Description: It is more cost effective to retain a buyer than it is to attract new buyers. In this workshop, we'll look at how eBay sellers can drive repeat sales, build buyer loyalty and expand their buyer base with MyStoreRewards.
MyStoreRewards is a simple marketing solution enabling eBay sellers to offer cash back and coupons to buyers. eBay sellers can also create custom campaigns and directly market to previous customers and encourage repeat purchases. Sellers can do all of this direct from Selling Manager in My eBay!
MyStoreRewards is an eBay Certified Solution Provider and one of the third party providers included in the new Selling Manager Applications feature. Click here to learn more about Selling Manager Applications.
After the material is presented we'll open the board for discussion and questions.
Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help eBay sellers.
A note from our Legal Department: The statements and opinions made in this discussion board are those of the workshop host only and do not reflect eBay policy or eBay's opinion with respect to such statements.
The workshop is open! Take advantage of this great opportunity to ask the MyStoreRewards team how you can use their solution to reward your loyal buyers and encourage buyers to purchase from you again and again.
Workshops are interactive, so please feel free to ask your questions that directly relate to this topic. We will answer all questions!
Hello everyone – Brian Lawe here. I'm the CEO of MyStoreCredit, Inc., the parent company of MyStoreRewards.com and MyStoreMaps.com. We run these tools primarily for eBay Sellers. I've been part of the eBay eco system for many years now and am happy to be here with Ginger to share some insights on buyer loyalty/retention and a bit about MyStoreRewards. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
Why don't I get started by addressing the importance of repeat sales?
All brick-and-mortar retailers understand that their single most important asset is their own list of repeat customers. eBay sellers understand that as well. But getting repeat buyers on eBay is more complex. Getting super-high feedback scores and great DSR scores is not enough.
Yet, getting repeat customers is the key to long-term retail success and sellers have to focus on that strategy to be successful.
According to our research, the average repeat sale percentage for sellers on eBay is approximately 15%. That leaves a lot of room for improvement!
And the improvement will be worth it. Repeat customers often pay higher prices and they have fewer questions since they’ve made a purchase from you before. That translates into higher profits from repeat buyers. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
Unless you sell only one-of-a-kind items, you are in competition with each listing you have and for each customer you can find on eBay.
The search process on eBay includes previous sales history for an item, but doesn't include previous sales history with a buyer and seller.
Moreover, search is now sorting similar listings based, in part, on the seller's DSR scores. That means even if you are a great seller – other great sellers can be shown right next to you. This is all good for the buyer, but makes things even more competitive for you.
Taken together, these factors mean you need to create a reason and a way for your buyers to return to eBay to specifically search out your listings ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
What are the best ways to get buyers back to eBay searching out a specific seller's listings?
There is nothing better then creating your own opt-in email list and sending relevant emails to your own buyers inviting them to buy from you again on eBay.
I'm always amazed at how many eBay sellers reach feedback scores of 50, 500, 5,000 or more, but they fail to consider those past buyers the richest source of FUTURE buying!
It is tough to get opt-ins. And you need to do it to be in compliance with eBay rules and to treat your customers well. But it can be done and I've seen it double repeat purchase rates for sellers.
If you aren't asking for opt-in permission with each transactional communication you send to buyers, START! I always tell sellers to ask for opt-in permission at every chance.
You cannot ask for the opt-in in a stand-alone communication, but you can ask for it if you are communicating with a buyer on any other email – like letting them know the product has shipped or letting them know the order is being processed.
Generally, a buyer will give you their opt-in information if they know you have relevant items they are interested in. So, make the request in that context.
Moreover, as an incentive we suggest you REWARD the buyer for giving you their opt-in permission. We do that with our service and help sellers get 19% average opt-in rates. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
I haven't had activity on my store for almost 2 years. At the time I had moved and didn't have much to sell. Now I'm getting into position to sell again in the next few months. My friend who had been selling in her store for a while tells me that things have changed on ebay and that it is no longer friendly to the seller with few items, instead it favors the power sellers. Is this MyStoreRewards a new feature from 2 years ago? How does it work?
MyStoreRewards has been on eBay for almost five years. It is a tool that sellers use to invite buyers to make repeat purchases.
I think eBay wants sellers of all sizes -- large, small, medium -- as long as they take care of their buyers. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
Since you are just starting up again on eBay -- I suggest you start back with a strategy to keep your buyers purchasing from you. It is important to think through how you might get them to buy over and over from YOU -- not your competitors. Otherwise, once they buy from you, chances are they might not ever buy from you again. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
The opt-in permission is critical. But once you have it, the next few steps are not easy.
First, you should have a plan to send periodic emails that show your current auction and store listings. But make sure those listings TIE-IN the first purchase.
If your buyer bought "golf shoes" send them an email saying "I have these 15 other golf-related items:" then list those as links right to your store or auctions. A small thumb-nail picture helps. Don't make it very large because many email readers will strip-out pictures larger than certain size.
MyStoreRewards does this automatically and we track all your buyer's history. We use this information to automatically populate the opted-in buyer emails with relevant and popular items.
The links can go right to your items. When your buyer clicks the link – they are not going to see another seller's items – just yours. Be sure you pick items that are going to be around for a few days. Most activity will happen within 24 hours of the email being sent, but don't send an auction listing that is closing soon. It will frustrate the buyer and potentially cost you a sale. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
I list unique one-of-a-kind items. How do I take advantage of MyStoreRewards if I do not currently own a store on eBay? What other incentives can I offer my clients?
Thanks for the question. Our service works from the moment you start with us. We will track those sales going forward and get buyer opt-ins as they purchase from you. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
However, because we maintain the highest standards of opt-in list permissions -- we cannot accept past buyers without an express opt-in from the buyer. One of the key issues for sending follow-on emails is to get the opt-in. We handle all that for our sellers. This also lets our service get the highest trust levels on top ISP email services like yahoo mail, gmail, etc... ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
Emails generally fall into two categories: Informational or Promotional.
Informational emails are those where you give your opted-in buyers email information they would find useful. If you are a specialist in any area, writing about the latest happenings in the industry is a good example of an informational email.
Promotional emails are also good for buyers. They want to know special deals or great offers.
In our experience, we found sending emails with links to items and offering a buyer reward if they purchase is a great motivator. Rewards don't have to be a lot -- e.g. 1%-5% cash-back, but they work. Every major retailer in the world offers a reward program because they work. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
Yes. The program works for all your listings. We do promote store listings more heavily in the emails we send to your opted-in buyers. That gives you an advantage in cost and, again, assures your buyer can see your other items.
However, the emails also will promote key items that are tied to the buyer's original purchase. We also "count" the highest/best sellers for you when we create the emails.
So, the content in the email slightly favors store items, but can easily include auctions or BIN items. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
That number is confidential, but I can tell you we have sellers in 52 countries around the world and we have processed over 6 million transactions.
Our history and stability are exemplary.
One of the things we never endanger is a seller's feedback or DSRs. In fact, we try to increase those through proper communication with the buyer.
Hope that helps answer the question! ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
How much time does it take to run an effective rewards program?
It depends on you. If you process rewards manually and write out your emails manually – that would be a killer in time.
However, our automated tool is completely hands-free for sellers. It takes about 5 minutes to set-up and 10 minutes more to set-up to automate your rewards using PayPal. Once you have it set-up, we process everything for you. You'll get notices via email whenever we are doing anything on your behalf, but the design of the system is full-automation so you have ZERO extra work. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
arthurb2815 (and skbr94 -- i'll get to that next)...
Opt-in emails are emails sent to your opted-in buyers. The key term being the "opt-in."
Opt-in permission is given by a buyer to a seller when the buyer expressly provides their agreement that the seller can send the buyer emails about other items (called marketing emails) that the seller is selling.
The industry best practice AND eBay rules require that you always get a buyer's opt-in permission BEFORE you send any marketing emails to that buyer. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
At this time, our fees include a monthly $7.95 flat rate, $0.02 for each email sent and $0.10 for each reward processed. However, we have a special pricing program on the Selling Manager Applications program where the fee is ONLY $7.95 and the transaction fees are waived. That is a promotion price and may not last long. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
You would first want to get your buyer's opt-in permission, then email the offer to them. Also, the eBay checkout provides for only a PayPal promotional certificate.
Our program handles the cash-back reward AFTER the transaction takes place, within 72 hours of a buyer's payment to you. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
sorry for missing that. Our program does work with all eBay formats.
however, your particular case is difficult if you offer only one-of-a-kind.
It is hard to get a buyer to purchase OOAK items -- unless they are a collector.
What categories do you sell in? ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
Actually, everything is automated. We do only track sales AFTER you sign-up, so we do not pull sales prior to your sign-up.
But once you sign-up, everything can be 100% automated so there is no further action required from you. We do provide information and reports to you so you can see what is happening on your account. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
I saw your second part of the question on opt-in proof..
Just to be clear, our system will automatically request and track/record the opt-in for buyers after you join. We do that by including a request in our rewards program. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
I know doll collectors LOVE to get updated on other dolls. I now understand the OOAK issue for you.
I am certain that doll collectors would be excellent repeat buyers.
Hope that helps. ==================================== The average eBay repeat purchase rate is only 15%. Want more repeat sales? Visit my About page to see how.
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