I've never been the biggest fan of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) the stock, because it's always carried such a premium price. But the recent smackdown has got me interested in the shares. And today's news of a revamped front end makes me think eBay is ready to grab yet another large share of Internet commerce, at the expense of outfits like Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) or Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), or even old-school businesses like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Best Buy (NASDAQ:BBY).
I've always used eBay to find closeout deals on new gear like bike parts, electronics, and sports apparel. eBay has long had a large number of specialist mini-retailers who deal in new goods, some of it a bit behind the curve, technologically, and some of it last year's model. But the auction front-end made finding that stuff a bit of a chore. I didn't mind, because it usually meant I was the only bidder on items I wanted, so it was an easy way to rack up savings.
Enter eBay Express. The site is currently in "preview" mode, but it certainly makes shopping for new goods a lot easier and more pleasant. The look is classier and more streamlined. (Is it just me, or does the old eBay front end look five years too long in the tooth?) Merchandise is sorted by category, including a seasonal bin for Mother's Day items. And it works. In just two or three clicks, I was looking at deals on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPods and Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) GPS products.
Besides offering new merchandise from eBay power sellers, the Express interface has live chats with customer service and lets shoppers load everything into a single shopping cart for a simpler purchasing transaction. Of course, if you buy from disparate sellers, you can expect to see multiple shipments, but oddly enough, with Amazon's affiliate retailers fulfilling a lot of my orders there, I've gotten pretty used to a single order dribbling into my home a few boxes at a time.
How excited should investors get about this project? That I can't answer. I know this will increase the amount of browsing I do at eBay, but I'm just one shopper. If the concept flies, we'll have to judge the numbers on their own merits a few conference calls down the road.
More important to me is that eBay is proving it has other, simpler ways to try to expand its net retailing presence -- ways that make good sense to this observer. In my opinion, this looks like a much better idea than the recent, overhyped Skype acquisition. For investors like me who've been sitting on the sidelines, shaking their heads, and pondering what in the heck free Internet phone calls have to do with moving merchandise, well, today may have given us new reason to take another look at these shares. Seems there's intelligent life out there after all.
eBay , Amazon, Garmin, and Best Buy are all Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. A free trial will let you find out why.
Seth Jayson is still searching eBay for a hot pink bike helmet. At the time of publication, he had no positions in any company here. View his stock holdings and Fool profile here. Fool rules are here.
