New Ebay Platform To Target Small Business
The Age
Tuesday May 30, 2000
The online auction site eBay Australia, which is owned by Kerry Packer's ecorp and the United States-parent eBay, launched an exchange platform for the small business sector yesterday.
The new Internet marketplace, called Business Exchange, will target businesses with fewer than 100 employees, replicating a similar service started by eBay in the US last month.
eBay's local site will help small companies buy and sell products across 25 categories, focusing on the goods typically sought by businesses such as computer hardware, electronics, industrial equipment and office equipment.
eBay director of business development Bay Warburton said the company would continue to focus on the small business market, citing research that showed small business represented 94 per cent of all businesses in Australia last year.
``Most business-to-business solutions target the corporate sector (and) clearly many of these solutions are not relevant to the vast majority of Australian businesses," Mr Warburton said.
``We believe that as awareness of Business Exchange grows in Australia, small-medium companies will view this forum as a valuable tool in their day-to-day operations."
eBay will drive traffic to the new site via banner advertising on business-related Web pages and through marketing relationships, Mr Warburton said.
He said eBay was working with the Australian business-to-business firm Peakhour to help small companies improve their online capabilities, providing them with the tools to go online and trade. Shares in ecorp rose 18 cents, or 9.47 per cent, to close at $2.08.
© 2000 The Age