eBay – a channel to drive sales offline?

Posted 21 April 2008 15:56pm by Richard Maven with 2 comments

Reserve and collect services are all the rage at the moment as retailers integrate their online and offline businesses. But few – if any – have developed an equivalent offering for marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.

One company that is looking to do so, however, is footwear chain Schuh; one of the most prolific sellers on eBay UK. 

According to Dan Lumb, the company’s e-commerce boss, it is currently developing a buy on eBay/collect in store system that it hopes will create cross-selling opportunities for its bricks and mortar outlets. 

The service - possibly the first of its kind from a UK retailer - forms part of an effort by Schuh to move its eBay business onto a more 'localised' footing. It is scheduled to go live at the end of July.

The results should be interesting. Dan says the cost of sending goods from Schuh's central warehouse to its stores is small (around 30p), and many eBay shoppers are already used to the idea of collecting purchases offline.

The company also has 70 stores across the UK and Ireland so has pretty wide coverage. And having gained feedback from 116,500+ shoppers since launching on eBay, it shouldn’t have a problem generating interest.