor: Any chance there will be a "Compare Item" sometime in the future? Michael: While we don't disclose the detailed plans for new products, I can tell you that this feature has been requested by many members. We have discussed how this might work on eBay. As you can imagine, it's a tricky one. If we have any news on this front, we will share it as soon as we can. Bingo Fuel: Sorry Michael, it sounds like you're blowing us off. In 50 years in marketing, sales and merchandising, I learned that you improve sales by making things easier for the customer, not by taking away their handiest tools. Michael: :-) I can't blow you off - I work for you! The only reason any of us have our jobs is because of what you do on the site. It is not our intention to make things harder for either sellers or buyers. We want both groups to be successful on eBay and in general. I recognize that these changes cause disruption; however, eBay itself was quite disruptive to the process of buying and selling in the beginning. To use your analogy of tools, I think what we've done is added a new powerful tool to the buyer and seller toolbox. Category structure will always remain in that toolbox, as will Keyword Search. Now buyers and sellers have a powerful third tool in Item Specifics and the Product Finder to buy and sell on the site. Using Product Finder, a buyer can do everything he/she could do with the category structure and then some. We haven't taken anything away; we have evolved and modified it to support continued rapid growth of the marketplace. Ms Daisyrose: We have a unique product, so I don't know what category to place it in. Michael: You can use the Category Selector Tool in the Sell Your Item form. Alternatively, you can email me at md@ebay.com and we will help you find a category. Keep in mind that since you all move faster than we do, you may have found something that we haven't heard of yet, and we may have to build out a category structure to accommodate it. By the way, that's the kind of thing that built the company in the first place. Joe: Won't the new category structure make it more difficult/time consuming for sellers to list? Michael: There are two changes to the selling process. On one hand, selecting a category got a lot easier. On the other, we are asking for more information in the Item Specifics portion. The goal is to make this a net neutral change for all sellers. We are doing this by working closely with seller tools providers to incorporate shortcuts, mapping tools, and other productivity enhancements to allow sellers to select Item Specifics as lickety-split as they were able to do with their category codes. Alwayz Seller: With adding more parameters, don't you expand the way that things can be found, sort of like the search engines like Google, making it an educated seller's benefit? Michael: Exactly right! Not only does Item Specifics and the Product Finder allow advanced sellers to more easily create advanced finding experiences, it helps people who are new to eBay understand that they can filter or refine lists of hundreds of thousands of items down to a browsable, shoppable list using a very simple drop-down format tool. As I mentioned in the beginning of the chat, the drop-down filter tool design is very close to standard on the web. Hundreds of millions of web users are familiar with this design, and we've seen rapid adoption of it in the target categories. eBay: Thank you for a wonderful event! Do you have any parting words for us? Michael: Thank you all very much for attending. If you have any followups at all, please email them to me at md@ebay.com. You may also use the category discussion boards where many category managers and Community team leaders lurk. The last thing I'd say is that you may use eBay's online help system to find more information about Item Specifics. You're never more than one click away from Help no matter where you are on eBay. Go to the top nav bar all the way to the right and click Help. It's small, but it's there. So hopefully you have TiVo'd "Survivor," and you can all get back to what matters most. Ha ha, just kidding. Thank you for hanging in there and have a good night. eBay: Thank you for joining us for this Town Hall with Michael Dearing. We hope that we answered most of your questions. A Production of LiveWorld. Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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