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eBay planning to up the stakes in m-commerce market

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 10:48 by Paul Tissington

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Online auction site eBay is one of the world's largest e-commerce firms and now its CEO has committed to bringing the company into the m-commerce sector, with an aggressive new strategy of expansion.

John Donahoe is set to lead eBay into the hearts and minds of mobile users the world over, according to an article in the New York Times.

Mr Donahoe believes that there is significant momentum behind the m-commerce sector, as more people learn about the benefits of enjoying safe shopping online from their smartphones.

eBay will be hoping to outpace rivals like Amazon when it comes to capturing the blossoming m-commerce market. Ahead of a speech tomorrow, it is thought that Mr Donahoe will be outlining the ways in which eBay will be facilitating m-commerce in the future.

PayPal is being seen as the cornerstone of eBay's m-commerce push and it is expected to become further integrated into more mobile transactions, allowing users to make protected purchases and carry out safe shopping online from their handsets, with little risk.

From the outside, it looks as though eBay is already dominating the m-commerce market, as last year it netted almost £1.25 billion from its mobile application and this will be closer to £2.5 billion in the 12 months of 2011, according to analysts.

The UK is leading the way in the m-commerce sector for eBay, with usage of the smartphone app offered by the firm higher among British consumers than in any other nation in Europe.

eBay's app has been so successful because it is easy to use and a convenient way to make purchases, check up on items and place bids. Other retailers will need to emulate this approach to m-commerce, if they are to remain competitive this year.