Talk to any eBay buyer or sellers and you’ll find that sometimes it is difficult to get help when you don’t know how to do something on eBay — and scrolling through pages of FAQs is time consuming and it may not even address your problem or answer your specific question.

However, eBay  is taking customer service to a new level by offering its members access to intelligent customer support using virtual agents. The company previously offered virtual agent support on its sites in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, but now has rolled it out on eBay.com and the eBay.ca site.

eBay virtual assistant customer support
Ebay’s VirtuOz virtual agent interprets questions and guides customers towards a resolution.
How They Work: Intelligent Virtual Agents on EBay

Mark Gaydos, vice president of worldwide marketing for VirtuOz, the company providing the intelligent agent customer support on eBay.com, describes the agents as intelligent online robots — or bots for short. “Intelligent agents are computer programs that interact with users. It will interpret their questions and guide them toward a resolution,” he said.

A customer may ask “Why can’t I cancel my bid”? The agent, through a series of questions may determine that “canceling the bid” is not the real issue, but instead the person is unable to log in to their account to perform the action.  In most cases, the initial questions posed by the virtual agent are simply to better clarify the customer’s real question or source problem so the correct resolution can be offered by the agent.

The virtual agent will keep digging deeper until there is only one valid resolution for the problem.  Say, for example, that you access the virtual agent and ask:  “How do I cancel a bid?” The agent would start the resolution process by asking if you are a buyer or seller.  It continues to ask questions until it can narrow down the specifics of your issue.

The virtual agent could even look up specific information if you are logged in to eBay, or show you images or direct you to the correct page for resolution. When necessary, the virtual agent could even pass you on to a live customer service representative.

According to Gaydos, the virtual agents work well on Web sites because they can jump to a number of topics in less than a second and ultimately identify the real problem.
Dealing with Business Rules

When providing a resolution, Gaydos said that the path the virtual agent takes is based on eBay’s specific business rules, combined with the information that a shopper submits. EBay is a company with a lot of business rules, sets of procedures and a unique language, which makes deploying intelligent agents a challenge.

“EBay has a variety of business processes and rules around a number of things, such as products, what you can and can’t sell, returns — all of these business rules can change depending on the country or even the state the user lives in,” explained Gaydos.

Of course, one also has to consider that many of eBay’s business rules change, depending on whether you are the buyer or seller on the site, and what level of seller status you have.

Another interesting aspect of deploying virtual agents on a Web site is the linguistics layer of the software. In eBay’s case it meant ensuring the many common eBay phrases and terms one would use in a customer support conversation are accounted for and can be identified by the virtual agent.

When first deployed, Gaydos says clients typically have around a 70 percent resolution rate, but as more information and language is programmed in and the virtual agent is tweaked, the successful resolution rate averages 92 to 93 percent.
The Cost of Using Intelligent Virtual Agents

VirtuOz intelligent agents are, according to Gaydos, cheaper than the cost of using phone support or online live chat support.  The  pricing model is based on a per successful resolution fee, which can range from five to 50 cents per resolution.
source: ecommerce-guide.com

E-Commerce on the iPad: Gilt Group & eBay Help Us Imagine

Not because I shop regularly on Gilt Group or eBay…
But I encourage iPad users and folks within e-commerce to download their iPad apps…
Because it represents that potential of what e-commerce can look like atop the iPad (or extracted beyond: our new wave of computing / mobile devices).

With its large, crystal clear and touch-enabled screen, the iPad enables developers and brands to think more creatively… and in the same way that we were all encourage to think about consumers in the transition from web to mobile browser / app – we again have that same opportunity.

So with Gilt Group and eBay, we have two iPad applications that were available on launch, sit in the iTunes top twenty apps and provide unique, powerful experiences different than the web or iPhone apps. These are good directional glimpses of e-commerce on the iPad:

- super simple layouts with very clear action items: browse and bid/buy
- both have huge, colorful pictures
- with color, layout and clear actions, both encourage serendipitous browsing
- images are highly interactive – swipe them to see additional views
- Gilt’s navigation is nested and reminiscent of the iPad’s email system – very clever
- Gilt also uses the push notifications to alert users of new sales (interesting concept for flash sales, low inventory, etc)
- Gilt provides an incentive / reward for download: iPad owners get to circumvent the ‘exclusive’ invite process and register directly

source:ryanspoon.com

eBay Inc. is an American  Internet  company that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website  in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide.

The majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include a substantial segment of listings in the “Buy It Now” category.

eBay Items

Millions of collectibles, decor, appliances, computers, furnishings, equipment, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, or sold daily. In 2005, eBay launched its Business & Industrial category, breaking into the industrial surplus business. Some items are rare and valuable, while many others are dusty gizmos that would have been discarded if not for the thousands of eager bidders worldwide. Anything may be offered for sale as long as it is not illegal and does not violate the eBay Prohibited and Restricted Items policy. Services and intangibles can be sold, too. Large international companies, such as IBM, sell their newest products and offer services on eBay using competitive auctions and fixed-priced storefronts. Separate eBay sites such as eBay US and eBay UK allow the users to trade using the local currency. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API by joining the eBay Developers Program. In June 2005, there were more than 15,000 members in the eBay Developers Program, comprising a broad range of companies creating software applications to support eBay buyers and sellers as well as eBay Affiliates.

Controversy has arisen over certain items put up for bid. For instance, in late 1999, a man offered one of his kidneys for auction on eBay, attempting to profit from the potentially lucrative (and, in the United States, illegal) market for transplantable human organs. On other occasions, people and even entire towns have been listed, often as a joke or to garner free publicity. In general, the company removes auctions that violate its terms of service agreement.

PayPal-only categories
Beginning in August 2007, eBay required listings in “Video Games” and “Health & Beauty” to accept its payment system PayPal and sellers could only accept PayPal for payments in the category “Video Games: Consoles”. Starting January 10, 2008, eBay said sellers can only accept PayPal as payment for the categories “Computing > Software”, “Consumer Electronics > MP3 Players”, “Wholesale & Job Lots > Mobile & Home Phones”, and “Business, Office & Industrial > Industrial Supply / MRO”.  eBay announced that starting in March 2008, eBay had added to this requirement that all sellers with fewer than 100 feedbacks must offer PayPal and no merchant account may be used as an alternative. This is in addition to the requirement that all sellers from the United Kingdom have to offer PayPal.

Further, and as noted below, it is a requirement to offer Paypal on all listings in Australia and the UK.

eBay Express
In April 2006, eBay opened its new eBay Express site, which is designed to work like a standard Internet shopping site for consumers with United States addresses. It closed in 2008. Selected eBay items were mirrored on eBay Express, where buyers shop using a shopping cart to purchase from multiple sellers. The UK version was launched to eBay members in mid-October 2006 but on January 29, 2008 eBay announced its intention to close the site.   The German version, eBay Express Germany, was also opened in 2006 and closed in 2008.

Selling Manager Applications
At the 2008 eBay Developer’s Conference, eBay announced the Selling Manager Applications program (SM Apps).  The program allows approved developers to integrate their applications directly into the eBay.com interface.  The applications created by developers are available for subscription by eBay members who also subscribe to Selling Manager.

eBay specialty sites
eBay maintains a number of specialty sites. eBay Pulse, for example, provides information about popular search terms, trends, and most-watched items. Other ebay Community Content includes the Discussion Boards, Groups, Answer Center, Chat Rooms, and Reviews & Guides. eBay has a robust mobile offering, including SMS alerts, a WAP site, Java ME clients, and an Apple iPhone application available in certain markets.

Best of eBay is a specialty site for finding the most-unusual items on the eBay site. Users can vote on and nominate listings that they find.
source: wikipedia.com

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