Consumers are in control, and they want to shop anytime, anywhere. And retailers are moving swiftly to tap this opportunity.
Mobile commerce is changing the way people shop and pay, and the ways in which merchants of all sizes engage consumers, John Donahoe, eBay Inc. President and CEO stated recently.
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. In 2012, eBay expects to do $8 billion in mobile commerce retail volume, and PayPal expects to process $7 billion in mobile payment volume.
PayPal recently teamed up with Spanish ticketing company, Entradas.com, to allow consumers buy tickets with a mobile phone and PayPal. Ticketing is the second most popular ecommerce category behind travel in Spain. According to Entradas.com’s CTO Arcadi Magre, 110 million cinema tickets, 20 million theater tickets and 5 million concert tickets were sold online last year, and Entradas.com accounts for 45 percent of online ticket sales in Spain.
PayPal has also collaborated with Yotel to allow consumers to book a room at Yotel’s flagship hotel in New York, or one of their cabins at London Heathrow & Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol airports, with PayPal on smartphones. There’s no need to download an app. Users need to visit the Yotel website on their mobile device and follow the instructions to book a room in under 60 seconds.