Holiday season is around the corner and people are bound to go shopping at this time. Sellers like eBay are preparing for this big time since last year online shopping during holiday season crossed the $10 billion mark. This year mobile shopping has caught the attention of masses and companies like PayPal, Google and eBay are preparing to make the sure that customers stay happy.
If we look at the payments being made by mobile then it already seems to be a big market with the figure crossing $10 billion. eBay is expecting a rise in revenue this year to the tune of $5 billion. Laura Chambers from PayPal said,” merchants are even preparing for the onslaught of traffic to their mobile sites. We are seeing strong investments by online retailers for mobile shopping this year”. This is the ‘Post Pc Era’ that technology experts talk about and it’s validated by brands like Armani Exchange and Guess who are turning to PayPal for mobile payments.
Applications for mobile and tablets are helping here by bringing information and convenience to the customer. There are various apps that allow you to scan barcodes and give detailed information about the product. One such app by eBay is RedLaser. Another one is Shopkick which detects whether an Android or iPhone user is in shop or not. If detected, it gives the shopper Kickbucks which can be redeemed after shopping at partner stores or may even fetch you Facebook credits.
E-commerce is more advanced by use of Android based phones and tablets. Just recently, Google has come out with an application- Google Catalogs- that can have brand catalogs of more than 200 brands and can even search a nearby store for you. PayPal terms this as ‘Couch Commerce’ and feels that such happenings will shape shopping habits in the future.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two such days in this year that retailers are waiting for since most people will by purchasing stuff on the fly and mobile shopping will see a rise. At this time retailers will be attracting shoppers with schemes and coupons since shoppers look to get the best deals available.
All this serves as an optimum playing field for retailers and software developers alike since both are looking to earn a buck from the kitty of a shopper.