Ebay Enterprise’s Billion-Dollar Client Milestone

Ship-from-store and in-store pickup services from eBay Enterprise have been paying off for the e-commerce giant. The eBay Inc. company announced Monday (Jan. 12) that its clients have reached more than $1 billion in sales using its store fulfillment solutions.

Ebay Enterprise clients — which include 6,500 stores and 42 brands across three continents — consists of leading retailers like Ace Hardware, Shoe Carnival, Destination XL and DSW, which have all deployed eBay’s Enterprise system in their stores. The trend is also growing internationally as those companies using the ship-from-store method have increased by 47 percent, which have increased overall order volume by 108 percent from 2013 figures. In the U.S., growth has been even higher.

“Store fulfillment solutions like Ship-from Store and In-Store Pickup give online consumers access to inventory across stores, distribution centers, and even suppliers to deliver goods at the best possible speed and cost while preserving the best possible margin for brands and retailers – boosting sales, enhancing the consumer experience and improving customer retention rates,” said Craig Hayman, president, eBay Enterprise in a company news release. “Adopting omnichannel strategies like this will be critical for retailers in 2015.”

Ebay Enterprise clients have also seen benefits from store fulfillment solutions during the 2014 holiday shopping season. From Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday order volume via Ship-from Store and In-Store Pickup increased 34 percent and sales increased by 54 percent from the year prior. Store fulfillment centers saw their highest growth numbers on Thanksgiving Day with a 201 percent increase in sales. Same store sales for Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday increased by 62 percent from the year prior.

“The future of retail is omnichannel and eBay Enterprise provides the solutions and expertise for retailers to turn all their store locations into distribution centers,” Hayman said. “As consumers continue to expect faster and cheaper delivery, store fulfillment will be the key to offering choices, convenience and better experiences to shoppers at little cost to the retailers.”

Growth seems to be the trend for eBay Enterprise companies as the company also announced yesterday (Jan. 12) that Microsoft Azure and Joyent are joining its Magento Hosting Partner ecosystem to help expand its global cloud-hosting solution options for retailers and brands. As merchants strive to introduce innovative commerce strategies in 2015, Magento aims to assist its customers with the cloud solutions that are said to help merchants expand in the market with lower capital expenses.

“Our cloud partners provide access to cost-effective, scalable and more secure infrastructure to retailers on a global scale, which complements Magento’s unique worldwide developer network and their ability to deliver customized, innovative commerce experiences,” Hayman said. “Together, this powerful ecosystem allows merchants to have total creative control while also delivering solutions to fuel their growth.”

The leaders of Magento Hosting Partners, which delivers cloud-hosting solutions for merchants, and Joyent, offers a high-performance public cloud infrastructure — spoke of the synergy that will be created through the partnership with eBay Enterprise. Through working with Microsoft and Joyent, Magento has been able to expand its cloud-based commerce ecosystem. Microsoft Azure will add more flexibility for store owners, with support of all operating systems and Web languages. Meanwhile, Joyant will boost Magento’s cloud security and ease of use for Web store owners.

“Partnering with Magento is a natural fit for Joyent. We share a common focus of delivering secure, scalable and best-in-class solutions to merchants, for whom performance is paramount,” said Joyent CEO Scott Hammond. “When you combine Joyent’s high-performance infrastructure capabilities with Magento’s industry-leading commerce software, companies get the flexible, cost-effective experience they need to be successful.”