Scot Wingo, president and CEO of ChannelAdvisor Corp. spoke at the Internet Retailer Conference June 7, 2005, on major brand stores that sell products on eBay. He noted that in 2004, online auction sales accounted for 23% of all online sales. Since eBay has such a huge following (147 million registered users), some online stores will acquire new customers on eBay who will turn into loyal customers on their regular websites.

Products typically go through a four-stage life cycle: (1) introduction, (2) in-season retail, (3) end-of-life, and (4) liquidation. The final stages are best for eBay, because eBay shoppers are looking for bargains. Instead of wasting valuable physical store space on end-of-life and liquidation or bargain bin items, sell them on eBay. Another use of eBay is to test products. For example, one company tested the popularity of colors by seeing how many bids there were for each color of a new product in a charity auction.

A speaker from Sears explained how Sears actively uses eBay. Sears' main website now includes an auction button on the home page. They have three distinct eBay stores at present -- all under their brand (and customer service reputation): (1) excess inventory, (2) major appliance returns available in their regional appliance outlets, and (3) open box returns in the Sears Liquidation Center.

eBay could be looked at as fourth channel: (1) physical store, (2) phone, (3) Internet online store, and (4) eBay.