***embargoed until 0001 hrs on Thursday 1st July 2010***
BRIT SHOPPERS FIND M-COMMERCE MORE “APP”-EALING THAN EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURS
· eBay to launch the first dedicated seller app as figures reveal £64million spent through buyer app in the UK last year
· Brits bought more items through the app in one month than French consumers purchased in the whole of 2009
Brits are embracing mobile shopping faster than their European counterparts, according to new data out today by eBay, the UK’s number one ecommerce site. Having led e-commerce in the UK year-on-year for the past ten years, eBay is now also leading the mobile commerce market, its fastest growing channel, with £64 million worth of goods purchased from an eBay app in 2009[1].
Despite the recession, over the last year m-commerce has accounted for nearly £123million worth of goods sold in the UK and this market is predicted to double in the next three years to £275million[2]. UK shoppers have been the fastest European nation to adopt the speed and convenience of m-commerce with more goods purchased through the eBay app than anywhere else in the continent.
In fact - Brits bought more items through the app in one month than French consumers purchased in the whole of 2009.
The data is revealed as eBay launches its hugely popular buyer app on three new mobile platforms in Europe – Blackberry; Android and iPad, in addition to a dedicated seller app, the next iteration in its suite of smart phone applications, enabling people to buy and sell anytime, anyplace, anywhere. Last week eBay further cemented its position as global m-commerce leaders through the acquisition of RedLaser, the hottest m-commerce app in the app store. Already incorporated into its new seller app, the RedLaser barcode scanning technology enables users to scan product barcodes with their iPhone camera and then compare prices online to find the best deal.
Clare Gilmartin, MD of eBay UK said:
“10 years ago eBay was the first to realise the potential of e-commerce and today eBay is leading the m-commerce revolution. We are constantly innovating to deliver greater choice and flexibility. We have embraced the opportunities of mobile commerce faster and more successfully than our competitors and are now driving the mobile retailing market.
“Last week we announced our acquisition of RedLaser, to improve the buying and selling experience for eBay customers, and our first dedicated seller app, provides eBay sellers with virtually instantaneous access to a global market from their mobile phone.
“People live increasingly busy lives so developing new channels and interoperable platforms which give our customers a better experience and exciting new ways to sell and shop is what eBay is all about and why we continue to be the number one place to shop.”
Additional insight reveals:
· UK shoppers account for approximately 65% of the items bought through the eBay app across Europe
· In the UK on average an item has been bought through the eBay app every 12 seconds, Germany follows closely behind with a purchase every 35 seconds
· Four times as many men have bought goods from eBay via their mobile compared to women
· The 26 – 30 age group have adopted mobile shopping most quickly
· The most popular items bought in the UK are fashion items (21% of sales) products closely followed by technology goods (14.5%) and collectible goods (12.7%)
· Globally, more than £408 million [$600 million] worth of goods were sold through the eBay buyer app by the end of 2009, a 200% increase over 2008
· eBay’s mobile Gross Merchandise Volume (value of goods sold) is expected to generate £1.02bn [$1.5 billion] in 2010
· 25 per cent of all iPads sold in the first month of sales had the eBay app installed
· The buyer app is available in more than 190 countries and in eight languages
Malcolm Pinkerton, senior analyst at Verdict Research, said:
“M-commerce revenues are growing at a rapid rate. Shoppers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, already using their mobiles to research products and compare prices when out shopping. There are only a handful of retailers that have properly caught on and are catering for m-commerce shoppers. As consumer affiliation with m-commerce increases, retailers will need to decide if they’re going to be pioneers in the market and meet consumer expectations, or wait and risk being behind the curve as many were with e-commerce.
“If correctly implemented, m-commerce will not only ensure the needs of tomorrow’s shoppers are met today, but also that growth is maximised across all channels. eBay’s success is due to the fact that it has designed the mobile optimized site and in conjunction a smartphone application making the process very easy to use for mobile customers. The approach taken by eBay should be a lesson to other retailers as to the potential of m-commerce”
ENDS
The eBay seller app
The latest innovation – the eBay seller app - brings the same great ‘palm of your hand’ flexibility to sellers which buyers currently enjoy, with features including:
o Click and list - anyone can photograph and list an item within 60 seconds providing almost instantaneous access to a global market
o Sellers can research sales trends and price ranges on eBay and list similar items for sale anytime anywhere
o Barcode scanning enables fast, easy listing
o Listing can be done in auction or Buy It Now format
o Sellers can share listings with Facebook and Twitter, further offering a way to continue a personal interaction when shopping
o The app is free to download.
.Top 10 eBay app facts
1. More than 10 million people globally use their iPhones to shop using eBay
2. eBay mobile applications are available in more than 190 countries and eight languages
3. Globally, the eBay buyer app is among the top three most popular apps in the iPhone lifestyle category
4. eBay has custom applications for a broad range of mobile platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and WAP for any web-enable phone
5. Targeted services such as: My eBay, Fashion Outlet, Buy It Now, Auction, Daily Deals, Selling, Classifieds and PayPal all enhance the eBay mobile experience
6. 25% of all iPads sold in the first month of sales had the eBay app installed
7. eBay is the number one free iPad shopping app
8. Smart phone adoption in UK rose 70 per cent to 11.2m users during 2009, making the UK the leading European market for Smartphone users.
9. 11.5% of UK shoppers are using their mobiles to research before shopping and 38% to research while they’re actually out shopping. (Verdict & Ovum)
An expected 119% rise in the number of people using m-commerce will help sales to grow (Verdict & Ovum)