During an “Unboxed” press conference Wednesday in Berlin, Samsung introduced its candidate for the coming smartwatch wars: the Galaxy Gear. The wearable device — which becomes available Sept. 25 — features an interactive screen and a camera built into the strap. It also runs for 25 hours on a single charge and can run multiple apps, including eBay’s official mobile app.
In particular, the eBay app will allow Galaxy Gear owners to buy and sell their favorite items on the go and enable today’s consumers with a way to shop anytime, anywhere and on any device. Users can also view all notifications on one screen and tap to view item details on a corresponding mobile phone.
Though smartwatches are still in their infancy, Steve Yankovich, Vice President, Innovation and New Ventures at eBay Inc., notes that it is essential for eBay to experiment with every connected device that presents a logical use case.
“Thanks to the adoption of mobile devices, consumers are now addicted to their devices and will quickly adopt new user experiences,” says Yankovich. “If eBay wants to remain at the forefront of merging commerce and technology, we have to be all over these innovations and remember to try, pivot and evolve.”
The idea of wearable devices is particularly exciting to commerce companies like eBay because it further removes potential hurdles from the mobile shopping experience.
“Think about someone who’s riding a bike,” says Yankovich. “It’s not convenient for a rider to pull out a phone and order a new helmet. But if the device is already on his or her wrist and it’s active, the rider is more likely to make the purchase.”
“Wearable devices change the number of transactions that both delight the customer and help eBay be a better business.”
A fact sheet on Galaxy Gear is available for download on this page.