- Artificial intelligence to enhance eBay shoppers’ ability to search and find
- eBay fuels faster arrival times with Guaranteed Delivery roll out
- New Buy APIs platforms provide a range of shopping integration opportunities for developers and affiliates
Today, eBay.com.au has announced the launch of three new product innovations set to deliver a smarter and more seamless shopping experience on Australia’s largest online marketplace.
Marking its 18th year in Australia this month, eBay has transformed from an auction house to a retail powerhouse that now boasts more than 40,000 small businesses, over 11 million unique Aussie visitors every month, and one of the largest ranges of new and unique products in the world.
Managing Director Tim MacKinnon says, “18 years ago, we brought online shopping to Australia and since then, we have continually looked for ways to enhance the shopping experience for our community of buyers and sellers.
“With 70 per cent of our traffic coming from smart phones, we know inspiration can come from anywhere so these new innovations open up a new world of more intuitive and seamless ways discover, and deliver.”
A new way to discover powered by Artificial Intelligence
‘Image Search’, the first innovation being announced today, provides a new experience for shoppers to use pictures instead of words to search eBay’s catalogue of 1.1 billion items globally. Set to roll-out before the end of the year, Image Search is enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning and will allow Australians to quickly find the things they love, making the entire internet shoppable on their mobile device.
Recent research undertaken in partnership with Telsyte revealed that currently 1 in 4 Australian consumers that own a smartphone have taken a photo of a product whilst shopping in store. Telsyte believes with the use of image recognition technology, consumers will have access to significantly more information about a product before they purchase it. The blending of physical and virtual shopping will start, as consumers augment physical shopping experiences with smart devices.
With Image Search, shoppers can take a photo or use an existing photo from their camera roll, of an item they want to purchase. By entering it into the Search bar, eBay will then surface listings from its large inventory that are a close match or visually similar so users can purchase more easily. As people continue to use eBay Image Search, eBay will be able to surface even richer results and enhance filtering - from new, nearly new and used items.
Similarly, ‘Find it on eBay’ will allow shoppers on android devices to screenshot products from social sites like Pinterest or Instagram, or when browsing their favourite blog or website. They then simply “Share” the URL with eBay and the eBay mobile app will surface listings of the product.
Image search will be available on iOS and android whilst Find It on eBay will be available on android devices.
Conquering the Last Mile
eBay.com.au has today also announced the launch of eBay Guaranteed Delivery, providing faster and more precise delivery dates for shoppers.
Launching in early 2018, sellers on eBay can guarantee delivery in 4 days or less on millions of items, with the ability for shoppers to search for and filter items by delivery speed.
Guaranteed Delivery will deliver more confidence and convenience at no additional cost, including:
- Guaranteed Delivery Dates: Items arrive by delivery date, guaranteed
- More Search Options: Ability to filter, sort and search items by a guaranteed delivery speed
- Increased Confidence: If an item doesn’t arrive by the delivery date, eBay will make it right
MacKinnon highlights the opportunity for eBay and potential growth by improving logistics for sellers and convenience for buyers.
“We know from our research 53 per cent of Australians see fast delivery as an important factor to online shopping, wanting to know exactly when their items will arrive. We also know that 21% of Australian sales on eBay ship within 2 days. eBay Guaranteed Delivery marries the convenience of on-demand with eBay’s unrivalled range of new and unique products.
“We will continue to place a strong focus on innovating for the benefit of our connected community. We are constantly looking at ways to evolve our own platform in order to stay the no. 1 online retail choice in Australia,” MacKinnon concludes.
New APIs for leveraging eBay’s commerce platform
In further news, eBay will launch new APIs for affiliates and partners in Australia. eBay’s latest Buy APIs are designed to enable social sites, merchants, marketplaces or any developer to virtually increase the inventory they offer to their customers. The Buy APIs allow developers to integrate searching, finding and buying eBay inventory into their own websites and apps.
The functionality is seamless for buyers and sellers alike: products listed on the partner or affiliate site link to eBay’s data and commerce platform, but buyers remain on the partner site rather than being diverted to ebay.com.au. Buyers complete payment as a guest and receive eBay’s shipping and logistics, as well as the PayPal financial risk support.
“Now any retailer or site can extend their aisle and add up to sixty million Australian listings, as a new source of revenue and way to ensure their consumers can always find what they are looking for,” said MacKinnon.
The Guest Checkout offering is revolutionary, as it gives any partner, site, retailer, marketplace or app eBay’s transactional functionality. Partners can personalise this experience to how they want it, keeping everything within their own ecosystems.
With this new technology, eBay is empowering partners to create rich shopping experiences for their audiences, and buyers receive a seamless shopping experience on their favourite sites, backed by eBay’s unparalleled product range and excellent shopping experience.
eBay has created a dedicated online hub which celebrate 18 years in Australia, the colourful community and the way shopping has evolved. Visit here to view trends and data.
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Research:
Research was conducted by Pure Profile, with over 1000 Australian online small business retailers, and 1000 Australian online consumers in July 2017. All eBay trends were sourced from eBay internal data over the last 18 years. Telsyte predictions were produced exclusively in partnership with eBay (and based on the Telsyte Australian Digital Consumer Study 2017). Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey 2017.
About eBay Marketplaces
eBay is one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, connecting people with the things they need and love virtually anytime, anywhere. eBay has 170 million active buyers globally and more than 1 billion live individual and merchant listings at any given time. With mobile apps available in 190 countries, eBay delivers a personalised shopping experience and seamless access to inventory from down the street and around the world. Tailored shopping experiences customise buying and selling; and eBay provides variety and choice for sellers by enabling them to offer goods through online, mobile and local channels to consumers around the world. For more information, visit ebay.com.