At last week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, representatives from eBay showed off mobile applications and technology demonstrations, and announced that the company generated $2 billion in global mobile sales volume in 2010, exceeding expectations. The demonstrations at CES — a huge trade show that has long been both a showcase for products and a bellwether for consumer electronics trends — featured the integration of the company’s RedLaser barcode scanning technology with eBay Mobile, facilitating instant comparison shopping on the go. CES attendees, armed with RedLaser on their mobile devices, also took part in a “SCANenger Hunt” that involved scanning QR codes located throughout the show’s main convention halls, with participants entered to win a free Apple MacBook Air portable computer.
“Things are as vibrant and as hectic as ever here at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show,” said eBay Ink blogger Richard Brewer-Hay, in a post from the show. “It is great to see so much RedLaser activity happening. Even the coffee cup sleeves from Starbucks have QR Codes on them for use with the RedLaser technology.” Brewer-Hay’s post includes a video from CES.
Regarding eBay’s mobile sales volume milestone, Claire Gilmartin, Vice President of eBay Europe, said, “It’s staggering to think that $2 billion worth of sales has been generated through a platform that didn’t exist a couple of years ago.” The company has steadily updated its innovative mobile applications, embracing emerging platforms and devices.
Company representatives also attended the Pepcom Digital Experience event, traditionally held on the evening before CES begins, and demonstrated many mobile applications for attendees and journalists. There was extensive media coverage of eBay’s CES announcements and demonstrations, including these quotes and stories:
- “[Red Laser] technology allows people to scan barcodes with the cameras on their mobile phones, and the scans can then be used for things like price comparisons … Mobile is becoming an important part of eBay’s overall strategy.” — The Wall Street Journal
- “[eBay’s global mobile sales are] a clear sign that mobile ecommerce has reached a tipping point .” — TechCrunch
- “Techland is looking forward to seeing what the company does next.” — Time (Techland blog)
In conjunction with CES, eBay announced several other mobile milestones:
- The company’s mobile applications have been downloaded over 30 million times in eight languages in more than 190 countries
- International sales made up more than half of eBay’s mobile sales volume in 2010 – leading markets include Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the U.K.
- Downloads of eBay’s RedLaser iPhone app have more than tripled since eBay acquired it in June, to nearly seven million downloads
- A purchase is made every second through eBay’s mobile apps.
“We want to get word out that eBay is innovating in ways that you might not think,” Steve Yankovich, Vice President of eBay Mobile, told The Wall Street Journal at CES. “This is not your grandfather’s eBay.”