According to eBay, the online marketplace logged over 4 million new users in the first half over 2012. We also know that eBay’s mobile apps just hit the 100 million download milestone. And as of today, eBay has over 350 million individual listings. eBay wants you to know that they are growing, and in an attempt to make the site feel fresh and hopefully give it greater functionality, the company has just announced a significant redesign.
“Today we begin to introduce a series of significant new features and enhancements for our customers. We’re delivering a cleaner, contemporary look and feel; a more intuitive, convenient way to browse, decide and buy – both globally and locally; and a new personal way to curate your own shopping experience and discover items perfect for you,” says eBay President Devin Wenig.
And with that, the new eBay is born – and everything now centers on a Pinterest-like feed of featured, personalized, and self-curated products.
Here’s the eBay Feed:
eBay says that the feed will show users “a collection of items selected for you, based on your shopping history or your own personal interests.” When a logged-in user first accesses the feed, they are given the opportunity to “follow” certain types of product lines as well as connect their feed to their Facebook interests.
Clicking on any item from the feed pulls up a lightbox featuring pertinent product information like price, similar items, additional photos, and other details. Users can click to view the item page or share the product via social network and email from the pop-up box.
Search is also changing, including larger images.
And yes, the new logo is now live.
Today is the kickoff to a period of redesigning, according to the company. U.S. user will notice changes first, followed by everyone else around the world.
“Over the next few weeks and months, we’ll introduce site-wide enhancements that are designed to deliver a cleaner, more contemporary and consistent experience, starting in the U.S. and then extending to eBay sites worldwide. eBay will simplify its site design to offer more streamlined navigation along with larger images and key product information, enabling customers to find what they want more quickly and easily.
And, because today’s consumers want a more personalized shopping experience, we’ll provide a curated collection of items tailored to our customers’ unique interests right on the eBay homepage. We’ll also enable our customers to connect their eBay and PayPal accounts to accelerate checkout. These are just some of the innovative new features we’ll be rolling out in the coming months,” says eBay.
eBay is definitely trying to promote their marketplace as a place to discover new things. Instead of just going to eBay to look for a specific item, this new feed will suggest products based on user preferences. And yes, is does look really Pinterest-ey. But at least with eBay, clicking on any product that catches your eyes simply takes you to a product page on site.
If you want to go ahead and opt-in to the new eBay feed, you can do so here if you’re in the U.S.
