A grain of salt is required for the next statement. Over the years, from the outside looking in, I've developed the impression that eBay suffers from Amazon envy.
But with no way to prove my initial thesis short of obtaining a secretly made MP4 recording of eBay CEO John Donahoe expressing his jealousy (send all secret recordings to geoanderson@retailwire.com), I've got little to go on unless you consider all the steps that the company has taken recently to meet or exceed what Amazon is doing in the marketplace.
A key point is eBay's test of same-day delivery in San Francisco in partnership with a number of large chains, including Best Buy, Macy's, Target, Toys "R" Us and Walgreens. Amazon is also reported to be tinkering with same-day service in some markets.
For a $5 fee, consumers can place and receive orders seven days a week. Hours, according to TechCrunch, which originally broke the story, are nine-to-nine Monday through Saturday and nine-to-six on Sunday. The service, called eBay Now, is available through an Apple's iOS app.
A Reuters piece pointed to the significance of eBay partnering with large retail chains as a response to Amazon. A wide variety of chains, including Aeropostale, Barnes & Noble, GNC, Neiman Marcus and RadioShack, have opened eBay storefronts while bypassing the much larger Amazon marketplace audience.
"EBay has been an exceptional partner, working with Barnes & Noble to effectively promote Nook to its massive user base," Mary Ellen Keating, a spokesperson for the bookstore chain, told Reuters. "Amazon is a competitor. We don't sell on Amazon and have no plans to do so."