Ebay's chief product officer on growing the legacy marketplace

Ebay may be decades old, but the company is still trying to iterate as if it were a startup.
"We're still a work in progress, there's still a lot more that we need to change," said Eddie Garcia, eBay's chief product officer. He joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about his priorities, and the way the marketplace landscape has evolved.
Garcia is an eBay boomerang. He first started working for the company in 2003 and then left in 2014 to work at other companies like Sam's Club and Facebook. He returned a year ago to lead product, and says the focus has been on growing the platform while also maintaining a sense of community.
"There still is that fundamental essence of the community experience, and that small business, or that individual connecting with another," Garcia said.
Making that work across categories is also difficult. Ebay is a marketplace many people know -- but the company is trying to tailor specific areas for certain types of products. It's a difficult tightrope, Garcia said, making a platform that's both recognizable but able to offer certain features to certain types of sellers.
"It's a balance," he said. "You don't want to dramatically change the experience because that can become disorienting to the shopper."
There are a lot of updates on the roadmap, he said, but the focus is specifically on user experience.
"We got to do more," said Garcia. "We're really proud of our progress at taking friction out of the experience for sellers and buyers, helping make search better -- creating a greater sense of trust on the platform."

Ebay may be decades old, but the company is still trying to iterate as if it were a startup.

"We're still a work in progress, there's still a lot more that we need to change," said Eddie Garcia, eBay's chief product officer. He joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about his priorities, and the way the marketplace landscape has evolved.

Garcia is an eBay boomerang. He first started working for the company in 2003 and then left in 2014 to work at other companies like Sam's Club and Facebook. He returned a year ago to lead product, and says the focus has been on growing the platform while also maintaining a sense of community.

"There still is that fundamental essence of the community experience, and that small business, or that individual connecting with another," Garcia said.

Making that work across categories is also difficult. Ebay is a marketplace many people know -- but the company is trying to tailor specific areas for certain types of products. It's a difficult tightrope, Garcia said, making a platform that's both recognizable but able to offer certain features to certain types of sellers.

"It's a balance," he said. "You don't want to dramatically change the experience because that can become disorienting to the shopper."

There are a lot of updates on the roadmap, he said, but the focus is specifically on user experience.

"We got to do more," said Garcia. "We're really proud of our progress at taking friction out of the experience for sellers and buyers, helping make search better -- creating a greater sense of trust on the platform."