Further News
+ E-commerce is driving up prepaid card usage as consumers have started to use them more to pay bills and make online purchases.
+ HTML5 is the latest version of the ubiquitous web programming language, and it’s especially important in mobile commerce.
+ There is a growing trend within the converging spaces of social media and e-commerce.

Posts From the Week
+ eBay Ink Wants You!
+ eBay’s Topaz Data Center Gets Even Greener

Looking Back on eBay Ink
April 18, 2012: eBay Instant Sale now offers $$ for broken devices. My 2 broken iPods may no longer be worthless. eBay has opened up its Instant Sale program to include new, limited-time pricing for broken or damaged iPods, iPhones and iPads, offering consumers more value for their broken gadgets than ever before in celebration of Earth Month. Additionally, eBay will offer every user that sends in their device – broken or not – a bonus $5 eBay gift card and a matching $5 donation to Global Green USA.

Through April 30, eBay Instant Sale will begin paying up to $150 for broken iPads, $100 for iPhones, and $50 for iPods. Until now, Instant Sale offered free shipping and responsible recycling for all broken items, but limited cash value. As a result, I now have two otherwise useless iPods that could translate into about 100 new songs from iTunes for my functioning one.

eBay InkWeekend Roundup is a summary of news and updates around eBay, PayPal, Social Media, Technology and E-commerce. Let us know what interests you.

eBay mobile gross merchandise volume is expected to double to $4 billion in 2011.

Cheers,
RBH

Starting later this year the eBay mobile app icon or a link to the eBay mobile site will appear on either the home page or two subsequent pages of most Android™, Windows® Phone 7, Symbian and bada devices sold by Telefonica’s O2 in the UK over the next two years. The company said it will work with device manufacturers to pre-install the application.

This is the first mobile pre-load deal agreed by eBay anywhere in the world, and the first time Telefonica has selected an app to make available to its O2 smart and feature phone customers across the board. eBay’s mobile app is one of the most popular shopping destinations for O2’s customers who are already responsible for a significant proportion of eBay’s UK mobile traffic.

It appears that this deal will target UK customers first but is expected to roll out to other Telefonica markets worldwide.

We talk about mobile and m-commerce a lot here on Ink and for good reason. It is certainly a significant growth business for eBay and one that generated nearly $2 Billion in sales last year and it makes sense for Telefonica to target UK customers first given some of the recent statistics coming out around consumer trends there with regard to mobile. At eBay’s analyst day last week, for example, it was revealed that at the height of the holiday shopping season in December, 10% of eBay UK’s entire sales volume was transacted through mobile.

Cheers,
RBH

From Globes [online], Israel’s business news:

The collaboration between Domino’s Pizza and PayPal in Israel is the first venture of its kind in the world, and the pizza chain will likely expand the model to its European branches. The objective of the collaboration is to enable Domino’s Pizza’s hundreds of thousands of Israeli customers to pay for their online purchases quickly and securely on Dominos’ Pizza Israel’s website, and to benefit from PayPal’s sales promotions and discounts.

Domino’s Pizza Israel’s website is the largest fast food websites in Israel, handling thousands of orders a day. Online sales account for 40% of all sales, making the Israeli site among the top Domino’s Pizza websites in the world in that area, including in the US.

As an added incentive, during the introduction period, those paying with PayPal will receive a 6% discount.

GrubHub
In related news, GrubHub launched PayPal as a payment option in the US in August 2010. Mike Evans, GrubHub co-founder and COO talks on San Francisco affiliate KNTV-NBC Ch. 11 about the PayPal integration, and how it’s making ordering food online that much easier for consumers.

Cheers!
RBH

I was fortunate enough to have time to walk around some of the other booths at CES last week and made it a point to stop by the Panasonic area on the show floor. I knew that eBay manager of platform business solutions, Rob Harris, would be demoing a new technology (still unavailable publicly and still in its prototype phase) called eBay Flick2TV.

The eBay Motors app is due out in the first quarter of 2011 and the eBay Flick2TV experience will be a new app available later this year with Panasonic’s new connected TV platform called Viera Connect. The Flick2TV functionality on the iPhone would be part of an update release to the eBay Motors app.

Again, it’s all very much in its infancy but CES is all about showing new technology so I thought I’d share with you folks now. I look forward to getting a more thorough demo later this year when we’re closer to launch.

For more info and video specific to the new Panasonic Viera Connect, check out the PCWorld First Look.

Cheers,
RBH

I’ve also updated the eBay Ink Flickr feed with more photos from last week’s conference.

I’m editing additional interviews today and tomorrow and will upload throughout the week ahead.

Cheers!
RBH

Version 1.2 of the eBay Fashion iPhone app is now live in the App store and includes a new “See It On” Sunglasses feature (requires iPhone 4 & iOS 4.0) that uses augmented reality to let shoppers virtually try on sunglasses! Here’s how it works…

1. Access “See It On” from the app’s front page

2. Isolate an image of yourself using a front-facing camera

3. Choose different styles, including Aviator, Novelty, Fashion, Giro, Wayfarer and Rimless, as well as frames and lenses in multiple colors

4. Fit the glasses to your face using a pinch and zoom measurement

5. Purchase the perfect pair, right from the palm of your hand!

Check out this demo video highlighting the app:

Something tells me sunglasses are just the beginning. I’m sure we’ll be seeing similar features for any number of accessories in the not-to-distant future. And for now, that future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades [double groan].

Cheers!
RBH

More core features of the eBay Fashion iPhone App:
** New direct access to expanded categories—including Jewelry, Watches, Wedding—from the palm of your hand.
** A Personalized Closet allowing users to add, store and curate fashion finds in one place.
** An Outfit Builder enabling users to mix and match items from their Closet and virtually try them on – through an augmented reality feature – to create unique looks.
** Direct entry to the eBay Fashion Vault offering instant access to new, fixed price clothing, shoes and accessories at great value through exclusive, limited time discounts on coveted designer brands so users never have to miss a sale.
** A Virtual Style Gallery showcasing the latest trends and fashions on the home screen in a slide show format. Users simply tap the picture of an item they like to search for similar items available on eBay’s Marketplace.
** Auto Complete Feature: Automatically recognizes similar popular searches and fills in the rest of the search term.
** A customized eBay account view from the fashion perspective through My eBay (Fashion), only displaying fashion listings for easier organization and to help users plan their wardrobe. Users can always see their entire My eBay contents from the core eBay iPhone app or at eBay.com. 

Have a very safe and happy New Year!! Back with you all next week.

Cheers!
RBH

In the U.S., the top five categories ranked by the number of items sold through eBay’s mobile apps for the year were: clothing shoes & accessories; cell phones & PDAs; collectibles; jewelry & watches; and toys & hobbies.

I’ve written about eBay’s interactive infographic application already and have been impressed with how it allows folks to see eBay mobile shopping trends for the year within the top 20 eBay product categories. Looking back, eBay’s infographic reveals the following trends:

High-End Holiday Spending: Designer handbags, diamond rings and Rolex watches topped this year’s most expensive holiday purchases. During the holiday shopping season (Nov. 25 – Dec. 25), U.S. mobile sales 134 percent over the same period last year, generating nearly $100 million in GMV; worldwide, mobile sales grew 166 percent generating $230 million in GMV.

Sports Shopping Spree: Major sporting events drove fans to shop on eBay mobile to commemorate some of the most highly coveted competitions. Based on mobile sales, the sports memorabilia category peaked in Canada, during February’s XXI Olympic Winter Games held in Vancouver, B.C. The category also peaked in Germany during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ South Africa, where Germany placed third, in June and July, and in France during July’s Tour de France®.

Gaming Lovers: Valentine’s Day has become a boon for the video game industry as World of Warcraft® and Final Fantasy® hosted special online gaming events. Video game sales through eBay’s mobile apps spiked 68% week-over-week for the week ending on Feb. 14.

Must-have Gadgets: In the U.S., tech lovers flocked to eBay as the iPad made its debut on April 4, driving the consumer electronics category to its annual peak the day after Apple’s tablet device first arrived in retail stores. On June 24, the day the iPhone® 4 launched in the U.S., the cell phones & accessories category hit its annual peak as a flurry of new and pre-owned iPhones listed on eBay.

Fashion Fanatics: As eBay released its Fashion app for iPhone this summer, clothing & accessories was a consistently popular category on mobile. In Canada and France, clothing & accessories was a top category overall based on mobile sales; it was a top three category in Australia, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. During the busy shopping period between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Mobile Sunday (Dec. 12), the category ranked number one in the U.S., in both GMV and sold items.

The updated Half.com mobile app for iPhone is now available for download in the iTunes store.

The new app has the following updated features – including selling functionality:
- List items for sale
- Sort items when browsing to purchase
- Manage inventory (active sales)

Check out this video demo of the new app in action…

Key Features:

• Search or browse: Search or browse for millions of titles in books, textbooks, music, movies, games and game systems
• Barcode: Use the barcode scanner to search for the item you are looking to purchase or sell.
• Checkout and Payment: Use your Speedy Checkout setting with Half.com to checkout on the go. It is safe, simple and fast! 

• Manage your active listings – edit or delete your current items for sale.
• Gift Cards and Coupons: Enter your gift card and coupon codes when checking out to save even more

• Share: Found a great deal? Share via email or your favorite social network

Cheers,
RBH

“MOBILE SUNDAY”

Yesterday, for the second year in a row, mobile holiday shopping on eBay peaked globally. This year over $13 million in GMV (gross merchandise volume) was generated yesterday – up 165% over the same Sunday last year. In the U.S., eBay mobile accounted for nearly $5 million in GMV, up 127% over the same Sunday last year and up 38% over Cyber Monday 2010.

eBay’s findings in the three weeks leading up to the busiest mobile shopping day of the year on eBay, clearly demonstrate that mobile phones are changing the way people shop this holiday season:

• Top U.S. Categories by GMV Sales
o Clothing & Accessories
o Cars & Trucks
o Jewelry, Gems, Watches
o Sporting Goods
o Auto – Parts

• Top U.S. Categories by Number of Transactions
o Clothing & Accessories
o Collectibles
o Cell Phones & Accessories
o Toys
o Sports Memorabilia

On the busiest mobile shopping day, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010, mobile shopping peaked during the hours of 6:00pm-9:00pm GMT (1-4pm EST), with more than 9,500 transactions per hour.

You can check out the interactive app over at ebayinc.com/mobilecommerce that visualizes eBay mobile shopping trends from Nov. 22 – Dec. 12 within the top eBay product categories across eBay’s leading mcommerce markets.

You can also watch a video demo of the app in action:

Cheers,
RBH