Is mobile the future of retail?

New data from eBay suggests that over 1.3 million Australians have adopted m-commerce and are shopping using their smart-phone.

Moreover if shopping is defined as looking around, and researching before buying, then the Australian m-commerce user population swells to more than 4 million. In fact, Australians have become so m-commerce savvy that one even used eBay’s mobile app this year to buy a Mercedes-Benz convertible; costing $AUD 50,989.

In the UK, Home shopping giant Shop Direct – which owns the Littlewoods and Very brands – expects half of all sales to come via mobile phones in the next four years following a mobile sales surge over Christmas.

Group chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said consumers had been shopping using mobile in the same way they do using computers this Christmas.

Mobile accounted for 11% of Shop Direct’s online sales, which account for up three quarters of its revenue. Catalogue sales make up the remainder.

The number of transactions through mobile phones over Christmas was up 40%, while revenue via the channel rocketed 500%.

Newton-Jones said: “Last year people were only buying smaller items via mobile and using it for research, but now we’re seeing real conversion. Customers are becoming more confident – it is like the early days of online.”

And Shop Direct aren't the only ones to be seeing this trend, eBay recently reported that in 2010, Australian consumers bought more than one million items on eBay via mobile devices.

Approximately 43% of Australians spent $50 - $250 a month shopping on their mobile phone, with 17% spending in excess of $250 each month. For this growing band of mobile shoppers the key motivations were convenience (44%), being able to shop 24/7 (23%) and as a cost comparison with retail stores (16%).

So it seems that m-commerce really is the future of retail. Watch out 2012!

Ebay's augmented reality app

A newly released update to eBay’s fashion app for the iPhone 4 allows customers in the UK to try on sunglasses before they buy.

Using augmented reality, the firm has introduced its “See it On” feature which gives shoppers an idea of how a pair of sunglasses will look on their face.

The app uses the iPhone 4’s front-facing camera to display an image of the shopper, before superimposing the selected sunglasses on top. If the customer likes what they see, they can choose to get the items shipped out using a next day courier or international delivery firm.

A number of styles of glasses have been added to the app, including Aviator, Wayfarers and rimless. Frames and lenses are also available in a variety of colours.

In a statement released today, the company said: “eBay’s fashion app makes it easier than ever to indulge in your passion for fashion anytime, anywhere, and become your own online stylist.”

eBay's new barcode scanning iPhone App

eBay has released version 2.0 of its primary Phone app, eBay Mobile, the company announced Monday.

Version 2.0 [iTunes link], which appeared in the App Store Friday, allows users to buy and sell on eBay’s flagship auction site, as well as scan product barcodes for comparison shopping. Previously, the latter two capabilities were available only in independent apps, eBay selling [iTunes link] and RedLaser [iTunes link], the latter of which was acquired in June.



Now users can do everything on their iPhones that they could previously do on eBay.com — and then some. The integration of RedLaser’s barcode scanning technology is particularly useful, allowing users to quickly compare eBay’s prices to retail, and to pre-populate information about the items they’re selling.