The holiday season is officially in full swing, and many people are finishing off their lists in time for the upcoming holidays. We all know that mobile commerce is growing and an important consideration for buyers and sellers everywhere as people rush to make their final purchases.
eBay, the famous auction site, has had a great year in mobile. We came across an interesting conversation between eBay's VP of Mobile and our friend Robert Scoble. The conversation covers the impact of mobile on e-commerce, and how it fits into eBay's broader mobile strategy for this holiday season and beyond.
Steve Yankovich, eBay's VP of Mobile and now VP of Innovation and New Ventures, chimed in with a few key thoughts on how mobile will shape the future of e-commerce, referencing their newest mobile initiative, eBay now.
Context and Personalization Are Key
Yankovich believes that for mobile initiatives to succeed, context and personalization are very important. If a mobile e-commerce play lacks in either of these areas, it will be difficult to gain traction and could turn users away.
Google Glass, the search engine's new wearable computer, is one interesting example. Yankovich says that Glass has to continuously "be smart about what is shown," or users will take them off. It makes sense — any irrelevant information that is served up will cause the wearer to become annoyed and potentially stop using the product.
Old social is the New Social
Yankovich also points out a key difference in commerce from then to now. In the past, when we would shop online, we typically didn't do it around other people. With the rise of mobile devices, people are shopping around others more than ever.
When someone makes a purchase on their mobile device and are surrounded by others, they are naturally inclined to tell others about it. This "social shopping — essentially word of mouth " has opened a new acquisition channel for eBay and their users, says the VP.
If you're interested in seeing the full interview, take a peek at the video below: