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Retail Top 100 2012, No. 55: eBay

July 24, 2012

In a direct rebuke to Amazon.com, eBay is offering consumers an incentive to shop in stores by offering those who spend $100 online a $10 discount on purchases from designated retailers. To qualify, shoppers must buy on the Web from Toys R Us, Dick's Sporting Goods, or Aeropostale using eBay's PayPal payments servicer. The world's largest online marketplace announced the incentive after Amazon drew heavy fire in December for offering a 5 percent discount to those who used its new mobile app to compare prices with those in physical stores. While eBay also offers an app for price checking, it doesn't actively compete with retailers on its site. EBay is "trying to be the anti-Amazon in a sense," said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. The company is "positioning itself as a partner with traditional retailers, whereas Amazon is trying to accelerate that shift away from stores."

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