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Giving eBay the human touch

Tools used
  • Customizable surveys
  • Focus groups InterVuing
  • Data analytics
  • Personalized dashboards

We gave eBay a way of combining hard data with face-to-face discussions. So they could relate better to the real people behind their sellers, bidders and buyers.

The challenge

How do you compete with the might of Amazon as a massive online market place?

eBay knew customer experience was the key, but their data was missing an extra dimension. They didn’t just want to rely on facts and figures. They wanted to see their customers’ emotions, passions, frustrations and, of course, faces. This would give the true insights into what it’s like to be an eBay customer. 

“In most presentations, you’re forced to help bring to life the voice of the customer through text and pictures but with this new approach, you can bring the customer into the room with you to tell their story.”

Sam Harami
Director of Global Customer Loyalty, eBay

Our solution

Giving the customer a true voice (and a face too)

We gave eBay the platform to take their customer surveys a step further. They started by creating a feedback form from one of our many customizable templates. This brought in compelling data, which eBay used to come up with some hypotheses about how their service was performing – and how it compared to Amazon. They then ran remote digital interviews with some carefully selected participants. They recorded not only their answers, but also their facial expressions and body language. They got to dive deeper into specific questions and topics. They literally listened to the voice of the customer. 

The results

From datapoints to storytellers 

eBay no longer had to look for vague trends in reams of data. They could now put customers onscreen to tell those stories – and use the data to confirm these stories representative of broader trends. eBay built a stronger connection with their customers. They better understood where they were excelling and where they were falling short. They added numerous new research tools to their repertoire. And they got a sneak peek into the frustrations that can turn Amazon browsers into eBay buyers. 



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