eBay | Internet Marketing Blog

Four paths marketers must take to put mobile first

With 6 billion phones on the planet and 1 billion of them smart phones, mobile is growing faster than ever. Tablets are close behind with 30% of Americans owning tablets or eReaders that are internet enabled. But what are we are marketers and businesses doing about it?

According to today's presentation by MEC's Global Chief Strategy Officer, Melanie Varley, and their Head of Mobile and Emerging Platforms, North America, Andy Wasef, the only way to be creative is to be mobile. Now, more than ever, we need to think of mobile first instead of an add on further into the process of developing a campaign or experience.

by Heather Taylor 02 October 2012 19:38pm 0 comments

£3bn of retail sales will be influenced by social media: eBay

UK retail sales directly through social media are forecast to grow to £290m by 2014 from £210m.

The study, commissioned by eBay, also predicts that £3bn of retail sales will be influenced by social media by 2014.

The increase is expected to be driven by retailers targeting consumers with personalised offers and deals on social networks.

Nearly half (46%) of social media users are already using social platforms while thinking about making a purchase, and 40% of users are actively deciding what to buy based on what they have seen on social media platforms, including reviews and recommendations, and this is only set to grow.

by David Moth 23 August 2012 12:26pm 1 comment

eBay CEO: mobile shopping is booming

Industry observers and analysts have been predicting that mobile commerce would have a bright future for nearly a decade, but it wasn't until recently that those predictions started to look like they might be accurate, if still poorly timed.

The latest source of confirmation that mobile commerce is real: eBay's CEO John Donahoe.

by Patricio Robles 19 July 2012 16:40pm 3 comments

New eBay Motors app comes with awesome image recognition

eBay has revealed that 20% of its UK vehicle sales in Q1 were made via smartphone, amounting to nearly 45,000 transactions.

It represents an increase of 120% year-on-year, and shows that the online marketplace is probably on track to hit its target of $8bn in mobile sales in 2012, almost the double the $5bn it achieved last year.

Among the cars sold were a Porsche 911 and a Land Rover Evoque that both went for more than £40,000.

The news comes in the same week that eBay launched its new Motors iPhone app complete with an image recognition (IR) search function, allowing users to search for cars and parts by taking a photo of the back of a vehicle.

by David Moth 02 July 2012 09:42am 2 comments

App review: eBay's revamped iPad app

Earlier this month eBay overhauled its iPad app to offer users a range of new functions and hi-res images.

The app now has a customisable homepage, back button and new ways to view search results. eBay appears to have taken the liberty of giving itself five stars in the product description, but are the upgrades actually an improvement?

User reviews in the App Store show that opinion is fairly polarised: 362 people give it five stars but 265 give it one star.

by David Moth 23 May 2012 12:36pm 4 comments

Nissan launches official eBay store

Nissan has partnered with Pentagon Interactive to launch an official merchandise and accessories shop on eBay.

Launched today, Nissan is the second car manufacturer to work with the e-commerce provider on an eBay-based marketplace – following the success of BMW Direct.

by Vikki Chowney 03 April 2012 13:04pm 1 comment

Q&A: eBay's Olivier Ropars on m-commerce

If you were to think of the five companies that are making the most of m-commerce, eBay would certainly be near the top of that list.

The auction site was on track to generate $5bn of revenue through its mobile platform in 2011, and is constantly seeking to innovate through its range of apps. Today it announced that its barcode scanning app, RedLaser, has been downloaded more than 2m times in the UK.

But what does the future hold, and how does eBay plan to grow its m-commerce revenues in 2012?

To find out we talked to eBay's senior director of mobile commerce in Europe, Olivier Ropars.

by David Moth 24 February 2012 12:02pm 4 comments

Auto Trader mobile sees 2.2m users in January 2012

Auto Trader mobile has announced that it achieved 2.2m unique users in the month of January 2012.

The brand says that this represents 150% growth in car searches made via mobile in the past year.

by Vikki Chowney 14 February 2012 13:01pm 7 comments

First look at eBay's use of Hunch data: infographic

eBay released the infographic below this morning, as covered by Richard Brewer-Hay on the official eBay Ink blog.

Following the acquisition of recommendation engine Hunch for $80m in November of last year, eBay has been working quietly on using the company’s technology to revamp its own e-commerce recommendations.

by Vikki Chowney 07 February 2012 11:30am 2 comments

Wishi combines f-commerce with collaborative consumption

As collaborative consumption grows in popularity, here's another another example of a start-up that's built around the trend for part-owning or sharing goods.

Wear It Share It (Wishi) is a Facebook app that allows people to upload photos of their clothes and accessories – then share these with selected friends.

by Vikki Chowney 03 February 2012 12:25pm 0 comments