eBay drops same-day deliveries as pilot programme fails to take-off
Online auction house eBay is to discontinue its trial same-day delivery service eBay Now by the end of the week after coming to the realisation that immediacy is not a key concern for much of its customer base and a major headache for many of its sellers.
Launched in 2012 following eBay’s $75m acquisition of Milo, the pilot service was available to consumers in New York, Chicago, Dallas and parts of San Francisco but failed to take-off in the same way that it has for perishable goods such as groceries.
With most people happy to wait a day or two to receive their collectibles and bric-a-brac and many individual sellers unable to meet the logistics of the service, eBay has decided that now might be a good time to pull the plug.
The online retailer stresses that most of its employees will be re-assigned elsewhere within the business.
The move comes at a critical time for the company as it hives off PayPal as a separate company, prompting it to scrap several specialised apps such as eBay Motors, eBay Fashion and eBay Valet to focus on its main app.