Steve Yankovich, eBay’s Vice President of Innovation and New Ventures, joins The Wall Street Journal’s Digits show to talk about how eBay is now partnering with retailers to facilitate “connected commerce.”

Half a dozen retail-oriented corporations and entrepreneurs gave presentations about how their products are shaping – or hope to shape – the mobile retail landscape. The demonstrations came from the likes of AT&T Alerts, a location-based offers program where text messages are sent to participating subscribers when they are near participating retailer or advertising programs, to a new augmented reality app called Blippar, which lets mobile users unlock exclusive content like behind-the-scenes videos when the app wielder scans certain images.

The presentations were followed by short Q&A sessions with several mobile executives, including some of the earlier presenters, as well as Steve Yankovich, eBay Inc.’s vice president of innovation and new ventures. Given the diversity of the individuals on-stage, the resulting conversation jumped around and hit a number of different topics, including the challenges traditional retailers face in trying to become omni-channel resources, and the merits and risks of near-field communications (NFC).

In particular, the panel moderator asked Yankovich to describe eBay Inc.’s view of the retail industry from a mobile perspective.

Noting that in 2012, eBay Marketplaces generated $13 billion in mobile commerce volume, and PayPal processed $14 billion in mobile payment volume, Yankovich said the company was a partner, not a competitor to retailers.

“We don’t sell products ourselves; we’re the plumbing,” he said. “Mobile is going to be the catalyst for changing the retailing environment.”

When asked about the debate of NFC, Yankovich notes the he supported solutions that reduced friction. Because he lives in the “car crazy” San Francisco bay area, he added that as a use case, he wished he could just pull up to any gas station, pump his gas, and not have to pull out a phone to pay.

“It would be interesting to see if we can pull that off,” he said, adding that he would definitely sign up for that ability. Furthermore, he’d want to know “what’s the version of that for retail? How do I go completely frictionless?”

New technologies will tell.

The folks behind the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference have opened up the voting process for which interactive panel discussions will be featured at SXSW 2013. As you can see from the video above, eBay has a strong tradition of discussing new concepts  at SXSW, and the company has submitted three topics for consideration as featured panel discussions for the March conference.

You can help get one or all of eBay’s proposed panels selected for inclusion at SXSW by registering for a free account at panelpicker.sxsw.com, clicking on the links below and giving eBay’s panels, or any one of them, a Thumbs Up. Remember that you can only vote for each panel once, but you can vote for as many panels as you find interesting.

Voting ends Aug. 31, and these are the panel discussions that eBay has proposed:

1.   The Secret Life of Today’s Shopper

It’s no secret that the mobile phone is the shopper’s new best friend. From scoping out the best deals on the hottest products to tracking retailers’ actual in store inventories, the mobile phone is transforming shopping. 
Click here to vote for eBay’s RedLaser guru Rob Veres, who will be joined at SXSW by retail partners to share insights on the secret habits of shoppers armed with mobile phones.

2.   TVs are the New Storefront Windows

How often do you sit on the couch with the TV on and your phone or tablet in hand? There’s a prime opportunity for retailers and advertisers to connect with consumers on their TVs and mobile devices. But what’s the best way to do it? Click here to learn more from eBay and PayPal executives who will be joined by cable network partners.

3.   Why Shopping Will Never Be the Same

We know that smartphones are revolutionizing retail and shopping. So how can retailers leverage these insights and mobile technologies to reach their customers inside and outside the store? Click here to hear from eBay’s Steve Yankovich, who will share tips and tricks on how retailers can compete and win in the new shopping environment.

Dubbed T-commerce (as in television), Steve commented: “When it’s on the top of people’s mind and convenient to them, that’s when they buy.”

As Schenkel described: “The app’s internal search engine scours eBay’s inventory for those keywords, and then displays a grid of related auction items.”

Check out the article to learn more about the evolution of what Yankovich calls “couch commerce” and the future of home shopping/entertainment.

eBay has unveiled it’s all new eBay for iPad App 2.0 in the Apple iTunes store this morning and I’m already playing with it. Building on the impressive mobile commerce legacy that eBay has already carved out for itself in just a few years- including creating one of the very first apps for the first generation iPad – eBay has built the new app from the ground up and really focused on the unique shopping experience that the tablet provides. I sat down with Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile, to chat about the new app and how far we’ve come in just three and a half years:

With the first signs of personalization and new search functionality, the app caters to all kinds of buyers – from the shopper who knows exactly what they want to the buyer who wants to get lost in the immersive experience and browse any number of images and categories.

Key Features:
• Customizable home screen – Easily access items for watching, buying, or selling and instantly search from favorite categories
• Stunning images – Double resolution optimized for the new iPad
• Quick listings – Create a listing in under a minute
• Multiple views – Seamlessly switch between three views of search results – ranging from highly visual to very detailed
• Photo browsing – Flip through multiple images with the swipe of your finger for easy browsing
• Barcode scanner – Research items and import details right into the listing
• Photo upload – Effortlessly upload photos from your iPad 2 camera or photo library for iPad and iPad 2
• Advanced search – Target your results to listings that fit your budget, category, condition, size, color, or style
• Customer service on the go – See how items are performing, reply to questions promptly, and provide speedy response to Best Offers
• Effortless navigation – Buy and sell in “My eBay” without ever clicking away from the search screen – products are always in view. Users can now also view “More Like This” from sellers and easily transition back and forth between search results
• Watch with eBay – Quickly access the Watch with eBay™ app to browse items relevant to the shows on TV
• Availability – Download for free all over the globe in the following iTunes stores: AU, AT, BE, BE-FR, CA, CA-FR, FR, DE, IE, IT, NL, ES, CH, UK, US

I also got a first-look demo of the app itself:

It’s not just for buyers either. Sellers can quickly research sale trends, list items, and make sales from virtually anywhere. They can scan an item using the barcode scanner to easily pre-populate a listing and sellers can now revise their listings directly from the iPad app.

Like I said, I’m a big fan. I’ve become a pretty addicted mobile shopper over the past few months and even bought my first big ticket item via eBay for iPad – our new family TV – just a couple of weeks ago. I look forward to really getting under the hood

Cheers,
RBH

Related Reads:
eBay Adds Barcode Scanning, Personalization, Better Image Quality To New Version Of iPad App
eBay Mobile Fast Facts

Cheers,
RBH

The RedLaser app was already the most popular barcode scanning iPhone app with over five million downloads on its own. I sat down with Steve Yankovich, VP of Mobile and Platform Business Solutions at eBay, to talk about the news and what this means for online consumers…

Additionally, eBay is updating RedLaser’s Software Development Kit (SDK) for its more than 100 third-party developers and select retailers including Coupons.com. The updated RedLaser SDK will allow RedLaser developers to create compelling mobile experiences by providing support for VIN barcode scanning; Code 128 for gift card scanning; and Code 39 for encoding uppercase letters A through Z, digits 0 through 9, and a handful of special characters that are great for asset tags to keep tabs on high-end merchandise in offices such as laptops. In doing so, eBay is promoting innovation in mobile commerce and becoming the de facto application for product search and scanning.

The RedLaser application for the iPhone is available for free download in the iTunes App Store.

Additional links
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/14/ebay-adds-qr-codes-to-barcode-scanning-app-redlaser/

Cheers,
RBH

Sprint has teamed up with some of the most recognizable brands in the country to bring this revolutionary experience to customers – brands including Amazon, Blackboard, Comcast, Disney, E!, Electronic Arts, eBay, ESPN, Home Shopping Network, LatCel, MTV, Notre Dame, Oprah Winfrey Network, RadioShack, Weather Channel, Where and Yahoo!

Sprint customers can customize their device with up to five ID packs. Once an ID is loaded – easily in one quick step and free with a select service plan – users can further customize it with additional apps and content. ID packs can be easily switched out without customers losing the apps and content they value most. Because Sprint ID packs are built using the Android platform, the ID packs work across various manufacturers and will launch on three Android handsets – Sanyo Zio™, Samsung Transform™ and LG Optimus S™. A range of lifestyle packs, plus Yahoo!, game packs from Electronic Arts and business packs, will be immediately available with more packs rolling out in this quarter and beyond.

The following video featuring eBay’s Steve Yankovich was included in the Sprint keynote presentation at CTIA this afternoon…

“Smartphone technologies are transforming the mobile phone into the new digital wallet and consumers are clearly using their phones to shop,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile and platform business solutions, eBay Inc. “Our Sprint ID pack will help us make the most of that trend by making eBay’s mobile applications more discoverable and acting as an information hub so that shoppers never miss out on great deals and items they’re watching, bidding on or buying. Our ID will also notify users about new eBay apps or features we have released.”

Check out a video demo of Sprint ID.

You can read the full Sprint ID press release for further background too.

Cheers,
RBH