eBay will roll out new augmented reality features this year to make buying and selling goods on the website more engaging, and is exploring a credit program for sellers to encourage them to keep their money on the platform, according to Bloomberg.
The marketplace said it’s working on an AR kit that, for example, will let car enthusiasts see how the images of new wheels would look on their vehicles before making a purchase. Another feature will help sellers select the correct box size for an item by overlaying an image of the box on the merchandise. eBay had a strong holiday quarter with 170 million buyers on the platform and a 10 percent increase in gross merchandise volume to $24.4 billion.
Shoppers look to eBay for unique items at good prices and quick delivery is not the only factor that influences their spending decisions, CEO Devin Wenig said in San Francisco at a technology conference. Wenig sought to convince investors there is room for eBay in a market dominated by Amazon, which offers delivery of some items in as little as an hour. “A lot of people say e-commerce is about one thing: logistics. That’s not true,“ Wenig said. “Cost, convenience and the inventory itself matters a lot as well.“
The marketplace plans to add more apparel and home goods, which is helping to balance its customer base by attracting younger shoppers and women, Wenig said. Key strategies to maintain growth include improving the way artificial intelligence and data are used to personalize what visitors see on the home page and introducing features such as the AR tools to make online shopping more fun, Mohan Patt, eBay’s vice president of buyer experiences, said in an interview.
The goal is to expand customer reach beyond mission-shoppers who know precisely what they want to enthusiasts in different categories seeking inspiration, Patt said. eBay announced that it hired data scientist Jan Pedersen to run its artificial intelligence efforts that will bring new shopping experiences to the marketplace. Pedersen most recently worked as vice president of data science at social media platform Twitter.
When the largest amusement park in Germany, Europa-Park, began constructing its new Croatia area, it found inspiration in Rimac hypercars and technology for its new rollercoaster – the Voltron Nevera Powered by Rimac.
Following the end of the public delisting acquisition offer for Telefónica Deutschland, Telefónica holds approximately 96.85% of the shares in its German subsidiary.
Infobip Shift Miami, the American version of the Croatian developer conference, this week brought together a diverse technology-sector audience on the shores of Florida.
