“Mobile enables consumers to make impulse buys and convenient purchases wherever they are, and eBay is constantly innovating to make mobile shopping easy and reduce the friction in commerce,” said Mark Carges, chief technology officer and senior vice president, global products, eBay Marketplaces, in the press release. “With RedLaser’s innovative technology, eBay is continuing to help shoppers quickly find the best deals online, and eBay sellers will be able to list their items faster.”
eBay plans to integrate RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology into its leading iPhone applications, including its eBay Marketplace, eBay Selling, StubHub and Shopping.com applications, providing more than 10 million users with access to product information for fast and easy selling and comparison shopping. The technology is designed to help consumers find great deals online for virtually any product with a barcode, and for eBay sellers to quickly create listings by accessing pricing trends and product details for millions of items in eBay’s catalog. The eBay Selling application for the iPhone will be the first iPhone application to take advantage of RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology for mobile users to sell items online.
eBay is immediately transitioning RedLaser from a paid application to a free standalone application. The company also plans to significantly increase selection on RedLaser by integrating more than 200 million listings from eBay, as well as product inventory from over 7,000 global merchants on Shopping.com, including 95 of the top 100 online retailers.
The RedLaser technology is being used in a wide variety of applications including grocery shopping lists, gift registries, and nutritional tracking. eBay plans on increasing developer support of the RedLaser technology in the future.
The acquisition of the RedLaser application builds on eBay Inc.’s momentum and innovation in mobile commerce. In 2010, eBay released an iPad application and three new iPhone apps: eBay Selling, eBay Classifieds and StubHub. eBay Inc. is a global leader in mobile commerce with $1.5 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) expected in 2010 through its mobile platforms. eBay’s mobile applications are available to millions of iPhone, BlackBerry and Android users in more than 190 countries and eight languages. A mobile purchase is made every two seconds via eBay’s mobile applications.
Source: eBay Inc.
More info about RedLaser (free) via Apple’s iTunes App Store here.
I AGREE WITH SPARK.
We’re going to see the BUY IT NOW ebay button on every Red Laser screen when you check a product. And, a banner saying, “Similar items available now on ebay.” Or so. Yuck.
I say, when you’re in the store and the product is in your hands, especially if it’s a local store, you should buy it there — unless there is an overwhelming compelling reason not to. Just to save a buck or two or 2% or whatever on price is a joke, (actually, a joke on your time and your priorities).
@Spark, I agree with you but think it’s important to focus on the behavior and not the tool. UPC scanning is valuable in that it can provide quick product research at the point of purchase. Like you, I value relationships with knowledgeable local sellers and therefore tend not to shop price for ethical and practical reasons.
My biggest concern with this acquisition is Ebay potentially inserting itself in a way that makes the RedLaser app useless to me, in which case I’ll buy a different app.