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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
eBay forums attract 32m visits per month
eBay says that it attracts 32m unique visits a month to its discussion boards, with 6m posts and 4.5m users a year.
Speaking at Hotwire’s digital trends briefing this morning, eBay UK's head of corporate communications Clare Moore-Bridger said that they were an "excellent source of information on what’s important to customers”.
eBay upgrades Motors app to include visual search
eBay has upgraded its Motors iPhone app to allow users to search for a vehicle simply by taking a photo of it.
Other new features on the app, which is only available in the US, include broadcasts from key racing events in the video section - plus the ability to share your sales activity through Twitter.
PayPal launches new mobile payment system in Home Depot
PayPal’s mobile payment system has gone live at 51 Home Depot stores in the US.
The eBay-owned company has also reported that its mobile payment volume reached $4bn in 2011.
Talking about a mobile revolution
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the growth of mobile accelerate internet connectivity and change the retail and marketing landscape forever, and Britain is at the forefront of this revolution.
Many have dubbed 2011 the “year of the mobile”, and this is clear from looking at the eBay business, with over 10% of our sales in the UK coming via a mobile device.
In the next three years, we predict that there will be more change in how people shop than there has been in the past 20 years.
We believe mobile will play a vital role in this retail revolution, transforming shopping even more significantly than e-commerce did decades ago, as well as blurring the boundaries between online and offline.
