| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computers Computer Hardware Computer Software Electronics Consumer Goods |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Howden, UK |
| Products | Computer hardware, software, peripherals, gaming, electronics, accessories, DVDs and more |
| Revenue | GB£ 220 Million (2005) |
| Employees | 300+ (2005) |
| Website | http://www.ebuyer.com |
Ebuyer is a UK-based electronic commerce retailer based in Howden, United Kingdom. It is the largest independent online retailer of computer and electrical goods in the United Kingdom.
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Founded in November 2000 in a Rotherham garage by Paul Cusack, Mike Naylor, Steve Kay, Neeraj Patel, and Adam Ashmore - with startup capital of £250,000 from Paul Cusack, its annual turnover was in excess of £220 million by September 2005.[1] It claims to be the UK's largest independent online retailer of computers, components and electronics.[2] It was founded in Sheffield.
In February 2006 closed its Sheffield, Eastrington, and Holbrook outlets[3] to move to 280,000-square-foot (26,000 m2) custom-built premises in Howden. The new premises features a warehouse with over 4 miles of conveyor belt and an automated order system that takes an average 15 minutes to select and pack one order. Ebuyer spent £17m developing the warehouse. Its security is apparently based on a Las Vegas casino with 97 cameras. It opened its US facility in February 2003, but this arm of the business closed in 2006.[4]
Ebuyer began building another warehouse in Howden alongside its existing one in December 2007. The new facility completed in November 2008. The new warehouse will help with the storage for other items such as kitchens, as part of their new sister company, Wren Kitchens.
The original investor in Ebuyer (UK) Ltd was also instrumental in establishing UK broadband suppler PlusNet.[5] He later went on to co-found Localphone Ltd.
Ebuyer has a number of strategic business partnerships in place, most notably with Hewlett Packard (HP Preferred Partner 2010). Other key partners include Microsoft, Toshiba and Sony. Ebuyer sponsored The Kingston Communications Stadium's west stand in Hull, East Yorkshire. They were also in an advertising partnership with Screwfix Direct, with promotions appearing on each other's offer newsletter. The value of the Ebuyer brand is often utilised by other companies, such as Shebang who licensed the name and website aesthetics for the EbuyerMobile website.
2003 - £126m[6]
2004 - £220m[6]
Ebuyer (UK) headquarters are in Howden, East Yorkshire.
Ebuyer (UK) Ltd retail products in computing and consumer electronics categories, including TVs, laptops, smartphones and Blu-ray disc players.
The main Ebuyer (UK) Ltd website is available at http://www.ebuyer.com. It is the 206th most visited site in the United Kingdom[7] and has 3 million registered customers.
Ebuyer allows users to submit reviews to the web page of each product. Reviewers must rate the product on a rating scale from one to five stars. One star stands for the product being very poor, five stars meaning that the item is very good. Customers may enter into a product discussion on the product, or vote on the reviews, indicating whether or not they found it helpful.
The Ebuyer forums allow members to discuss products or find out information before they buy as well as seeking post sales help and advice from knowledgeable customers, moderators & staff.
During 2005 Ebuyer had significant customer service problems. Sheffield (where the firm was originally based) Trading Standards had received 282 complaints about the company, and the customer service phone number had been removed from its Web site. After this, the firm promised to improve its service, and restored the customer service number to its Web site. Average daily telephone wait times are published. [8] In an effort to further improve the level of service, the operations director Armando Sanchez now invited aggrieved customers to contact him directly using a contact form on the company's website.
Ebuyer publishes one contact number for customer service. UK call centre closes at 6pm.
Ebuyer received much criticism of its implementation of "national rate" 0870 and 0871 numbers for customer service and returns.
Customers wishing to communicate online can use the firm's "eNote" system .[9]
Ebuyer is also noted for using the couriers City Link and Parcelforce. Reports were made by customers in July and August 2010 of difficulties with incomplete shipping labels being generated, leading to delays in deliveries.
In December 2009 Ebuyer set up a direct email address for customers to reach the company Operations Directors Armando Sanchez. This December 2010, Mr Sanchez also launched a personal Twitter account @armandoebuyer for customers to contact him directly.
In July 2008, Gavin Brent, from Holywell in Flintshire, North Wales admitted stealing goods worth £20,000 from the firm before returning the goods, and demanding full refunds. .[10]
Brent, whose suspicious transactions were spotted by Ebuyer's security team, went on to conduct an online campaign against the company and the investigation. This included menacing Ebuyer staff and a police officer from Brent's now-defunct blog. .[11]
On November 28th 2011, eBuyer ran a £1 promotion via email, offering new deals on the hour until midnight. eBuyer angered customers when their website was unable to handle the extra traffic, causing it to crash[12]. When the website did work, many customers were emailed after successfully ordering and paying for items, only to be told they were out of stock. Many customers vented their anger at the company on their Facebook page, however eBuyer ran a campaign on their customer forums in an attempt to counter the bad publicity. [13]. The angry messages can still be found on the facebook group by using continuous scrolling on the page. By the afternoon, eBuyer had changed their promotional artwork for the sale by adding a large "SOLD OUT" message, sparking further levels of controversy and incredulity from fans on their Facebook page. As of 29th November, trading standards and BBC watchdog are investigating possible fraudulent activity.