0 Permanent link to eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 23 #InkRoundup eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 23 #InkRoundup

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, December 23rd, 2011

eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 23 #InkRoundup

eBay Acquires BillSafe
eBay has purchased German vendor BillSafe to complement its PayPal online payment system. BillSafe offers “purchase-on-invoice” capabilities, allowing shoppers to choose items, receive them, and then get a bill for payment later. With BillSAFE, PayPal customers will now be able to receive an invoice for an order, after items have been shipped and received. eBay’s BillSafe acquisition will also complement its Bill Me Later PayPal service, a line of credit that allows customers to pay for purchases in installments if they desire. [via eBay Ink]

Fandango App Adds PayPal Mobile Payment Option
Movie mega-brand, Fandango, announced it has joined with PayPal to offer a mobile payment option. Moviegoers who purchase tickets through Fandango’s iPhone and Android apps can now use PayPal as a payment method. With PayPal added in, purchasing tickets on Fandango’s apps will be even easier, which could have an effect on how many users are making those purchases. eBay-owned PayPal is on pace to handle more than $3.5 billion in mobile payments in 2011. [via FierceMobileContent]

Further News
+ Four experts weigh in on social commerce trends you’ll see next year.
+ Holiday e-Commerce revenue plateaus at 15%, strengthening bricks-and-mortar store sales.
+ e-Commerce organizations continued to expand their global reach.
+ Three examples of how entrepreneurs are using mobile commerce to grow.

Posts From the Week
INFOGRAPHIC: eBay’s Annual “Top Shopped” for 2011
eBay Fashion App for iPhone Updated to Feature Image Swatch
eBay Inc. Acquires BillSAFE

Looking Back on eBay Ink
December 21, 2010: Another year down. Where does the time go? In a couple of weeks, on January 7, I will be celebrating my 3rd year anniversary with eBay. I still feel like a newbie in a lot of ways but in others, when I think back to when we first started planning the launch of eBay Ink, we’ve come a long way baby. The company has gone through a lot too. This year was no exception. I’ve written 228 blog posts in 2010. Too many to chronicle here. So the following is an attempt to capture the big events of the past 12 months coming out of the company.

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

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0 Permanent link to eBay Inc. Acquires BillSAFE eBay Inc. Acquires BillSAFE

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

eBay Inc. Acquires BillSAFE

eBay Inc. has acquired BillSAFE, a leading provider of payment upon invoice in Germany. The deal follows eBay Inc.’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company in October 2010. eBay Inc. now owns 100% of the outstanding shares of BillSAFE. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

From The PayPal Blog:
By combining BillSAFE with PayPal, which serves more than 15 million accounts in Germany, PayPal believes the addition of BILLSAFE will provide a comprehensive payment service for merchants and consumers…

BillSAFE works with merchants of all sizes in Germany, giving them a simple and secure way for payment upon invoice. Customers select their preferred item of choice, but only pay upon receiving the goods together with the invoice.

You can read all about it from Arnulf Keese, Managing Director, PayPal Germany over on The PayPal Blog.

Cheers,
RBH

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0 Permanent link to eBay Fashion App for iPhone Updated to Feature Image Swatch eBay Fashion App for iPhone Updated to Feature Image Swatch

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

eBay Fashion App for iPhone Updated to Feature Image Swatch

The eBay Fashion app for iPhone has been updated to include eBay Image Swatch – a cool new color and pattern matching discovery tool that helps you find fashion from your photos. To shop with eBay Image Swatch, users can tap the “eBay Image Swatch” button on the home screen and choose “My Camera” to take a photo of something inspiring or “My Library” to upload a photo from their existing iPhone photo library. eBay’s search results will then populate new and used items similar in color, pattern and texture.

eBay’s Fashion application for iPhone lets shoppers browse and buy from the world’s largest selection of new, designer, branded and vintage merchandise, with millions of listings for clothing, shoes and accessories – virtually anytime, anywhere.

For more information on eBay mobile, visit http://www.ebay.com/mobile.

Cheers,
RBH

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3 Permanent link to INFOGRAPHIC: eBay’s Annual “Top Shopped” for 2011 INFOGRAPHIC: eBay’s Annual “Top Shopped” for 2011

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

INFOGRAPHIC: eBay’s Annual “Top Shopped” for 2011

eBay announced its third annual “Top Shopped” report this morning, ranking the pop culture moments and trends based on related items sold on the eBay Marketplace.

At first glance to me, there didn’t seem to be any shock here; NFL, Twilight, Glee, iPad, etc. all seem to be obvious cultural winners. However, seeing Sade come in at the #7 spot – ahead of Justin Bieber (#8) – came as a pleasant surprise. Nice to see an artist that came out when I was a teenager pip the current teen heartthrob at the post.

For more stats and figures, check out the eBay “Top Shopped” for 2011 media alert. For now, I’ll leave you with this little tidbit regarding eBay Mobile:

Top Three Most Expensive Cross-Category Purchases on eBay Mobile:
** Motors | Mercedes-Benz : S-Class: $212,685
** Fashion | Hermes Blue Sapphire Ostrich Birkin Bag: $19,975
** Collectibles | 1933 Goudey – Babe Ruth #53 PSA Baseball Card: $19,500

Cheers,
RBH

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0 Permanent link to eBay Rewards Online Shoppers with $10 to Spend In-Store this Holiday eBay Rewards Online Shoppers with $10 to Spend In-Store this Holiday

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, December 16th, 2011

eBay Rewards Online Shoppers with $10 to Spend In-Store this Holiday

eBay has partnered with national retailers like Toys “R” Us, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Aeropostale to get online shoppers like you to buy in-store. Spend $100 online and earn $10 to shop in-store.

“This innovative rewards program reflects the future of retail and the convenient, seamless shopping experience consumers are looking for,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe.

This partnership reflects eBay Inc.’s commitment to enabling commerce—partnering with brands, retailers and sellers of all sizes to market their inventory and empowering consumers to shop their channel of choice, whether it’s “clicks” online or “bricks” in their local neighborhoods.

eBay Holiday Rewards Program

- Today Friday, December 16 at 6:00AM ET through Monday, December 19 at 11:59PM ET
- Shop online at Toys“R”Us or Babies“R”Us on eBay, ToysRUs.com, BabiesRUs.com, Dicks SportingGoods.com or Aeropostale.com
- Spend $100 or more with any participating retailer and check out with PayPal
- Receive a coupon via email for $10 off your in-store purchase
- Redeem coupon at a local retail store, of the same brand, through December

For the last-minute shoppers out there, you can easily find – and buy – the gifts you want at a local retail store through RedLaser. Users of the app can scan or search top toys, check availability at the nearest Toys“R”Us retail location and purchase the item through PayPal, right from the palm of your hand. Shoppers can conveniently pick up their gifts in-store that same day.

Make sure to come back here to the blog and tell us about your online and in-store shopping experience this holiday season.

Cheers,
RBH

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0 Permanent link to eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 16 #InkRoundup eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 16 #InkRoundup

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, December 16th, 2011

eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 16 #InkRoundup

eBay Opens Pop Up Store in UK
Earlier this month, eBay UK launched its first-ever pop-up shop in London. The eBay Christmas Boutique attracted more than 2,500 shoppers that browsed over 350 items provided by top-rated eBay sellers. In UK’s first QR code shopping emporium, shoppers were able to scan a barcode and buy products on the spot, using mobile phones. [via eBay Ink]

PayPal Offering Location-Based Deals
PayPal will be entering the daily deal marketing in early 2012. The product will focus on mobile deals with alerts sent to smartphones when in close proximity to stores hosting deals that day and will cater to the customer. Scott Thompson, PayPal President, promises, “We’ll only give you something that we think fits the category of unique and relevant. Everyone else is going to bombard you.” The company will partner with some of the country’s top merchants such as, BestBuy and Target, who already use PayPal for transactions. [via Bloomberg]

Further News
+ Free shipping has become a necessary evil for online retailers and could boost shipping companies.
+ Psychologists have identified six elements to social shop.
+ Holiday shoppers ride the rainbow with black Friday, green Monday and more.
+ What happens when smartphones and smart shoppers combine?

Posts From the Week

Looking Back on eBay Ink
December 15, 2010: eBay acquires mobile app developer, Critical Path Software. Less than 2 weeks after the company announced the acquisition of Milo.com, eBay has announced it has acquired Critical Path Software, a leading mobile app developer that has worked with eBay for over 2 years on a wide array of mobile apps coming out of the company including the eBay for iPhone app, StubHub, eBay Classifieds and Shopping.com iPhone apps.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

I was fortunate enough to get Steve Romero, Critical Path president and founder, and Steve Yankovich, VP of eBay Mobile, together to chat about the acquisition and how the teams will be working together moving forward. Exciting stuff indeed…

(More …)

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0 Permanent link to StubHub Acquires Zvents StubHub Acquires Zvents

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, December 15th, 2011

StubHub Acquires Zvents

StubHub has acquired Zvents, a platform for local event discovery and promotion, boasting a catalog of over 3 million events that are generated from a network of 140,000+ local marketers and promoters.

Founded in 2005, Zvents currently attracts 14 million monthly unique visitors via its various channels, including Zvents.com and its media partner network of over 300. Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

StubHub currently offers around 30,000 events for discovery whereas Zvents users have access to 600,000 events on any given day and over 3 million during the course of a calendar year. Essentially, with this new acquisition (and after integration), StubHub users will eventually have access to 100x more events than the present.

I look forward to catching up more with both teams when I’m back in the US to chat about the joint efforts. For now, I’ll just sign off with a hearty welcome aboard to everyone at Zvents!

Cheers!
RBH

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1 Permanent link to eBay Launches its First UK Pop-Up Shop in London eBay Launches its First UK Pop-Up Shop in London

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

eBay Launches its First UK Pop-Up Shop in London

I’m working out of the eBay UK office in Richmond this week and have had some great meetings with a number of folks talking about all things social – from commerce to media to business. I’ve also been able to check out some cool stories coming out of the office here first-hand. Earlier this month, eBay UK launched its first-ever pop-up shop in London’s fashionable West End. The UK’s first-ever QR code shopping emporium, the eBay Christmas Boutique enabled shoppers to browse over 350 items provided by top-rated eBay sellers, who could purchase using mobile technology with just a few clicks.

Although there were physical items on display, all items were purchased on eBay using mobile devices. Naturally, I asked what was going to happen to all of the gifts on display throughout the shop. Turns out that many of the toys and gifts displayed in the Boutique have been donated to children’s charities.

The boutique was open Dec. 1 – 5 and although it meant it was only open for 5 days, they managed to attract over 2,500 walk-in customers. You can check out a full behind-the-scenes video below…

Cheers from the UK!
-RBH

Related Reads:
TameBay – Shopping at the eBay Christmas Boutique
techradar.com – In Pictures: eBay Christmas Boutique

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0 Permanent link to eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 9 #InkRoundup eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 9 #InkRoundup

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, December 9th, 2011

eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 9 #InkRoundup

PayPal Access Now Available to Magento Go Merchants
Merchants using Magento Go for their online stores can now take advantage of the log-in system, PayPal Access. By using this method, merchants can dramatically increase their conversion rate by lowering the barrier of entry for customers. This service is expected to let consumers share data about their purchase history and preferences, making it more convenient for both shoppers and merchants to make more relevant offers. [via AuctionBytes]

Online Shoppers Prefer PayPal
“The Converged Lifestyle”, a global report by financial advisory firm KPMG, found UK shoppers were more apt to use PayPal while purchasing online. Looking at online shopping habits of 10,000 adults from 31 countries, the study found that Paypal has surpassed credit cards as the preferred method of online payment. [via Finance Times]

Further News
+ Starbucks leads the mobile payment battle, with more than 26 million purchases have been made using Starbucks’ mobile apps.
+ Free shipping leads customers to break record online shopping numbers for three consecutive days.
+ How to use LinkedIn effectively for your e-commerce business.
+ Is “Free Shipping Day” more profitable than Black Friday?
+ Predictions for 2012 mobile commerce trends.

Posts From the Week

Updates to RedLaser for Android; introducing RedLaser for Windows Phone 7; and Scan to Win with RedLaser Games

Looking Back on eBay Ink
December 8, 2010: Global Green USA recognizes the eBay Green Team with its 11th Annual Sustainable Design Awards. eBay CEO, John Donahoe, was on hand in New York on Monday at the Global Green USA 11th Annual Sustainable Design Awards to accept the Organizational Design Award on behalf of the eBay Green Team. The Organizational Design Award honors groups that take a leadership role in effecting positive environmental change.

The eBay Green Team started with 40 employees back in May of 2007 and grew to 2,400 employees in 23 countries by 2009 (I became an eBay Green Team member in 2008 and have enjoyed participating in a number of initiatives over the past couple of years). Since opening up to the public, the eBay Green Team has grown to nearly 300,000 volunteers. You can check out a full video overview of the eBay Green Team below.

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

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1 Permanent link to Updates to RedLaser for Android; introducing RedLaser for Windows Phone 7; and Scan to Win with RedLaser Games Updates to RedLaser for Android; introducing RedLaser for Windows Phone 7; and Scan to Win with RedLaser Games

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Updates to RedLaser for Android; introducing RedLaser for Windows Phone 7; and Scan to Win with RedLaser Games

I covered the RedLaser 3.0 for iPhone release last month on Ink. Today marks another day of firsts for eBay Mobile‘s leading scanning mobile application.

With RedLaser for Android, users will now be able to create and share product lists with their peers. In the past users have been able to search by typed and spoken word. Now, they will have the ability to image search. Users can now take a photo and it will then do a product search for that photo using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). You could essentially take a picture of The Beatles White Album and RedLaser would then find specific listings of that album and related items.

RedLaser has also created a brand new application that will now be available in the Windows marketplace. This app features some of the best technologies that RedLaser has to offer including:
** Streamlined barcode scanning for comparison shopping the best prices online and locally (local US only)
** Updated list and QR code capabilities to share with peers

Introducing the RedLaser Games

We’re also inviting iPhone and Android users to “Train Up” for the holiday shopping season. The company launched a new video campaign series featuring barcode scanning “expert,” Redd ‘The Laser’ Laser (one of my favorites is above). Redd is also offering RedLaser users a chance to win his RedLaser Holiday Wish List, including great prizes like a GoPro® HD Helmet Video Camera, an Apple® iPhone® 4s and more, plus $2,500 towards their own wish list.

For entry, participants simply use the new RedLaser list feature to create their own holiday wish list and scan at least five items to add to it. They then click “share” right from the app and e-mail their RedLaser Games lists to games@redlaser.com. The promotion is running from Black Friday (November 25) through December 23. There will be one winner each week for the length of the promotion for a total of 4 grand prize winners. More information and the training videos can be viewed at the RedLaser Games site.

Lots of new stuff there folks. Regardless of which smart phone you use, I wish you all Happy Scanning this Holiday season.

Cheers!
RBH

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Posts From: December, 2011

eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – December 23 #InkRoundup

eBay Inc. Acquires BillSAFE

eBay Fashion App for iPhone Updated to Feature Image Swatch

INFOGRAPHIC: eBay’s Annual “Top Shopped” for 2011

eBay Rewards Online Shoppers with $10 to Spend In-Store this Holiday

StubHub Acquires Zvents

eBay Launches its First UK Pop-Up Shop in London

Updates to RedLaser for Android; introducing RedLaser for Windows Phone 7; and Scan to Win with RedLaser Games

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