eBay boosts mobile offerings with new partnerships

Barcelona -- eBay on Monday announced a number of strategic moves including a new partnership with major carrier Three.co.uk; integrations with merchants such as Yotel and Entradas.com; and mobile app updates that evolve mobile commerce selling and shopping experiences for consumers.



In 2011, eBay mobile commerce generated $5 billion in retail volume, and PayPal mobile generated $4 billion in payment volume. eBay’s mobile apps have been downloaded more than 70 million times, according to the company. In 2012, eBay expects to do $8 billion in mobile commerce retail volume, and PayPal expects to process $7 billion in mobile payment volume.



“Mobile commerce is changing the way people shop and pay, and the ways in which merchants of all sizes engage consumers,” said John Donahoe, eBay Inc. president and CEO. “We’re seeing a new retail paradigm emerge through mobile. Consumers are in control, and they want to shop anytime, anywhere. That creates opportunity.”



eBay and Three.co.uk have partnered to deliver mobile devices pre-loaded with eBay apps, bringing the mobile shopping experience directly to consumers. With this deal, Android smartphones on the United Kingdom's fastest growing network will now come with eBay's mobile app directly on the device.



PayPal launched on Monday the PayPal Carrier Payment Network, to make mobile carrier payments more viable for a wider number of online merchants. PayPal will work with its more than 250 carriers and more than1,500 digital goods merchants to expand the carrier payment experience. PayPal teamed up with Spain’s leading ticketing company, Entradas.com, to allow consumers to buy tickets with a mobile phone and PayPal, and also collaborated with Yotel to allow consumers to soon book rooms via PayPay on a smartphone.