Commercials Say eBaying is a Smart Move on Your Smartphone
posted Sunday Sep 18, 2011 by Jon Wurm
eBay has managed to sustain a relatively small amount of marketing and advertising since 2006 and it seems they've decided to come out of their shell and launch a new advertising campaign that will address the perception of eBay as a auction service and the mobile aspect of purchasing off the site. This decision was made because the way people use eBay has changed over the years and advancements in technology have imbued smartphones with the power to purchase which companies like PayPal and American Express know isn't a widely used option right now. Richelle Parham, the chief marketing officer of eBay stated it simply,
We need to change that perception.
What she's referring to changing is the perception of the company as just an auction site. Over the past several years the fixed price items have come to surpass the number of items purchased through auctions. The new ad campaign, which has already aired some commercials, depicts someone purchasing a tablet at a fixed price through eBay which is bringing the mobile purchasing possibility into the mix.
For more on the story and to check out one of the ads, hit the break.
Last year, the amount of items purchased through mobile devices through eBay was around $2 billion and from January through July of this year, 500,000 new users signed up and made their first mobile purchases. While still a relatively small figure overall, they see the growth potential and expect the $2 billion purchased in 2010 to double very quickly. Parham isn't sure what results the new campaign will yield but they do plan on surveying customers to get a reading.
