Objectives of knowledge management

Chapter 1
Introduction to digital business and e‑commerce
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Part 1
Introduction
calculated such that it does not affect overall sales. In 
their 2012 SEC filing eBay note:
We regularly announce changes to our Marketplaces 
business intended to drive more sales and improve 
seller efficiency and buyer experiences and trust. 
Some of the changes that we have announced to 
date have been controversial with, and led to dissat‑
isfaction among, our sellers, and additional changes 
that we announce in the future may also be negatively 
received by some of our sellers. This may not only 
impact the supply of items listed on our websites, but 
because many sellers also buy from our sites, it may 
adversely impact demand as well.
In common with other global platforms like Amazon, 
Facebook and Google, eBay note the potential threat 
of the shift to tablet and smartphone platforms, stating 
that one risk factor is: ‘Our ability to manage the rapid 
shift from online commerce and payments to mobile 
and multichannel commerce and payments.’
There is also the common risk factors for online pure‑
plays of retaining an active user base, attracting new 
users and encouraging existing users to list items for 
sale, especially when consumer spending is weak.
Competition
Although there are now few direct competitors of online 
auction services in many countries, there are many 
indirect competitors. eBay (2013) describes competing 
channels as including online and offline retailers, distribu‑
tors, liquidators, import and export companies, auction‑
eers, catalogue and mail‑ order companies, classifieds, 
directories, search engines, products of search engines, 
virtually all online and offline commerce participants, and 
online and offline shopping channels and networks.
In their SEC filing, eBay states that the principal com‑
petitive factors for the Marketplaces business include 
the following:
● 
ability to attract, retain and engage buyers and sellers;
● 
volume of transactions and price and selection of 
goods;
● 
trust in the seller and the transaction;
● 
customer service; and
● 
brand recognition.
Although eBay is one of the largest e‑commerce busi‑
nesses, these factors also need to be actively managed 
by the smallest online e‑retailer. For their online and 
mobile competition, they describe additional competi‑
tive factors, including:
● 
community cohesion, interaction and size;
● 
website or mobile application ease‑of‑use and 
accessibility;
● 
system reliability;
● 
reliability of delivery and payment;
● 
level of service fees; and
● 
quality of search tools.
Before the advent of online auctions, competitors in the 
collectables space included antique shops, car boot 
sales and charity shops. Anecdotal evidence suggests 
that all of these are now suffering. Some have taken the 
attitude of ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’. Many smaller 
traders who have previously run antique or car boot 
sales are now eBayers. Even charities such as Oxfam 
now have an eBay service where they sell high‑ value 
items contributed by donors. Other retailers such as 
Vodafone have used eBay as a means to distribute cer‑
tain products within their range.