Adoption of Ebay item specifics

Ebay is pushing hard for sellers adoption of Item Specifics, and what began as a recommendation has become a requirement. Beginning in 2020, in some categories it has become mandatory for sellers to include Item Specifics, and a year later, additional categories were added. The trend is obvious - in the near future, Item Specifics will become mandatory for most Ebay categories.

---

As one of the worldwide ecommerce leaders, Ebay sets trends for the entire industry. Once Ebay adds a new feature, the entire industry has to take note. Once such feature, that is growing in significance for Ebay, is Item Specifics, which quickly becomes mandatory in many categories and sellers have little choice, but to adopt them and adjust their data. 

In order to make sure that shoppers can easily find whatever product they are looking for, Ebay is adjusting to product based shopping, in which item specifics are critical.

In this post we will explore the item specific feature, and explain what sellers should do about it.   

Item Specifics Explained

You can think of Item Specifics as keywords, designed to let shoppers know what the product is. As different products, even ones from the same category, have different descriptions, images and titles, the Item Specifics help group them together. Item Specifics are usually the attributes of the product, such as brand, color, size, model, etc. 

The Item Specifics that should be used is dependent upon the category, as each category has its own relevant attributes. For instance, the clothing category is likely to include such specifics as size, color and material, while the laptop category can include Item Specifics such as screen size, RAM, operating system, etc.

Where are the Item Specifics   

You can find Item Specifics in several places on Ebay. In order to find the Item Specifics relevant to each category, you can look it up in the Item Specifics Lookup Tool.  

If sellers want to add more detailed information, they can visit the manufacturer or the supplier’s website. 

Sellers should put themselves in the shoes of their customers, and try to figure out what information is relevant and important for them. And as always, it helps to go over and see what the competition does.

The Significance of Item Specifics 

There are a number of reason Ebay sellers to should start using Item Specifics:

• Exposure - Perhaps the biggest benefit of using Item Specifics. It is no secret that sellers that provide accurate and complete Item Specifics enjoy a significant boost in the exposure of their products in Ebay’s search result pages, and even in third-party search providers. 
• Site Navigation - Using Item Specifics, shoppers can slice through thousands of products, and focus only on the ones most relevant to them. They do this by filtering the results to show only products that have the attributes they care about. For example, Out of thousands of jackets, shoppers can use Item Specifics to see only black leather jackets, selecting the corresponding attributes. If the products are properly tagged with these specifics, the product will come up in searches, even if the Item Specifics do not appeal in the title. 

The results speak for themselves, as Ebay reports that products tagged with accurate Item Specifics enjoy an increase in sales of about 80%.

• Engaging UI - At the top of every search results page, the Item Specifics will be listed, in a place that can be easily reviewed and accessed by shoppers. This form is engaging, and provides an overall better shopping experience. 
• Minimizing Returns - Item Specifics tells customers all they need to know about the product on sale. In products and categories where plenty of variations exist, such as clothing or electronics, Item Specifics help customers make an informed purchasing decision. The more they are informed, the less likely they are to return the product.

From Recommendation to Requirement

Ebay is pushing hard for sellers adoption of Item Specifics, and what began as a recommendation has become a requirement. Beginning in 2020, in some categories it has become mandatory for sellers to include Item Specifics, and a year later, additional categories were added. The trend is obvious - in the near future, Item Specifics will become mandatory for most Ebay categories.  

New Item Specifics Requirements

Ebay requires sellers to update their existing listing, or include Item Specifics in every new listing. When such requirements become effective in a certain category, the sellers receive a notification from Ebay, detailing the required changes and additions. 

If sellers fail to comply with the new requirements, they will have their products rejected by Ebay, and they will not appear in relevant searches on the platform. 

Judging by the way Ebay advances Item Specifics, all Ebay sellers should be prepared to begin using Item Specifics. 

Lisuto combines technology with deep ecommerce consumer product knowledge helping sellers optimize their product data and extract much more out of the online store. Using proprietary AI technology, Lisuto goes through the existing product information, tagging the data with Ebay required Item Specific navigational tags, making necessary corrections and completions, bringing the quality of the sellers' product feed up to highest standard in terms of uniformity and completeness, making it perfectly optimized for each channel and for the user's eyes.