Richard Maven's Blog

uBid, the US-based online marketplace for discounted products, is preparing to enter the UK in the coming months following a reorganisation of its business.

The company joins rival Overstock in targeting Europe for the first time this year as US merchants look to get their hands on more foreign currency. It will also provide more competition for the likes of eBay and Amazon in the battle to attract buyers of cheap goods.

uBid CEO Jeffrey D. Hoffman told E-consultancy: “We are looking to acquire both buyers and sellers in European markets and are setting up an office in Europe. It will likely be in the UK.”

US-based consumer electronics retailer Dyscern is a great case study of how to make serious money on online marketplaces like eBay.

The company, which started up only five years ago, is now sixth in Inc. Magazine’s list of America's fastest growing retailers and is reportedly the most rapidly expanding eBay Powerseller on the other side of the pond.

We spoke to Dyscern COO Bill Frischling about the pros and cons of eBay as an e-commerce channel for merchants, and how the firm is looking to ramp up its European sales.

Kate Burns was recently appointed UK MD of video sharing site Dailymotion as the French start-up looks to expand internationally.

We asked the former Google exec about the challenges of monetising user generated content and how she is planning to build up the site's appeal to users and brands.

John Wyllie is the global web analytics manager at GE Money – a role in which he advises and directs the analytics activities of the company’s numerous international businesses.

We asked him a few questions about how analytics can best be managed within organisations, and how the financial services industry stacks up against other sectors.

Chris Shimojima was brought in to steer the online business of Nike in 2006 – a position in which he oversees the direct-to-consumer digital sales of Nike and its sister brands, such as Converse and Hurley.

He recently spoke at ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst event about how the company was generating business online through its Nike+ community and Nike iD, its system that allows shoppers to create customised trainers online and in store.

After his speech, we asked Chris a few questions about Nike’s e-commerce strategy, internal structure and future social media plans. And why its website is 100% Flash.

Reserve and collect services are all the rage at the moment as retailers integrate their online and offline businesses. But few – if any – have developed an equivalent offering for marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.

One company that is looking to do so, however, is footwear chain Schuh; one of the most prolific sellers on eBay UK. 

Last year, Channel 4 Education announced it was ditching much of its TV output and devoting its £6m budget to “high risk” cross-platform projects that could more effectively engage youngsters.

With more and more teenagers spurning traditional media, we asked the broadcaster’s commissioning editor Matt Locke about how it is planning to reach them through digital services.

He tells us if production houses are ready to fulfill its objectives and how Channel 4 is rethinking its focus towards metrics and measurement. Amen to that.

This evening has seen an intriguing announcement by Yahoo, but not one that will necessarily please marketers - it is to run an experiment with Google to see if it can boost its search ad earnings.

A release from the company said it would begin a limited test of Google's AdSense for Search service, which delivers contextual ads to third party sites.

EDF Energy recently scored a YouTube hit with its ‘recycled film footage’ ads – the first integrated campaign the firm had created.

One of its clips reached the site’s list of Top 20 most clicked on videos in its category, attracting more than 40,000 views. But although it helped generate awareness and feedback, it did not drive many referrals.

Here, head of brand advertising Rob Merrington tells us about what EDF learned from the campaign and the role digital will play as in the run up to its Olympics sponsorship in 2012.

Facebook’s platform boss Ben Ling was speaking at ChannelAdvisor Catalyst last week and had some interesting stuff to say about the social network’s e-commerce strategy.

One thing that stood out was that it has seemingly not given up on the 'Beacon' ads for online retailers that caused such a furore last year.