eBay Saw a 237 Percent Rise in Small Shops in UK pandemic startups
eBay said a new generation of “pandemic startups” emerged in the last year as it experienced a 237% increase in small shops setting up on its UK marketplace, attempting to reach its 29 million shoppers in that country.
The new small-businesses sold over 72 million items through eBay UK last year (between March 2020 and March 2021), with Home & Garden, Electronics and Fashion being the most popular categories.
eBay UK also announced the launch of new support package to help power the new wave of small businesses, including the following:
- A series of new seller offers, including reducing fees by 5%, as well as 75% off new listing costs for existing and new business sellers to help them make the most of selling online;
- Coupons and discounts for eBay shoppers to incentivise purchasing from small businesses;
- Investment in training programmes to help sellers make the most of the eBay platform;
- Greater investment in marketing our small business sellers across TV, social, print and online media.
“This new package follows a £33 million investment from eBay UK over the last year to help its community of hundreds of thousands of small businesses weather the challenges brought on by Covid-19,” according to the press announcement. “The focus has now turned to how eBay UK can help power these new businesses to grow and scale up as the UK unlocks.”
Rob Hattrell, Head of eBay Europe said: “Business will be paying the price of Covid for years to come, and it’s small businesses that will bear the brunt of this. It is now more important than ever to shop small and shop local – whether that is in-store or online – and to keep supporting and celebrating the power of small businesses.”
Hattrell said eBay’s new support package was part of eBay UK’s Small Business Power campaign.
The marketplace also touted its decision to absorb the cost of the Digital Services Tax rather than passing along the cost to sellers as other platforms had done.
From: EcommerceBytes
