What does the eBay acquisition of Magento mean to eCommerce?

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Category: eCommerce
Published on Thursday, 09 June 2011 05:06
Written by Le Digitale
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On June 6, 2011 it was announced that eBay was taking a 100% ownership stake of Magento.

  • Has the Wal-Mart'ization of eCommerce now been completed?
  • If a company wants to sell direct to consumer online will they have other options besides Amazon and eBay?
  • When does it make sense to compete against Amazon and eBay in eCommerce?
  • How can anyone compete with Amazon and eBay?
  • With eBay's X.Commerce will Magento's Open Source eCommerce platform die a natural death?

The questions facing eCommerce shops are the same questions that have faced brick and mortar retailers for the past 10 years; the picture is unclear, but businesses and eCommerce sites that innovate, are flexible, and offer both niche products and superior customer service are the ones likely to survive (not to mention staying ahead of the curve with eCommerce and digital marketing techniques).  Is it sustainable, or will the ultimate destiny of any successful small to mid-size eCommerce be acquired by a conglomerate?

On an open source eCommerce platform note, Magento was head and shoulders beyond anything else available -- what now?  For those now afraid to implement an eCommerce platform backed by the "Death Star," remember that the guts of Magento were based on osCommerce.  osCommerce is still very much open source, and its leaders don't appear have quite the same ambitions Magento's proprietors Varien did.  There are always alternatives.

The immediate threat is to the online proprietor, but the ultimate loser would be the consumer if small and large businesses alike are at the mercy of Amazon and eBay's fees and product search algorithms.  By no means do I advocate a boycott of the largest eCommerce sites, that would be foolish -- learn to play the game, their game, but continue to innovate, experiment, and push the envelope so the world at large can continually be offered the ultimate consumer experience.

Written by Le Digitale