Apple E-Commerce Chief RJ Pittman Heads to eBay

[MacRumors]

eBay today announced that it has hired Apple's RJ Pittman into a newly created role of Chief Product Officer for the online marketplace company. Pittman had been at Apple since early 2010, when he left Google to become Apple's head of e-commerce, and he shared some thoughts with AllThingsD about his new career move.

"I think it's pretty clear today eBay dominates the marketplace category," Pittman said in an interview with AllThingsD. "I'm excited to come in and reinvent the way people buy and sell."

"I loved what I was doing at Apple; it's a great company ... but eBay is on a completely different level by an order of magnitude when it comes to e-commerce," he added.

Pittman's departure comes just days after Apple announced that Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts will be joining the company early next year as head of retail and online store operations, but sources tell AllThingsD that the timing was coincidental. Ahrendts' arrival will see a restructuring of Apple's sales efforts, with both retail and online operations operating under the same umbrella.

Article Link: Apple E-Commerce Chief RJ Pittman Heads to eBay

 

[Nunyabinez]

Uh, doesn't eBay work just fine as it is? How is he going to redesign it?

 

[Vanilla35]

Uh, doesn't eBay work just fine as it is? How is he going to redesign it?

Ebay needs a new sense of direction. They're fumbling towards something big but not exactly reaching it. This guy might help, at least according to those 2 quotes from this article. Haha

 

[Nevaborn]

So his job is to improve the e-commerce side of a buisness to be the best it can be. So he has een at Apple for 3 years now and is leaving to join Ebay as their e-commerce is larger and " on a different level " ....

So basically he is going somewhere to do a job for a company in a big already successful role that he has failed to do at Apple.

I say failed as surely if he was doing his job right he wouldnt need to leave to join a bigger more successful company as this is Apple it doesnt get bigger tbh and thats not fan boy rubbish.

But he wants to leave thats cool he will be easily replacable. In fact I dont see coincidence with recent appointments, retail ans e-commerce should be linked anyway so hes probably been replaced for not doing good enough.

 

[klagermkii]

So basically he is going somewhere to do a job for a company in a big already successful role that he has failed to do at Apple.

I say failed as surely if he was doing his job right he wouldnt need to leave to join a bigger more successful company as this is Apple it doesnt get bigger tbh and thats not fan boy rubbish.

But he wants to leave thats cool he will be easily replacable. In fact I dont see coincidence with recent appointments, retail ans e-commerce should be linked anyway so hes probably been replaced for not doing good enough.

Or maybe one of Angela's conditions to joining Apple was to have complete control of their stores, online and offline. That would have been an effective demotion for this guy and so he left.

 

[Nevaborn]

Or maybe one of Angela's conditions to joining Apple was to have complete control of their stores, online and offline. That would have been an effective demotion for this guy and so he left.

Good thought, it makes total sense all retail on the street and online be managed together. Im surprised Apple really had retail in two departments, no wonder theres been stocking issues.

She is coming from a big job and have no doubt had conditions to her signing for a position downgrade on the corporate ladder. This may be part of the passion Tim mentioned.

I feel very positive weirdly concerning all this. Seems like one meh guy left and a lady with excellent experience and a background with a proved track record of success in a global company brand.

 

[Xerotech]

It's a great job opportunity for his kind of work. He probably got paid a truck load of money to switch over though.

 

[japanime]

I wonder if the CEO of eBay persuaded him to join with this line of questioning:

"Do you want to continue changing the world? Or do you want to come with me and manage an online flea market?"

 

[iSee]

I wonder if the CEO of eBay persuaded him to join with this line of questioning:

"Do you want to continue changing the world? Or do you want to come with me and manage an online flea market?"

Heh, that sums up my thinking on this, but funnier.

I guess Apple's online store is just an online store, albeit a nice looking one. While Ebay is something else entirely and ecommerce is the center of the business. So it's a step up in that sense. But, wow, from Apple to Ebay?

I also wonder from eBay's standpoint if this is the right guy. After all, Apple's store is just a nice looking online store. This was the guy running it. Meanwhile, Apple's retail stores are the envy and exemplar of the retailing world selling the same stuff. Is steady but unexceptional really what Ebat is looking for?

 

[mdelvecchio]

“I’m excited to come in and reinvent the way people pay fees.”

there, fixed it for him. im sure theyll come up w/ some new and creative fee structures.

 

[reden]

This is why I no longer use eBay to sell:

http://www.feesnap.com/ebay.html

More and more people rather wait longer and use Craigslist to sell their stuff.

 

[freshe]

Uh, doesn't eBay work just fine as it is? How is he going to redesign it?

He'll probably will make ebay logo display crisp and sharp on any kind of device, improve graphics of all the buttons, replace all the buttons with one button that will work as click-n-pay without any questions asked. Or would it be Mr. Ive doing so if he had joined ebay...

 

[OllyW]

I wonder if eBay will now go off-line for a couple of hours every time someone adds a new product?

 

[iMacBooked]

I wonder if eBay will now go off-line for a couple of hours every time someone adds a new product?

Lol! Exciting products are coming