EBay’s Mobile Roadmap: IPad, Windows Phone 7 Apps And More

EBay was early to recognize the potential of mobile shopping, launching its first iPhone application in 2008. As rivals pile in, the online retailer intends to keep the lead by developing more mobile apps and creating “augmented reality” experiences that make online shopping feel more like a real-world activity.

Plans include releasing an app for phones running Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, additional apps for Apple’s iPad tablet computer, an app for eBay subsidiary Half.com and one focused on car enthusiasts, eBay Mobile vice president Steve Yankovich tells Forbes.

EBay’s mobile strategy is worth observing because the company is the largest mobile retailer in the U.S. and keeps growing. In 2009, eBay sold $600 million of goods (which it calls GMV for Gross Merchandise Volume) by mobile. This year, it expects to more than double that amount to $1.5 billion.

Yankovich, who left Adobe for eBay in 2009 and is based at its San Jose headquarters, oversees the company’s mobile efforts. Duties include managing eBay’s more than 10 apps (counting international versions). To avoid inundating–and possibly alienating–users, the company plans to fold some currently standalone app functions into its main mobile app. Known simply as “eBay”, this core app lets users search the site and make purchases while on the go. It is available for iPhones, BlackBerrys and phones based on Google’s Android platform.

EBay says the iPhone app has been downloaded more than 11 million times–a respectable figure. Yankovich, however, believes that audience can increase to the tens of millions through a few savvy tweaks.

One strategy: merging the company’s “Selling” app, designed to speed and ease the listing of items, with eBay’s main app. Introduced in March, the “Selling” app has garnered fewer than 1 million users, says Yankovich. Once it is fused with the more popular main app, however, “casual sellers’ listings will catch on fire,” he predicts. More products should attract more shoppers, creating a virtuous cycle of selling and buying.

Yankovich is also working on brand-new apps. One, for the discount book and DVD store Half.com will debut in a few weeks. Another, dedicated to eBay-surfing car enthusiasts, is in development. Both apps are likely to be infused with barcode-reading technology that eBay acquired in June through a startup called RedLaser. In the Half.com app, the barcode reader (accessed through the phone’s camera) will let users compare prices. In the “motors” app, it could scan a car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) to help users identify compatible car parts on eBay.

Since eBay aims to make these apps fun as well as functional, the car app could also include a virtual car housed in a virtual garage–a feature Yankovich likens to augmented reality. Eventually, the technology could power an app that would scan passersby and call up their clothes and accessories–or similar goods–on eBay, he says.

The company is also experimenting with 3D imagery. A shopper browsing for lamps, for instance, would be able to see products superimposed on his or her actual décor and view them from different angles.

Video is another option. Sellers’ listings could include video clips that showed the goods in use. “Enthusiasts want to be immersed in their product interests,” notes Yankovich. “We want to give them a reason to come back.”

Gaining access to this technology may necessitate more acquisitions. “If we can accelerate development by buying other companies, we would consider it,” says Yankovich.

For now, partnerships are the main way eBay is staying current. At Microsoft’s request, Yankovich’s team is building an app for Windows Phone 7, the next generation of Microsoft’s mobile operating system. The app will be available when Windows Phone 7 launches, likely around October or November.

There will also be more eBay apps for the iPad. The company considers its first iPad app, which debuted in April, a hit because users spend three times more money per session than a typical mobile user. Yankovich says there are several possible reasons, including the app’s more inviting design, with larger, higher-quality images, and the fact that people tend to log onto their iPads at night, when they are likely to be more relaxed and willing to make purchases.

That closeness is the kind of connection Yankovich wants all mobile shoppers to have with eBay. “Ultimately, we want people to experience eBay products in a way they never did before, even in a store,” he says. “That’s the only way we’ll get people who don’t buy things on their phones to try.”

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