Discussion - The Modern Buyer: How Millennials Shop Now

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Hi, everyone!

We’ve posted our third installment in “The Modern Buyer” blog series where we are diving deep into the shopping experience today’s buyers expect, and what this means for eBay sellers.

Today’s article covers the most talked about generation, the Millennials. This generation, born between 1980 and 2000, are the largest group of shoppers in the world.

Let us know how you are thinking about the direction for your business in the short and long term as it relates to new buying behaviors.

I’m Jennifer Deal, eBay Seller Marketing Manager, and I’ll be popping in and out of this thread to answer your questions and infuse some discussion points over the next couple of days. Join the discussion below!

[carlmarxx]

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I won't accept the biggest thing about selling to millenials. Offer free shipping and free returns.  I know a woman who "bought" 6 dresses for 1 function. She will decide the one she's gonna keep and ship the rest back.

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We do see this type of activity on multiple marketplaces with some advertising liberal return policies which for them means removing any barrier or fear a customer would have about their purchases. 

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But what small or medium seller on here has the stock to tie up 6 dresses just to get a valid purchase of (maybe) one, and to pay for shipping to and from the customer? Or even wants to?

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That's the Zappos model.

It works really well for shoes, because sizing/fit is a major issue with shoes, most people wouldn't buy them online if they were going to be shelling out a lot of money on return shipping labels everytime something didn't fit their foot right.  For what I'm selling, this is a non-issue.  A good photo showing the actual item overcomes all of the issues that used to be present when mail order in my niche was conducted from black and white magazine ads. 

It also works for Zappos because they have the cost of this service/benefit priced into their goods.  Since they're THE seller, and there are no other parties selling on their site, they can get away with the higher prices.  And they've built a following of loyal customers, who are willing to pay the higher prices because they recognize the value in the returns/shipping policies. 

This ain't Zappos, and I ain't sellin' shoes.

Here, eBay had the original, and biggest, loyal following (in online selling).  They've squandered a lot of that already, and alienate more of them all the time.   A lot of the people they're trying to cater to now are part of Amazon's loyal following, and they aren't going to capture much of that unless Amazon does something to alienate them. 

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And when Zappos runs sales, the vendor/manufacturer usually has to accept the lowest price possible from them. Then, when the event is over, you better have the stock that you told them you had before the event for what they sold or you get whacked 10.00/pair for what you can't fulfill. So if you had your own website, you have a choice of selling a pair for retail price and taking the 10.00 hit, or hurt yourself by cancelling the full-price sale.

The only plus is that they eat them if the customer returns them. They do not go back to the vendor/manufacturer(unlike Nordstrom.com).

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Well Zappos  went into chapter 11 after a  6+ million  dollar loss  to  Retail buyer fraud do to their Liberal return policy   and  Amazon bought them . Nordstorms lost  1 Billion + Dollars  lost to retail buyer fraud ! Do their Liberal return policy's. 

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Are you sure they went into Chapter 11? Do you have a source? Amazon purchased them amost  10 years ago and zappos still brings in billions of dollars annually.

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They  where  in CNN buisness News   2 years ago  talking about their chapter 11  and   money loss  do to return buyer abuse .       

[missjen831]

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Maybe ebay has a self-identity crisis...seems as though it believes it is THE MALL.

It's not...it's the road to the mall. That road is jam-packed with billboards, i.e., listing titles.
The road is not straight, and sometimes is hard to navigate. Some travelers see a holgram that says "Dead End" and turn around.
Fix the road, ebay. If you don't know where you're going, you wind up someplace else.

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They think they are a mall but honestly they are a modern day flea market. I can only speak for the ones in Cali but they are essentially a brick and mortar eBay—vintage goods, some antiques, collectibles, cheap Chinese **bleep**, new and and used clothes, car parts, and a ton of counterfeit goods! 

[carlmarxx]

Jen  go  to the LL Been thread   and  to link  to  USNEWS   !  LL been Lost $250 million  dollars to buyer fraud .  

[missjen831]

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Jen  go  to the LL Been thread   and  to link  to  USNEWS   !  LL been Lost $250 million  dollars to buyer fraud .  

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Why????? you said Zappos filed chapter 11. What does LL bean have to do with that? Zappos was a struggling company many years ago but they didn’t file for bankruptcy which you claimed. Don’t know why ll bean is relevant here?

[carlmarxx]

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Jen  go  to the LL Been thread   and  to link  to  USNEWS   !  LL been Lost $250 million  dollars to buyer fraud .  

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Why????? you said Zappos filed chapter 11. What does LL bean have to do with that? Zappos was a struggling company many years ago but they didn’t file for bankruptcy which you claimed. Don’t know why ll bean is relevant here?

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Zappos was In cnn business News .com 2  years ago   about filing Chapter 11    and  about  the $6 million  dollars lose  to buyer return abuse  and fraud.  2 years ago .     And  today  LL BEEN is  in USNEWS  about  their new return policy  and issues of money lose to  Buyer fraud .

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Hello!   Thank you all for your participation in our third chat about The Modern Buyer, Millennials.  On behalf of my team, we appreciate the constructive conversation, ideas and all comments. We know you're taking time out of your day to be engaged, and we appreciate that!

I’m wrapping up the conversation, but look forward to seeing you again when we wrap up the series  with our last installation discussing Gen Z. 

Have a great weekend!