eBay's Pop-up Christmas Boutique

The following video is a clip from the film 40 Year Old Virgin. We watch a mildly perplexed shopper attempting to buy a pair of boots from a shop called ‘We Sell Your Stuff On eBay’ only to be told “we don’t actually sell anything here, we just sell it on eBay”. We share in the idiocy of a shop existing for no real purpose other than to showcase things. "what's the point?" we ask ourselves? And then life imitates art (okay, I may be being slightly hyperbolic referring to a Steve Carrell film as art, but bear with me). 

On the surface, eBay’s pop-up shop that ran this weekend (1st to 5th December) is not too dissimilar. However, the difference between the two lies in the stores ability to bridge the gap between online and offline through use of smartphones. Taking over a store in Soho on what was anticipated to be the busiest online shopping weekend of the year, eBay stocked the shop with 350 of its bestsellers. This ranged from £12 bottles of perfume to digital cameras, flat-screen televisions and Vespa motorbikes. These products were organised into three rooms – one for men, one for women and one for family – and eBay representatives were placed throughout the shop to offer help and advice. 

One of the 3 rooms

Items ranged from the cheap... 

...to the expensive

There were no tills and nothing in store could be taken away. Capitalising on the growing number of smartphone users, people were instead encouraged to scan the QR codes associated with each product. These took people to the relevant payment screens or to an area where they could browse similar products. All orders placed would be delivered to users home address. For those without smartphones, HTC tablets were also available in-store, allowing people to access and/or set-up their eBay accounts and shop.

Step 1: Scan your item

Step 2: Exit into browser

Step 3: view and purchase item

The shop served to provide eBay with some real-world exposure and promote and educated on the use of QR Codes. It also highlighted its position as a platform for retailers – they are more than just an online car boot sale, with department stores and brand names hosting their own eBay storefront.

However, this is also reflective of several trends that have been pointed out by the likes of JWT’s 10 Trends for 2012 and trendwatching.com:

1. Cash-less transactions – running parallel to the launch of Google Wallet and Amazon’s one-click purchase option, this offers another means of purchase that allows the buying purchase to become almost frictionless. 
2. Screen Culture – screens are becoming more and more ubiquitous in more and more aspects day-to-day life. 
3. Point and Know – Consumers are able to source richer and more useful information on products at the touch of a button. 
4. Shop as showroom – the introduction of things like Amazon Remembers and Tesco’s AR app are turning physical shops into showrooms rather than places of purchase. They are a place we can go to explore and discover, but (increasingly) not necessarily to buy. 

As time goes on, the blending of online and physical stores is less likely to cause such a stir, as they become gateways into the actual buying experience. We are seeing it the above-mentioned Amazon Remembers, which allows book, music, DVD, clothing, furniture (and more) shops to become enormous catalogues. We are seeing it with the also-mentioned Tesco Augmented Reality app, which allows users to view 3D images of catalogue products, allowing stores to save valuable floor space. And we are already seeing it in more tech-savvy countries like South Korea, like this Tesco Homeplus example, which allowed time-poor commuters to do their food shopping via their mobile whilst waiting for a train. 

Thoughts? Comments? Always welcome...