September 18, 2018 Industry news
GS1 UK recently hosted a webinar with our partner Optiseller, about some important changes on the eBay platform.
Ashley Maroney, Director of Partnerships at Optiseller, provided some essential insights to help sellers prepare for the new product-based shopping experience (PBSE) model.
PBSE explained
eBay shoppers are often presented with hundreds of listings for the same product, making it difficult to find what they want or to compare prices.
So as part of their 2018 Spring release, eBay announced that they are moving to a PBSE model, to provide customers with more refined and relevant search results.
Shoppers will now be able to see listings for the same product, that are all grouped together – rather than multiple listings from many different sellers. Searches will be faster and the browsing experience will be easier for shoppers.
To support this PBSE model, eBay are essentially building their own new product catalogue which uses the GTIN product identifier at its core.
What sellers need to do
Only listings that can be associated with a unique item within the eBay catalogue will be displayed in their search results.
Sellers will need to make sure they provide the correct GTINs in their product feeds to eBay and may need to check that their data is compliant for the eBay catalogue.
It’s advisable to start listing with the eBay catalogue now. Getting familiar with the new rules and early adoption is recommended to be in the strongest position to make the most of these changes when they come to pass.
When is change coming?
eBay is introducing PBSE in phases on different product lines and categories. The transition began in May 2018 and the second phase will roll-out in August 2018. This is for English speaking markets beginning with the US, UK, Australia and Canada.
In summary
- Embrace the PBSE change, it’s not going away!
- Get GTINs for all your products
- Check your listing process or partner is compliant
- If you haven’t already, start product adoption now
How Optiseller can help
The Optiseller platform is authorised to scan eBay listings to find potential issues such as duplications and missing data.
It will also recommend areas most in need of improvement to grow sales on eBay, all via the performance dashboard below.
Optiseller have more than 7,500 users on their platform, which reviews 70m+ listings each week. As Ashley says, “Optiseller are a magnifying glass if you’re looking for a needle in a haystack."
With the new eBay PBSE model, it’s even more vital that sellers have the correct data and GTINs.
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