Interview Questionnaire
Senior Manager – eBay
What is your opinion regarding the current market performance of your company in this competitive e-business market
According to my opinion, we have performed well above others in this crowded market place. Actually, this e-business market is full of traffic with many players vying for their market share. All this has led to severe competition between my company and our competitors. Despite the severe competition, our ability to outperform others has reflected in the quarterly results this year as well as the years before that. Prospective sellers have joined our online trading platform wherein they can list their products and encourage buyers to bid for them. This has led to a surge in buyer traffic. All this has taken our business to a new level and our market performance has shown a considerable improvement.
What is your opinion with respect to your (e-business) competitors in India? In addition, can you please share your idea about their market share?
Well, frankly speaking, our competitors have also fared well in this e-business market place. Our main rivals like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong, and Amazon are all well-established players. India is a country where people love to spend on online shopping and with the advent of e-commerce many retailers have started selling online in order to cater to the ever-increasing array of online buyers. As far as the market share is concerned, I am of the opinion that Flipkart had a market share of 18% for the year 2106-17, Snapdeal had a market share of 20%, and Jabong had a market share of 14% whereas my company had a market share of 20% as well amongst our peers. All this seems quite reasonable and we hope to achieve more in the end.
Do you feel the market share of your competitors can overcome your market performance? If yes. Kindly clarify. How?
Yeah, I think so because our competitors are doing very well and their websites are being bombarded with a plethora of online inquiries from prospective buyers all over India for various categories of products. We had a minor hiccup past year and our sales declined for a couple of months. During that period, our competitors surged ahead with decent sales figures and market share. This way any company can suffer overnight due to circumstances surrounding it.
Who are all your suppliers? Can you tell the supplier’s name?
We have a huge list of suppliers who supply us regularly and there is nothing secret about it but since you are insisting, I would like to reveal a few names for your sake.
1) P&G
2) VIP
3) Samsung
4) TVS
5) Oppo
6) Apple
7) Gionee
These are some of the leading suppliers and there are many more in our database but I have given you the names of a few of them.
Is there any business model developed by your company to attain its competitive position and better organizational performance in the e-business market? If yes? Kindly answer the upcoming questions.
Yes, of course, there is a business model in place and we will be testing it in the coming months.
What kind of business model your company has adopted in order to achieve their competitive position? Kindly explain?
The Business Model of eBay is simple and robust. It is a person-to-person trading community on the Internet, using the World Wide Web. Buyers and sellers are brought together in a manner where sellers are permitted to list items for sale, buyers have to bid on items of interest, also both sellers and buyers are able to browse through all listed items. The items are arranged in alphabetic order, where each type of auction has its own category. eBay has both modernized and localized traditional person-to-person trading, which has traditionally been conducted through such forms as garage sales, collectibles shows, flea markets and more, with their web interface. This way a buyer can scout for items on the buyer’s page and the seller can list an item for sale within minutes of registering
Do you have any experience working with a business model before? If yes? How did it look like? And when it was used?
Yes, I remember it was a couple of years ago and we were a reluctant player in the e-business market place. It was a bit different compared to what we have today. That time we placed emphasis on business-to-business models wherein two companies can buy and sell from each other using our platform. However, this time we are focusing on business to consumer model targeting youngsters and first-time buyers. As a whole, our business model has worked very well and we are satisfied with what we have achieved so far.
What is your opinion, are there any components missing in the existing business model when compared to your competitors?
To be precise I do not think so, because we have a comprehensive business model that caters to all categories of buyers given their financial advantage. Our competitors are also having their own business model, which has given them enough leeway in the crowded e-business market place. The business models of our competitors and ours are more or less the same and there is very little difference since we all are in the same business targeting different categories of customers.
What is your opinion, are there any components that should not belong to the existing business model when compared to your competitors?
No, not necessarily. Every minute detail has been taken care of and I think that a comprehensive business model is the ultimate way to achieve success and enhance the company’s business morale.
Do you think the business model developed by your firm is a useful tool to reach their stakeholders?
Yes of course. Our business model has been appreciated by our competitors and some have even emulated our model in order to stay afloat in the crowded online market. Our stakeholders like the customers, public, shareholders and other entities are confident with the way we do business and they have welcomed our new business model without hesitation and have encouraged us to continue our strategy of marketing the aggressive business model with ease.
Do you have any suggestions to improve the service areas in order to tackle this competitive market?
Our service area is our core strength and we are proud to provide excellent service to our customers and other stakeholders alike. There is no dearth of excellent service professionals in our organization. If there is any scope and need for improving our services in the near future then we shall lay emphasis on the timely delivery of products to our customers from our warehouse and delivery centers located at strategic places so that there is hassle-free delivery to the customer’s doorstep. In addition, our warehouses are equipped with the latest high-speed computers manned by highly skilled personnel round the clock. This, in turn, makes the task easier and searching the database has been simpler and faster than it was a few years ago when we entered the e-business market place. Finally yet importantly, providing timely service will help us stay ahead of our peers and capture a major chunk of market share from our competitors.
