Talked with ECommerce Times about eBay. The company overhauled its look. It went for a more contemporary design a la Pinterest. What is even more interesting, eBay launched a new app, eBay Now, entering the same-day delivery service. The idea is that shoppers will be able to order items from a variety of retailers — Finish Line, GNC, Home Depot, Macy’s, Office Depot, RadioShack, Target, Toys R Us, and Walgreens. The goal is to get them delivered to the consumer’s door steps in a short period of time. We are talking within hours.
Just recently Walmart has announced a similar service. We are watching a new battle in the retail industry in which the boundaries between brick and mortar retailers on one hand and the traditional ecommerce company such as eBay and Amazon are blurring. In an analysis conducted by Salto Partners we were able to show that eCommerce vendors who deliver goods from well designed and optimized local warehouses will have a significant prize advantage over shop based delivery approaches. Our model shows that the investment in this warehouse infrastructure are significant though.