This week, eBay launched a redesign for its iPad app, and it doesn’t seem to be going over very well. The company appears to be trying to make its experience less like Amazon and more like Pinterest. The problem is that people apparently don’t want their eBay experience to be like Pinterest.
Do you think eBay should me gravitating to more of a Pinterest-like experience? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Here are a few screenshots.
Earlier in the week, Jason Del Rey at Re/code shared some words from Chief Product Officer RJ Pittman, the guy responsible for the new design:
“I’m happy to openly use the Pinterest model as an example. We want this to be as much a source of inspiration as a shopping destination.”
Right. Because people go to eBay for inspiration. In fact, that “inspiration” concept comes up in the product description on iTunes as well. There, it says:
Inspiration is just a swipe away with full access to eBay’s millions of items on your iPad. Our trend spotters and style mavens highlight new unique items daily alongside special limited-time shopping events, trending collections, and remarkable deals that save you money. Whether you’re checking out what’s hot today, or digging deep for that one-of-a-kind find, a world of new and vintage merchandise from eBay’s sellers is waiting for you…Version 3.4 of eBay for iPad improves on all the buying and selling functionality you’d expect, while providing great new opportunities to be inspired.
It doesn’t seem that users agree that the new version is an improvement. They certainly don’t seem very inspired. The current version has a rating of one and a half out of five stars. That’s out of 2234 ratings and compared to four and a half for all versions of the app. In other words, eBay has historically been highly rated, but this new version is a huge bomb. This is further evidenced by a glance over to the actual reviews. Here are the top ones at the moment:
Del Rey shares some additional complaints, and notes that both buyers and sellers are complaining, which can’t be good.
It’s certainly interesting that eBay is going out of its way to separate itself from Amazon, as Amazon just launched a new feature that puts it in even more direct competition with eBay. Earlier this week, the online retail giant launched the “Make an Offer” feature, enabling users to haggle with sellers, and try to get better prices.
eBay also recently started pulling back on a feature that would directly compete with Amazon when it shut down the eBay Now app.
What do you think of the new eBay iPad experience? Do you see it as an improvement? Let us know in the comments.
Images via iTunes
