Inventory, Layout, and Metrics: Amazon and Ebay (Business & Marketing Essay)

Inventory, Layout, and Metrics:
Amazon and Ebay
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Introduction
Amazon and Ebay
Inventory
Integration of Design Concepts
Relevance on the Performance, Operational Efficiency, and Customer Satisfaction
Points of Improvement
Layout
Metrics
RationaleIntroduction
In the age of technology, shopping has become more convenient for everyone. Companies continue to develop their service operations to provide a quality shopping experience with the help of available technology. To cater to people's convenience more, the world has been introduced to virtual or online shopping (Lohse & Spiller, 1998). It allows shoppers to purchase goods even at the comforts of their own home. Online shopping is placing your order through calls or in the store application, and have it delivered on a designated date. Two of the most famous online selling platforms across the world are Amazon and eBay (Petrovic & Senauer, 2011). Although they have physical stores, Amazon and eBay have dominated the online platform in selling goods and services. Their success does not only rely on the patronage of people to their services but to their business strategy that competes with the bests. Inventory management is one of the aspects that build the success of a business strategy (Vries, 2007). It keeps track of what is going in and out of the business as well as the improvement of the business in different aspects. This paper will look into the types of inventory that Amazon and eBay utilize and their relevance to the business operation. Business layout and metrics will also be discussed to suggest points of improvement for the service operation.
Amazon and eBay
Inventory
Amazon utilizes two inventory types which are Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) and Fulfilment by Merchant (FBM). In the former, Amazon does all the work from product management, storing, and delivery. The retailer would send the products to an Amazon warehouse to be handled. It is convenient for the retailer in the sense that managing hard labor is taken care of by Amazon. The downside is that retailers would handle the inventory fee which is for the storage and service rent. Put simply, Amazon outsources its services (Lee, 2018).
The latter inventory type, Fulfilment by Merchant leaves the work and management to the retailers. Amazon only acts as an online shopping platform where customers can place their orders. The retailers handle the storing and shipment of the products ordered. This inventory frees the retailer from excessive service fees. However, the concern is the warehouse where products can be stored (Lee, 2018).
On the other hand, eBay has software that eBay stores can utilize to manage their inventories. eBay's inventory management through software is more convenient-looking. Store owners would only input the right data and listings in the software and inventory is going to be organized (Chen, 2005).
Integration of Design Concepts
Amazon and eBay are both in the field of e-commerce. They utilize the digital space to create a platform for the online selling of goods and services. These two platforms are also designed to create a market place for retailers to sell their products.
Amazon's services favor the retailers more in terms of its conceptual design. It opens a virtual store for retailers to do business. Prices are also fixed. The FBA and FBM inventory types engage the retailers in tracking their business records while utilizing the services of Amazon (Lee, 2018).
eBay is more on wholesale and bidding. It is designed to sell products in bulk and through bidding. Their use of software for inventory considers the inconvenience of inventory in bulk buying. It is more convenient to input numbers instead of going through the whole data before getting an accurate result (Petrovic & Sanauer, 2011).
Relevance on the Performance, Operational Efficiency, and Customer Satisfaction
In the FBA and FBM inventories, not only Amazon can take care of problems in products and delivery. It includes the retailer in the discussion because the retailer has control over the business' records. Amazon and the partner retailer can address the issues and compromise on the solution to make (Vries, 2007).
Integrating information systems to inventory management provides eBay stores accurate inventory. Because of the algorithm from the software, the calculations, and interpretations of data inputs will be more convenient to the business owners. Also, the software can quickly detect and identify the problem with the data input in case there is a mistake. Addressing the issue would be faster (Chen, 2005).
Points of Improvement
Amazon gives the retailers a choice whether to rely on Amazon while shouldering the expenses or...