This year’s eBay holiday marketing includes three real-life popup stores in Detroit, Houston, and Miami. With the number of buyers in decline and holiday shopping in full force, eBay is doubling down on its strategy of focusing on high-value items in a very few number of categories. Executives call it the eBay innovation playbook.
The holiday campaign focuses on eBay’s ability to help shoppers find “hard to find gifts.” AdAge noted the messaging is timely given the media attention to supply chain issues that make it difficult for retailers to stock their shelves. Each popup store focuses on a particular category – sneakers, trading cards, and luxury watches and handbags:
The Hard to Find Sneaker Shop: Detroit, November 19 – 20
“Sneaker collector and seller Jaysse Lopez, Urban Necessities, brings his diverse collection of today’s top styles to the shop. The event will also feature a rare display of all 50 pairs of the Off-White x Nike Dunk Low collection.”
The Hard to Find Collectibles Shop: Houston, December 3 – 4
“In partnership with top eBay sellers, including two from Houston, the shop will be stacked with high value trading cards, collectibles and memorabilia.”
The Hard to Find Luxury Shop: Miami, December 10 – 11
“Find iconic Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, Gucci’s Psychedelic and Floral Collections, and rare timepieces from Richard Mille, Audemar Piguet, Rolex and more.”
eBay created a landing page that ties in with the “hard to find” marketing theme at ebay.com/hardtofindshop, though it’s sparse and devoid of holiday messaging (“Looking for these? Discover hard to find gifts right here.”)
Unlike its rival Etsy, there is no sign of any TV commercials from eBay. Sellers have a vested interest in how eBay markets its site to shoppers, since that’s what drives traffic to the site, and they may be scratching their heads about the lack of commercials given the decline in the number of buyers – especially as eBay is flush with cash.
It’s not to say eBay does no video marketing. Here’s an example of a video showcasing the Authenticity Guarantee program for handbags published to YouTube in August.
The eBay holiday marketing announcement noted that two of the categories getting the “innovation playbook” treatment are growing at double-digit rates (sneakers and luxury watches). As for luxury handbags, eBay said “growth has significantly accelerated since launching Authenticity Guarantee for luxury handbags in June, and it said its Trading Cards category is growing “significantly faster than the total marketplace.”
