eBay ecommerce forum - Live Blog - Kick off - the eBay Buyer - Meg Sloan post1

Opening keynote: Meg Sloan, Director, Consumer Research - In-depth view of the eBay Buyer.

About Meg Sloan
Joined eBay in 2004, 12+ yrs conducting market research.  Brand and loyalty research guru.  Never shared this externally.  Runs team of 6 folks - buyer/brand/seller/site/cust sat/buyer.

What does the Consumer Research Team do?
Research team at eBay charged with maintaining a deep understanding of the market and facilitating "ah-ha" moments of consumer insight and clarity.

• Five areas of insight:
• quantiative surveys
• focus groups
• one on one interviews
• tracking studies
• observational research

Covering lots of topics:

• marketing development
• buyer/seller studies
• site experience
• buyer/seller sat
• eBay brand equity

Research focus
2004 - brand research
2005 - seller research
2006 - Buyer research (based on seller feedback)

2006 - Know thy buyer

How do they do this?  Buyer segmentation/research