EBay Inc. is gearing up to compete with Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., offering guaranteed delivery in three days or less on 20 million items.
The marketplace platform said shoppers will be able to search for and filter items by one- and two-day delivery. The company also said that if a guaranteed item arrives late, the buyer could request to have the cost of shipping refunded. If the shipping was free, then the buyer will receive a coupon to be used toward their next eBay purchase, or in the alternative, opt to return the item at no cost.
EBay said the new delivery program would roll out in the U.S. this summer. Hal Lawton, senior vice president of North America at eBay, said, “While the majority of items on eBay already ship within 3 days or less, as well as for free, Guaranteed Delivery will give shoppers even faster delivery options and the confidence that their items will arrive on time.”
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There is no additional cost to sellers, but they must meet a required set of shipping standards to participate in the program, eBay said. The marketplace platform also said that guaranteed delivery is the second-most-important criterion for online shoppers, right after free shipping.
EBay also provided some updated stats for its marketplace platform. It has 167 million active buyers, and 1.1 billion listings are available at any given time. Eighty percent of items sold on eBay are new, and 87 percent of the gross merchandise volume on eBay is fixed price. Sixty-seven percent of eBay transactions ship for free, and 63 percent of eBay packages are delivered within three days or less. EBay also said that eBay apps have been downloaded 348 million times across the globe.
Wal-Mart earlier this year said it will offer free two-day shipping on more than 2 million items, provided buyers spend at least $35 on their orders. Amazon launched two-day, free shipping back in 2005 through its Amazon Prime, a membership service. Some items are now available for same-day delivery in certain cities. The annual membership fee for Amazon Prime is $99.