Have you ever missed out on an eBay item you loved because you were outbid in the final minutes? Announced today, eBay users will soon have the ability to opt-in to automated Facebook Messenger notifications thanks to a new integration between Facebook and eBay. When opted-in, eBay buyers will receive a Messenger reminder 15 minutes before a listing ends, as well as a Messenger notification if they are outbid in the final 15 minutes of an auction.
“We know that eBay customers are very active in various messaging apps,” said Lucius DiPhillips, vice president of product & engineering at eBay. “This integration with Messenger is about understanding where our customers are, improving the buyer experience and finding new ways to engage with them throughout their purchase journey.”
During the first phase of the pilot, which will be rolled out to a subset of active eBay users over the next four weeks, we’ll be analyzing shopping behavior and the way users are interacting with notifications to determine further iterations to improving the buyer experience.
How it works once users are in the Pilot:
- Watch or Bid on an item that has 8+ hours remaining.
- Four to six hours prior to the item ending, buyers will receive an email with an option to sign up for Messenger or Text alerts for the item.
- Click on the Messenger button in the email and then provide your Facebook account information.
- A Messenger notification will alert buyers 15 minutes before the item ends and if they are outbid in the last 15 minutes.
- If an outbid notification is received, buyers can simply click from the Messenger notification and place a new bid.
StubHub is also integrating with Facebook Messenger. After signing up to connect on Messenger, StubHub customers will have the ability to receive ticket confirmations, event maps, event updates, and parking passes within Messenger. Customers can also opt-in to receive alerts for games and events in which they are interested.