eBay, HP and Accenture Open First HP Store on Worlds’ Largest Online Marketplace
SAN JOSE, Calif. and NEW YORK; Nov. 25, 2002 – eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), HP (NYSE: HPQ), and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced the opening of the first HP Store on eBay, which is built on Accenture’s Connection to eBay service. The HP Store allows eBay’s community of approximately 55 million registered users to purchase a wide range of HP products, including desktop and notebook PCs, printers, handhelds and low-end servers. Accenture’s Connection to eBay service helps large and medium-sized companies sell their products effectively on eBay.
Initially, the HP Store will offer refurbished PCs, workstations, servers, handhelds, printers and accessories. These are primarily canceled orders and returned products that have never been removed from their original packaging. The products can be found on the new eBay Electronics site (www.stores.ebay.com/hpfactoryoutlet), which was announced in Las Vegas last week at Fall Comdex 2002.
“We’re delighted to welcome HP as a new seller to the eBay Electronics marketplace, and anticipate that their participation will bring added selection and value to the eBay community,” said John Herr, vice president and general manager of eBay U.S. “HP joins a growing list of companies turning to eBay to complement their existing sales channels.”
“We think eBay, with its massive and growing customer base, offers a significant untapped market for HP,” said Marius Haas, vice president of worldwide eBusiness at HP. “We’re always looking for new ways to reach out to customers, and with online auctions expected to grow steadily over the next three years, we believe this is the perfect time to offer the outstanding selection of HP products to this audience.”
HP chose Accenture’s Connection to eBay service as its preferred service provider based on Accenture’s ability to understand HP’s needs and scale their business on eBay. Specifically, HP will utilize Connection to eBay’s Selling Strategy & Management solution, a cost-effective and easy-to-implement offering that includes all services associated with building eBay-specific assortment, pricing and listing strategies. Pre-sales customer service will provide Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and storefront policy pages that enhance the buyer experience, as well as e-mail management to handle customer inquiries. HP will also receive regular reports summarizing its eBay sales performance, volume, profit and customer service information.
“The HP Store opening is testament to the viability of eBay as a unique and untapped market for large companies,” said Kevin Reedy, a partner in Accenture’s Communications & High Tech group and the executive leading Connection to eBay. “Our service was specifically designed to help companies quickly and easily sell high volumes of inventory on eBay without significant investment.”
Accenture’s Connection to eBay, launched in May 2002, is an end-to-end service that offers companies everything from simple listings to inventory management, warehousing and logistics. By increasing efficiencies in the listing and sales process, Connection to eBay can help sellers make more on each transaction than through traditional liquidation channels.
About eBay
eBay (www.ebay.com) is the world’s online marketplace™. Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world.
About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its merger transaction involving Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.
About Accenture
Accenture is the world’s leading management consulting and technology services organization. Through its network of businesses approach–in which the company enhances its consulting and outsourcing expertise through alliances, affiliated companies and other capabilities–Accenture delivers innovations that help clients across all industries quickly realize their visions. With more than 75,000 people in 47 countries, the company generated net revenues of $11.57 billion for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2002. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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