For many people, this is the season for shopping until you drop and eBay is trying to help you survive the shopping season with a new Apple iPhone app.
The eBay iPhone program finally takes advantage of the fact that the online auction site purchased RedLaser a few months ago and it integrates the barcode-scanning function in the program. The idea is that when you’re in a brick and mortar store, you should whip out your eBay iPhone app to scan the product and see if that item can be purchased for cheaper on the auction site. The app integrates with your account, so purchases can be achieved with a few clicks.
“More shoppers are turning to their mobile phones to save money and time this holiday season,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile, in a prepared statement. “We listened to our 13 million+ mobile app users and we’ve updated our eBay iPhone app to be a one stop shop for all of their holiday buying and selling needs. We continue to blur the lines between in-store and online shopping by allowing eBay shoppers to conveniently scan products to find the best deals virtually anywhere, anytime.”
The new eBay iPhone program also includes other improvements like pull-to-refresh, reminders, quick access to daily deals, the buyer protection program and more.
This isn’t the only major company looking to capitalize on the holiday shopping rush, as Amazon just released a new iPhone program which also uses barcode scanning to get the best prices online. Of the two, I’m a bit more comfortable with Amazon’s app because I’m a Prime member, but both are pretty well done and work well with scanning products.
So, friends, what’s your favorite way to use your phone to shop?
You can download the updated app here for free.